Green Summer Academy 2019

Green Summer Academy 2019 „Closer to Europe”
Date:  11-14 July 2019
Location: Zespół Szkół Ekonomicznych, ul. Rzepińska 8, Ośno Lubuskie, Poland

Together with the Green Zone Foundation and the Green European Foundation (GEF) we invite you to the Green Summer Academy 2019. 

This year, the Green Summer Academy takes place at a special moment as The European Union has just elected a new Parliament. As we know, the pro-European Parties have maintained a clear dominance and, thanks to the so-called “Green wave”, the Greens/European Free Alliance gained 20 new members, and thus became the fourth biggest political group in the European Parliament.

For the first time in the Polish campaign debate, the subject of ecology emerged, concerning mostly climate change, energy transformation and environmental pollution.

At the Green Summer Academy, we are going to discuss the EU during the opening plenary debate: “Does the ‘Green wave’ in the European Parliament bring hope for facing the climate crisis and the improvement of democracy in the EU?”

Together with Green politicians from neighboring countries, we will debate if there is a solution for the development of Green cities in Poland.  

Climate change and energy transformation are going to be important topics of this year’s GSA thanks to the participation of energy and climate experts on one hand and representatives of pro-climate organizations, including grassroots movements such as Climate Camp, Earth Strike, Extinction Rebellion and the Youth Climate Strike (MSK), on the other.

The time has also come for political action in the fight for the preservation of biodiversity. What is the current state of the game population? What actions have we already undertaken and what is the result? What can we, should we and must we do as citizens, activists, experts and politicians? Is hunting still justified, and, if yes, then in which form and on what basis?

We are also going to reopen the discussion on the future economic model, considering questions such as: How can we stop the economic supremacy of corporations and the ongoing blind faith in economic growth as the desired course of action? How can we feminize the economy, expand the economy of Common Goods and develop a social and supportive economy? How can we accelerate the transition to an economy of self-limitation? How can we introduce indicators meant to limit the climate catastrophe to the leading economic institutions? How can we reduce resource consumption, limit the loss of biodiversity and improve social justice?

Important points on our agenda will include food and the necessary agricultural transformation to agroecology, the much-needed consistent policy focused on preserving fertile, uncontaminated soils and waters, and the access to good-quality food for each and every Pole and European. We are going to learn about the United Nations decade for agroecology, and consider if it is the same agroecology La Via Campesina, the Nyeleni movement and the Living Earth Coalition are fighting for and if this decade might serve the actions of the Green movement and its activists.    

The challenges are enormous and time is not on our side. The IPCC has warned us that we have 20 years at best to implement radical change. As well as knowledge, there is a need for action, self-organization and co-operation between ordinary citizens, activists, scientists, artivists, organizations, informal groups and movements, together with all involved people, activist platforms and Green politicians. We need to develop the skills to mobilize people and to advocate for the implementation of change at all levels, while exchanges of experience and knowledge are of the essence. At the GSA 2019, experiences will be shared by representatives of the Save the Rivers Coalition, the Living Earth Coalition, the LetThemLive! campaign, the Polish Climate Coalition, the Polish Green Network, the More than Energy network, the Urban Movement Congress, Climate Camp, Earth Strike, Extinction Rebellion Poland and the Youth Climate Strike, among others.

As usual, we are going to be accompanied by Green News (participants will receive the new ecology and climate-activist issue), the representatives of green think-tanks, foundations and parties from other countries and at European level, and the Polish Greens. 

Registration

Please register for this event via the form found here (in Polish).
To register your interest in taking part in this event in English, please contact:

GEF project coordinator Urszula Sadlowska +32 (0)2 234 65 70  urszula.sadlowska@gef.eu
Event partner Ewa Sufin-Jacquemart +48-664673700 ewa.sufin@strefazieleni.org

Find out more about the Green Summer University here.