Alternatiba (« Alternative », in Basque languageDéfinition d'alternatiba dans le dictionnaire Elhuyar) is a framework to mobilise society to face the challenges of climate change. Numerous Alternatiba events, which provide hundreds of alternatives in order to raise people's awareness and to stimulate behaviour change, have been or will be organised in over sixty different French and European cities.
Additionally, these initiatives aim to put pressure on politicians, especially before the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (and the next United Nations Climate Change conferences).
History
The first Alternatiba, village of Alternatives, took place in Bayonne on 5–6 October 2013. It was initiated by the Basque environmental organization Bizi!, and gathered over 12.000 people. Following the failure of the Copenhagen Summit in 2009, they felt it was time to show "European citizens that everything cannot be expected from political decisions at a higher level. We should start at the base, right where we live, with practical initiatives: eco-construction, short distribution chain, renewable energies, organic food, local money, etc. A list that should certainly not be restrictive in order to create a European citizen dynamic".According what said an organizer of this event. See Article, La Vie, 6 October 2013.
In a festive and friendly atmosphere, the visitors were able to discover that "solutions exist; they are already put into effect by thousands of associations, local communities and individuals. Even better: these alternatives contribute to a more pleasant society where solidarity, justice and people matter.Reporterre, 6 October 2013.”
The first village hosted 50 conferences and 15 thematic areas with workshops and stands, as well as a vast number of artistic and educational activities. Ninety organizations supported the event such as Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, SUD solidaires, Attac, Biocoop, the Nicolas Hulot Foundation as well as a thousand volunteers""Alternatiba ! lance la fronde contre le réchauffement", L'Humanité, Friday 4 October 2013 (page visited on 31 August 2016). Stéphane Hessel became the sponsor of the event in 2012, followed by his wife Christiane Hessel after his death. She concluded the event with a speech calling for the construction of 10, 100, 1 000 Alternatibas all over the world.Christiane Hessel's speech , www.alternatiba.eu.
On 22 February 2014, in Nantes, hundreds of people rallied for the first Alternatiba meeting on a European level.See reporting of the event in Reporterre The initiators of the Bayonne Alternatiba presented the guidelines and emphasized the main principles. In the wake of this event, a European framework for Alternatiba was created.See the details on the web-site of Alternatiba Nantes
A Charter describing the shared values and common principles of all the Alternatibas was defined on 6 October 2013See here the first formulation of the Chart. and then revised after successive debates of the Alternatiba committees.
During the summer of 2014, the Nantes Alternatiba committee proposed to create an "Alternatiba" anthem,The song can be heard by clicking here recorded by a collective from Nantes with professional and amateur musicians.Six months after its first production, according to the Reporterre article, it has been listen over 2,000 times.
Method and tools
The organization of the different Alternatiba collective reflect the experience gained by Bizi ! Cross-sectoral commissions decide on the location of the event, liaise with local governments and manage the funds. Organization relies on the work of a large number of volunteers.
Thematic committees concentrate on the content of the event and the organization of the thematic areas. At almost every Alternatiba, a climate area is introduced as well as different thematic areas concerning the use of natural and energy resources such as transport, energy, agriculture, food, and also areas dedicated to alternative lifestyles and culture, education, solidarity, shared goods, sustainable development, the necessity of international environmental justice, for example.
Alternatiba Tour in 2015
In 2015 the Alternatiba Tour crossed six European countries, using 3- or 4-person bikes and joined by other cyclists along the 5,000-km route. The aim of the Tour was to popularize the Alternatiba initiatives and to start mobilizing citizens on the climate. The tour ended in the Île-de-France region at the Paris Alternatiba on 26–27 September 2015.According to the article «5,000 kilomètres en vélo... et 1000 manières de soutenir le Tour Alternatiba !» published on 5 December 2014 in the French fanzine Basta !, "Quelques mois avant le sommet international sur le climat à Paris, fin 2015, un drôle de vélo va traverser six pays européens et parcourir 5000 kilomètres pour porter le message d’Alternatiba".
Alternatiba Tour in 2018 A second Alternatiba Tour launches on 9 June 2018 from Paris. The tour crosses 200 territories until the 6th of October, notably passing through Orléans, Lille, Brussels, Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse and arriving at Bayonne.According to the French article Climate: the Alternatiba Tour departs for 5,800 km from Paris to Bayonne of the French paper Sud-Ouest.fr, on 6 June 2018.
The arrival celebrates the opening of the alternative village of Bayonne, which marks the five years of the citizen dynamics. This edition is sponsored by the sociologist and philosopher Edgar Morin and the Senegalese anthropologist Mariama Diallo. The village ends with the reading by two teenagers of a manifesto entitled "The time of hope and action".According to the article "Warming:We are the last generation to be able to act" by Sophie Chapelle, in the fanzine Bastamag.net on the 11/10/2018.
Previous Alternatibas
Alternatiba collectives have currently been established in more than sixty cities, most of them in France.
2013
Bayonne – 5–6 October 2013 (first Alternatiba event)
2014
Agen – 13 September 2014 Valence d'Agen (Alternatome) - 3–4 May 2014 Gonesse – 20–21 September 2014 Paris Festival des Utopies Concrètes – 27–28 September 2014 Nantes – 28 September 2014The French newspaper Ouest-France published on the 2014, September, 29 Lille – 4–5 October 2014Anne-Sophie Novel, "Alternatiba, le mouvement citoyen qui fait le plein à tout va", Le Monde, 10 October 2014 (page visited on 31 August 2016). Socoa – 5 October 2014 Gironde – 10–12 October 2014Article, RTL, 13 October 2014. According to the regional newspaper Sud Ouest, more than visitors participated in conferences, spectacles and workshops in the Village Alternatiba Gironde Tahiti – 29–30 November 2014
2015
Todmorden (England) – 3 May 2015"The first of 42 of these eco festivals across Europe", Todmorden News (Todmorden), 15 April 2015 "Alternatiba Todmorden is the first of 42 Alternatiba festivals planned across Europe this summer. (...) The festival begins on Sunday, 3 May, starting at 10.45 am when the town Mayor is set to open it at Todmorden Town Hall. "Reduce, re-use and recycle is a good slogan to keep in mind in daily life," said Janet Rogers, one of the organisers. "Also, eating food which has taken less energy to produce and transport, will lower our energy consumption and therefore our CO2 emissions. (sic)","What's On in Arts Culture and Entertainment, Todmorden News on = 2015-04-17 Léribosc - L'Honor de Cos - 16–17 May 2015 Givors - 30 May 2015 Aber-Wrac'h - 5–7 June 2015« Alternatiba Attention au climat » Retrieved 2015-06-08 Saint-Sébastien (Spain) - 5–6 June 2015 Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines – 6–7 June 2015 Bagnères-de-Bigorre – 7 June 2015« Un festival pour changer la planète » in La Depeche consulted on 22 March 2015 Gap - 7 June 2015« Nouveau formum Alternatiba 05 pour regrouper les alternatives des Hautes-Alpes » http://alternatiba05.forumactif.org/ Chambéry - 13 June 2015 Nancy - 13–14 June 2015 Puy-de-Dôme – 14 June 2015 Narbonne - 16–17 June 2015 Montpellier - 20 June 2015 Île-Saint-Denis - 20 June 2015 Martigues - 23 June 2015Voir La Marseillaise.fr from 13 January 2015. Dijon - 26–28 June 2015 Béarn - 27–28 June 2, 2015 Strasbourg - 27–28 June 2015 Marseille - 27–28 June 2015http://blogs.mediapart.fr/blog/louise-fessard/190615/marseille-alternatiba-entre-en-desobeissance-civique-contre-gaudin mediaparthttp://www.20minutes.fr/marseille/1635391-20150619-marseille-ville-privee-village-alternatiba 20minutes.fr Rennes – 27 June 2015 Yonne – Joigny – 4 July 2015 Nord-Essonne – 4–5 July 2015N° du 04 Juil. 2015 : "Comment sauver la planète du réchauffement aux Ulis" by Sebastien Morelli", Le Parisien. Mulhouse – 19 July 2015 Geneva - 18–20 September 2015 (20,000 participants)Pascaline Minet, "À Genève, un festival pour le climat", Le temps, 23 September 2016, page 14.Alternatiba Léman , Geneva (page visited on 22 September 2016). Paris - 26–27 September 2015
2016
Geneva (Plaine de Plainpalais) - 22–24 September 2016
References
External links
European Alternatiba movement