This is the third in a four-part series of articles on austerity in Greece and the response of society. Read part 2 here.
The Festival4sce takes place for
three consecutive years at the Cultural Centre of Helliniko, a place that has a
particular symbolic meaning and is related to the struggles against the selling
off of public land and public property and more specifically to the struggle
against the government’s privatisation project[4]
of the former international airport at Helliniko and the nearby beach of Agios
Kosmas in the southern suburbs of Athens. The citizen Committee against the Metropolitan
Park of Helliniko believes that coordination among different struggles and
initiatives are essential for the reappropriation and the new use of the
buildings and infrastructure of the former airport, unveiling initiatives that
will be a tangible example for the creation of relationships of solidarity,
cooperation and reciprocity among citizens. Some examples of such initiatives
based in the nearby premises are the Metropolitan
Community Clinic at Helliniko and the Self-managed urban garden at Helliniko,
practical examples of this other world growing.
During the Syntagma Square occupation,
in various citizen assemblies and working groups, the organisation of an event
that would foster communication, cooperation and networking in a practical way
amongst the various alternative initiatives scattered all over the country, was
repetitively discussed. One year later, in October 2012, members of various
initiatives and collectives[1] such
as the Athens Time Bank-Syntagma Square,
Kafeneio
Akadimias Platonos, the
collective Nea
Guinea, the eco-community project Spithari-Waking
Life, the Votsalo network
amongst others, put in action this idea by organising the so called Festival for
Solidarity and Cooperative Economy (#Festival4sce): more than 200 citizen
initiatives from all over Greece participated and organised practical workshops, discussions,
presentations and collective events, thus giving the opportunity to visitors to
discover another world, where “market laws and exploitation of human labour for
profit maximisation isn’t the rule, a world in which human relationships become
meaningful again”[2].
Each year the Festival is organised
around special thematic threads such as self-management, self-sufficiency, self-reliance,
localisation or degrowth. The programme includes discussion workshops, DIY
workshops, thematic discussions, workshops for kids, various cultural events
such as concerts, music, theatre, performances, exhibitions, video projections,
thus combining theoretical and practical knowledge, all designed under a
radical thinking perspective. Furthermore, the Festival4sce provides space and
time for spontaneous assemblies among groups and initiatives with common
interests in order to network and build bonds of cooperation. As a result, the
first meeting of exchange networks in Greece was held during the first edition.
Besides, the Festival4sce is a source of inspiration of various events taking
place in other parts of the country. An interesting example is the CommonsFest, taking place since 2013 in Heraklion, Crete.
Philosophy-Principles-Objectives: While the
foundations of the past crumble down, we are watering the flowers that grow in
the ruins.
The Festival4sce focuses on the
self-organised citizen-driven movement which is taking place in Greece and
worldwide, searching and creating new ways of thinking, living and working. A
movement which promotes a world that fosters communication, mutual exchange and
the transition to a society based on participation and cooperation,
self-management, solidarity, sustainability, self-sufficiency and respect of
man and nature alike.
The
Festival4sce aims to:
- Illuminate what is already taking place in terms of citizen initiatives in Greece and abroad
- Discover impact beyond the local area
- Become a meeting point for interaction among initiatives and grassroots movements in Greece and abroad
- Inspire learning of new practices and foster exchange of knowledge and experiences
- Spread the concept, the ideas and the principles of solidarity and cooperative economy to larger groups of the society
- Create potential collective projects
- Contribute to the transition process towards a systemic change based on self-management, self-sufficiency, solidarity and degrowth
- Become a source of inspiration for other similar events
Its philosophy is imprinted in
declarations and press releases: “...we know that we are living the last
episodes of a world based on exploitation, injustice and the illusion of
eternal abundance. This world is collapsing and it’s up to us to highlight the
structures that will not only replace the current impasse but will also build a
tangible example for the creation of relations of solidarity and mutual
cooperation”[3].
Although philosophy, values and
strategy are under a continuous and progressive discussion, some basic
principles reaching unanimous consensus are:
- Independence from political parties, institutions and organisations
- No funding accepted by any private or public institution or organisation
- Self-management
- Direct-democracy and open processes
- Openness to society
- Horizontality
- Shared decision-making
Place
The Festival4sce takes place for
three consecutive years at the Cultural Centre of Helliniko, a place that has a
particular symbolic meaning and is related to the struggles against the selling
off of public land and public property and more specifically to the struggle
against the government’s privatisation project[4]
of the former international airport at Helliniko and the nearby beach of Agios
Kosmas in the southern suburbs of Athens. The citizen Committee against the Metropolitan
Park of Helliniko believes that coordination among different struggles and
initiatives are essential for the reappropriation and the new use of the
buildings and infrastructure of the former airport, unveiling initiatives that
will be a tangible example for the creation of relationships of solidarity,
cooperation and reciprocity among citizens. Some examples of such initiatives
based in the nearby premises are the Metropolitan
Community Clinic at Helliniko and the Self-managed urban garden at Helliniko,
practical examples of this other world growing.
The 3rd #Festival4sce as a linking tool
Since 2013 the assembly of the Festival4sce
has been in touch with Spanish activists, who gradually integrated the
coordination team, bringing new dynamics and new perspectives on how such an
event could evolve. Exchange of experiences and common ideas as well as the
lack of feedback and information flow between Greece and abroad put together
Greeks and Spanish on a common target: how to build bonds with Greek and
European initiatives.
The interest of this year's festival
focused on this aspect: how to create effective ways of communication among various
initiatives. Irini -member of the Votsalo Network-
declares that the festival was born from the “need for solidarity initiatives
from below to meet together and interact”. As Jeza -member
of 15M
International- puts it; the
#Festival4sce is “a golden opportunity” to cooperate with Greek comrades taking
into account “the large number of solidarity initiatives that are emerging in
Greece and the lack of information or effective communication among them”. Emma
-member of the Citizen Debt Audit Platform (PACD) in Spain-, who follows closely the evolution of grassroots initiatives
in Greece, sees the festival as an opportunity to “make contact again and learn
about their developments, meet new initiatives and build something together,
learning from our collaboration”. Photis
-member of the Spithari-Waking Life project- agrees: “I think that the festival is a great opportunity to
meet and further cooperate among
several initiatives of self-management. I feel that
cooperation with our Spanish comrades
is excellent and
their contribution to the organisation of the Festival is extremely valuable”.
Most of the members of the Festival’s
coordination team, all of them members of grassroots projects and citizen
initiatives, have made their first contact on the squares. “Syntagma Square was
a great “street university”, where we learnt a lot mostly by practice: solidarity,
reciprocity, respect using direct democracy processes were some of the
“disciplines” that everybody had in one or another way to “study”. But its most
important legacy is the hub of human relationships that has been created. Even
if some of us got to know each other through the festival assembly, what unites
us is the Square” admits Kat, member of the Athens Time Bank-Syntagma
Square and continues: “we have though still
a lot to learn as far as radical management is concerned and this is the
purpose of the Festival this year”.
As
a result, this year the Festival hosted for the first time European projects
such as Cooperativa
Integral Catalana, Can Masdeu, LA PAH, Incredible
Edible, Brixton Pound, RIPESS, Fair.Coop or Fralib, among others. The discussions covered various thematic threads
such as self-management, self-sufficiency, commoning and commons, alternative
currencies, exchange networks, eco-communities, social clinics and social
kitchens, resource allocation, sustainability and social participation, giving
the opportunity to Greek and European projects and initiatives to exchange
experiences, knowledge and know-how, share common struggles and initiate common
actions. The various discussions and workshops were organised using
participatory tools and methods in order to foster two-way communication and
feedback among participants, visitors and organisers
with the objective of spreading the ideas and the philosophy of solidarity and
cooperative economy to larger groups of society.
References:
[2] According to the Press Release 2012.
[3] Festival4sce Press Release 2013.
[4] This project -called Metropolitan Park of Helliniko and included in the
50 bn euro privatisations programme- refers to a huge project of the Greek
government for the exploitation and development of the 6,204
acre site of the former airport
at Helliniko and the nearby coast of Agios Kosmas. Just as in
most cases of high value rural development projects, this project is planned to
be assigned for 99 years for exploitation to Lamda Development S.A., subsidiary
of Latsis Group of Companies, owned by one of the richest businessmen tycoons
in Greece and worldwide, ranked 83th on Forbes's 2013 World's
Billionaire's list. Lamda Development intends to
construct a huge consumption centre including shopping malls, a casino, hotels,
luxurious accommodations and infrastructure to serve the nearby golf course. A
‘park’ is planned to be constructed as an ornament of the entire investment. The project has met the opposition of citizens and residents of surrounding suburbs, as well as
local authorities, who claim the protection
of one of the last urban green spaces in Athens and the creation of a park in
the entire area with minimum human intervention, free
access to everyone and open to public use. Government’s argumentation for the
need of public revenues is highly criticised by opposed parties, including
Mayors of surrounding Municipalities as it is doubted that the State will
actually benefit from this investment. More info and signatures collection
against the investment here.