Three international participants were invited to join Young Friends of the Earth Europe (YFoEE) at their Network Gathering meeting in Croatia (11th – 15th April 2013) to learn from the network, to share their group’s work and to make links towards strengthening solidarity between grassroots environmental groups across the globe. These are their reflections on their experiences and what the term ‘solidarity’ means to them.
Cristian Santiago
Otros Mundos (Chiapas) / Friends of the Earth Mexico
During the Annual Gathering Meeting of Young Friends of the Earth Europe, I was invited to share some of the environmental problems we face in Latin America and the Caribbean and I had the opportunity to meet two other international guests from South Africa and South Korea and their local challenges.
I can say it was a really exciting meeting where Jagoda Munic, actual chairperson of Friends of the Earth International, and having her explain to us how this big federation is organized and gets internal agreements through consensus rather than only voting. It was very interesting for all of us to see the diversity that this kind of group has and so many different perspectives about one issue but that still a brotherhood could be felt.
Solidarity was one of the topics we analyzed during the event and I could realize how actions to protect the environment and health that are taking place in Europe can have a political impact in other parts of the planet. For instance, when people say no to transgenic soy, our mother earth is grateful as well as everybody’s health, but still it has a political stand when you don’t buy soy produced by Monsanto (the ugly transnational) that was imposed to Paraguay promoting coup d’états. This kind of action brings solidarity just like a protest outside an embassy.
Also when we talked about solidarity we understood that sometimes even a letter can make the difference for those people who are suffering harassment or violence only because of their political and environmental activism.
http://www.otrosmundoschiapas.org/
Megan Lewis
groundWork, Friends of the Earth South Africa
The week spent with Young Friends of the Earth Europe (YFoEE) and my fellow international participants at the Network Gathering meeting in Croatia has inspired and motivated me about our collective work towards realising a beautiful and sustainable future for our generation and those after us. The beautiful setting and welcoming people of Zelena Akcija/Friends of the Earth Croatia and Sunny Village in Jagnedovec really aided the learning process for all of us, and it was impossible to not take away at least a handful of new information, experience and ideas to both broaden our own work in South Africa and to continue to build solidarity on an international scale.
While acts of solidarity can be performed in different ways, the meaning of the word seems to stay true and consistent across the world – it’s about knowing that someone, somewhere cares! And this meeting went a long way in illustrating that in the connections made between individuals and groups, and what this means for the future support of our campaigns and challenges no matter how far away. By building solidarity between the groups, our goal of creating a movement of people working across the globe for a common purpose of people living healthily in their environments becomes a more tangible reality.
Yun-Sung Kim
지구의 벗 전북환경운동연합 / Korea Federation for Environmental Movements / Friends of the Earth South Korea
I think the place called Sunny Village where I stayed was nice. The hosts were kind and warm so I felt very comfortable. I am not vegan or vegetarian, either. But the food there was so great. Everything was so tasty. I even forgot that the food was for vegans or for vegetarians while eating. The weather was good. But it would be better if the temperature difference wasn’t big between days and nights. The programs for YFoEE Network Gathering were great. They were well-scheduled on time with well-prepared content. You all had warm hearts with passion for environmental movements and campaigns. I was so impressed and inspired a lot. Thank you all.
Many different ideas were shared among us and those are really great but already on going. What I can say is general and broad. If we build solidarity, we should make a common cause in environmental issues that we empathize with. For example, when we had time to share about what kind of channels each of our organizations use to spread campaign info or event, the answers were quite similar. We all used Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, print media, radios, and so on. But we want to improved those existing channels or find new channels.
The main point mentioned above is to make a common connection that YFoEE and other people can empathise with.
Young Friends of the Earth Europe greatfully acknowledges financial support from the Council of Europe- European Youth Foundation for this activity.
