- Free Accomodation - Kjell
Hi, If you are coming to Durban and would like to stay with friendly locals for free, please fill in this form. cheers, Kjell
- Sharing by Amara-CYD
Hi everyone,
I'm Amara and I'm coordinating the youth delegation from Canada. I'm forwarding along parts of an update I just sent to the Canadian Youth Delegation - some of it may not be relevant, but hopefully it'll save you a bit of time with logistics once you arrive. There's also some information in here for those of you who are interested in what is happening outside the conference centre.
[Pssst... if you're staying at Tekweni Backpackers, I've sent a more detailed and Tekweni-specific version of this email to at least 1 person on your delegation so ask around to make sure that gets to you. Let me know if you're staying near Florida Rd. and I can send you more info as well].
Let me know if there's anything else you would like me to (try to) figure out before you arrive! See you soon.
Amara
---- Getting to the hostel from the airport You can take the shuttle from the airport for R70 ($9 CDN) - it leaves every half hour from outside the airport and you buy the ticket on the bus. It stops at most hotels so just make sure you ask before you get on. The COP17 website also says there's a COP17 shuttle running every 20 minutes from the airport. It costs R130 ($16 CDN). Apparently taking a metered taxi from the airport is between R400-500 ($50-60 CDN). Where things are This map is oh-so-useful. I've been working with/living with the guys who made this website so we've been identifying important areas and useful shops/spaces nearby and putting them up on the map. For those of you interested in materials for actions - at 451 Umgeni rd., there's an art space that can be used for painting and across the street, there's an art supply shop that sells cheap used materials and fabrics for banners and costumes.
And here's something interesting: outside the ICC, the municipal government has created "Speakers Corner" (check out the third map) which is a "designated free-speech zone". Could be an interesting area to hang out and interview folks, hear their stories?
And fun Durban fact to keep in mind when asking for directions: just before the FIFA world cup, they renamed every single street. When giving directions, people often give the old, colonial names they're used to but google maps (and the streets) have all the new names.
Transport The COP17 website has pretty good info on local transport. To get to the conference center and to get between hotels there's a free, fancy exclusive hotel shuttle service. C17 (the civil society space) is still figuring out their transport but from just about anywhere, you can take a taxi (a minibus, also costs R4) to the central transport hub and catch a bus to UKZN from there. When taking taxis/metered taxis, keep in mind that they call traffic lights robots - when you want to hop out of a taxi, you shout robot and the driver pulls over at the next set of lights. It's fun.
Internet So this is something I'm working on more but here's what I've learned so far: - The conference center and the civil society space at UKZN will have wifi. - A few cafes have internet (but it's not high speed). - Most people here buy data sticks in 2 year contracts but you can also sometimes find them for R400 ($50) at a telecom or cell c store. Then you can buy R150 ($20) of credit for 2 gigs before midnight and 1 gig after midnight. - If you have data on your phone, you can try tethering an internet connection. - A few of us are trying to figure out whether you can share USB connections through modem trickery. Fingers crossed. - Please get in touch with me if you are good at the internet.
Phones I've unlocked my blackberry and I'm using a SIM card I bought here - you can buy airtime/SMS minutes almost anywhere (cafes, tea rooms, convenience stores, gas stations, or grocery stores). You can also buy data minutes (I haven't done this yet so I'm not sure if you can buy data anywhere but word on the street is you can punch in a code to convert your airtime minutes into data minutes... I'll let you know when I know more).
If you bring your phone from abroad, make sure it's unlocked to be able to take South African SIM cards. T his website is great for quickly unlocking your blackberry for $8. You can also rent phones at the airport: http://www.rentafone.net/home/ In case you want to buy a phone here, I picked up a cheaper R99 ($13) vodacom phone at Checkers (a grocery store), the same phone was R199 at vodacom. If you go to the Windermere centre or the Davenport centre, you'll be able to find a checkers and a vodacom in the same building.
Inside the Conference Centre YOUNGO spokescouncil meetings are at 9am. I'm not sure when their daily briefings are but I do know that Climate Justice Now! has the ENGO meeting room booked from 9am - noon and Climate Action Network International has the room between noon and 3pm. The side event schedule is here. The exhibit schedule is here. The overview schedule is here (and there's loads more info on the unfccc.int site). Outside the Conference Centre
I've caught onto a couple of narratives around what's happening on the outside. There's something that has to do with "green hearts" which I'll learn more about tomorrow because there's some sort of big announcement. Some of the folks on the outside have been building a narrative around "the circus is coming to town" - their message is that COP17 is a circus, it's trickery and a distraction from the real issues. They're planning a bunch of circus-themed direct action. I'm pasting their call to action below :) There's also a fair amount of greenwashing going down - people have wrapped their trees in green cloth to show their support for the environment...
Okay, this is all for now! See you next week!
Amara
----
Call to Action: The Circus is coming to Town.
The United Nations Conference Of Parties process has turned into a circus. Year on year it rolls into town and dazzles, amazes and wows before moving on. Nothing changed, nothing solved, eagerly awaiting the next one. We are all part of this circus. To the woops of he crowd the wilds are tamed, reduced to party tricks and dancing monkeys. As the drama unfolds up high the distressed dansel teeters closer to the precipice, whilst the clown troupe below fight over placement of the water barrel. As the loudest in the audience cry 'stop', others pray for a safe solution (we call on our leaders to deliver an ambitious, just and binding deal in............insert country name here) and the children watch in fear. The show continues UNinterrupted.
The UN is paralysed into inaction, with powerful corporate voices drowning out any real solutions to climate change. Dubbed the Conference of Polluters, no just and ambitious deal to tackle climate change can come from this process. Climate change is not a problem, but a symptom of the wider crises of unaccountable governments, corporations and institutions.
The delegates are the clowns in suits, performing for the media, and must be exposed as such.
This is a narrative that we are building for COP17 in durban. The visual metaphors and puns are strong, the comparisons almost two close for comfort. Inspired by CIRCAhttp://www.clownarmy.org, whose successful tactics of absurdity echo's the state of the negotiations, and use the power of satire and comedy to achieve change.
'We are clowns because what else can one be in such a stupid world. Because inside everyone is a lawless clown trying to escape. Because nothing undermines authority like holding it up to ridicule. Because since the beginning of time tricksters have embraced life's contradictions, creating coherence through confusion. Because fools are both fearsome and innocent, wise and stupid, entertainers and dissenters, healers and laughing stocks, scapegoats and subversives. Because buffoons always succeed in failing, always say yes, always hope and always feel things deeply. Because a clown can survive everything and get away with anything.' - Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army
We are building a clown army, and we have been blessed with an official COP17 logo of the baobab that is a perfect jesters hat. We call for the support from CIRCA in our endeavours to challenge the powerful forces that are conspiring against us. We call for solidarity with the occupy movements globally that are taking back power from the these structures. We call for real solutions that put the rights of Mother Nature at the heart of our societies.
'We are an army because we live on a planet in permanent war - a war of money against life, of profit against dignity, of progress against the future. Because a war that gorges itself on death and blood and shits money and toxins, deserves an obscene body of deviant soldiers. Because only an army can declare absurd war on absurd war. Because combat requires solidarity, discipline and commitment. Because alone clowns are pathetic figures, but in groups and gaggles, brigades and battalions, they are extremely dangerous. We are an army because we are angry and where bombs fail we might succeed with mocking laughter. And laughter needs an echo.'
This is a call to all the clowns in us.
Join us in exposing the absurdity of the COP. Don wigs, pink featherdusters, honkers and your best pranks. Join our clown army in person or solidarity as we show the Conference of Polluters that laughter is really the best medicine.
Tactics
The imbalance of forces in influencing the UNFCCC COP leaves civil society and ‘the people’ on the outside, shut out and with no real negotiating power. In order to make our voices heard requires innovative tactics. Up against an unsympathetic corporate media, and local ignorance and apathy to environmental issues, our tactics must be creative and clever.
Whilst they have money, power, police protection and bikini clad sushi tables, we have creativity, passion and connectivity. The power of the internet to coordinate, implement and publicise actions has freed us from previous constraints, and can amplify our actions through intelligent use of social media.
From the London Stock Exchange to Wall St, creative action is taking centre stage. Effectively used through Camps for Climate action, to the UK Uncut ‘for web’ actions, absurdity and humour cuts through media and social barriers.
The circus narrative gives us the media hooks and events as the counter theme of violent protest vs authority.
The clowns have already begun to perform, #ows
http://yeslab.org/bull
|
Ċ ď Adrian Yeo, Nov 23, 2011 11:08 AM Ċ ď Adrian Yeo, Nov 23, 2011 11:08 AM
|