Will the Irish Social Forum (ISF) be back for 2006? Do people want to talk about the ESF?

The first ISF Working Groups meeting of 2006 is on Thursday 9th February from 7.30 to 9.00pm in ...

Its been just over a year now since the last ISF so maybe we should have another one this year. There has been lots of activism since then and the movement for global justice [or whatever we are called] has a lot to link up about. On top of that the ESF is back this year, this time in Greece. Is anyone bothered? A crowd of us think that people should get together and talk about it. Here's the proposal:

The first ISF Working Groups meeting of 2006 is on Thursday 9th February from 7.30 to 9.00pm
NB Change of venue: THE TEACHERS CLUB, PARNELL SQ., DUBLIN 1 .

A few Dublin-based activists who worked with the ISF Working Groups for the 2003 and 2004, 1st and 2nd ISFs thought it would be good idea to hold a meeting, talk about the following points (below) and see where we go from there. If you would like to come, please read the WSF Charter Of Principles first and see if you are interested, available at: http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/main.php?id_menu=4&cd_language=2

1. Holding a meeting/gathering run with the usual ISF guidelines about two weeks prior the ESF, for all those going to it to meet up and for example say why they are going, what they hope to get out of it etc; to run though the main/important issues people feel will be discussed at it.

2. Holding a meeting/gathering run with the usual ISF guidelines about one week after the ESF with a broad range of input from Irish-based participants at the ESF.

3. Any other business related to these and other ISF issues for example ideas/hopes people have for ISFs and/or for more locally based Social Forums in Ireland for 2006, a Dublin Social Forum for example.

Below I have collated information on the European and World Social Forums if people would like to read more.

by - Barry Finnegan [- on behalf of a bunch of us that worked with the ISF Working Groups back in 2003 and 2004.]
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EUROPEAN SOCIAL FOURM NEWS AND VIEWS

The next (i.e. the 4th) European Social Forum (ESF) will now take place:
- from May 4th to May 7th 2006 in Athens, Greece. Here is a link to the site: http://www.fse-esf.org/ If you would like to, and can, feed in to the process for planning it, the European Preparatory Assembly (EPA) for the European Social Forum 2006 (ESF) will take place from March 3rd to March 7th in Frankfurt Am Mein (Germany).

The situation at the moment is that: “To propose ESF 2006 activities-seminars” go to http://workspace.fse-esf.org/ and sign up. It says that: “All participants are invited to propose activities/ seminars (discussions, debate, theme-based meetings, testimonies, workshops, etc.) covered by the themes. All the proposals must be formulated as soon as possible until late February. However, the main bulk of the proposals must be put forward before the next EPA (7 and 8 January 2006).” [I know, I know, but better late than never! ;-) - BF]

Thinking about the European Social Forum processes:

The following newsletter compiled by Eurotopia is well worth a read if you are interested in what has happened in the ESFs so far and what is likely to come in the processes. It states that: “After three European Social Forums (ESF) we need to step back and ask: what next? This newsletter is an attempt to provide a multitude of answers to this question, reflecting upon the Forum’s purpose, practical achievements and methods of organisation.” It is available at:
http://www.euromovements.info/newsletter/ and includes Individual Assessments of the 3rd ESF and Beyond, by people such as: Alex Callinicos, Paul Kingsnorth, Susan George and Wainwright Hilary. It has Collective Assessments of the 3rd ESF and Beyond from participants in and groups such as: COBAS, Attac Europe, Belgian Social Forum and London Social Forum; as well it has articles covering topics such as Learning from Practice, Social Forums as Pedagogical Space, Autonomous Spaces, Social Forums and the Environment.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM NEWS

The Polycentric World Social Forum (WSF) is currently in progress and there’s more to come in March. In other words, this year instead of everyone in the world travelling to one venue for the WSF , people decided that it was better to have it happen in different places (i.e. polycentric) at the same time , or as near to the same time as they could. See below for info on the Americas, Asia and Africa based WSFs.

The Polycentric WSF 2006 Americas is currently taking place in Caracas, Venezuela, from January 24th to 29th 2006. See this link for more details:
http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/dinamic.php?pagina=tudo_caracas_ing

The Polycentric WSF 2006 Asia venue will take place in Karachi (Pakistan) in March 2006, the date is yet to be defined. See this link for more details:
http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/dinamic.php?pagina=tudo_karachi_ing

The Polycentric WSF 2006 Africa has just taken place in Bamoko (Mali) from January 19th to 23rd 2006. See this link for more details:
http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/dinamic.php?pagina=tudo_bamako_ing

MORE INFO
If you would like to try to stay up to date with the growing global social forum movement then perhaps you would like to subscribe to the WSF Bulletin at:
http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/cadastro.php?cd_language=2