Warsaw Action Camp 2015

/english below/

ACTION CAMP – obóz okupacyjny

DATA: 11-25 września

MIEJSCE: Warszawa, Polska

 Od kilku miesięcy kolektyw R.O.D. zajmuje teren należący do gigantycznej spółki deweloperskiej i miasta. Dostajemy sygnały, że biznesmeni zaczynają krążyć nad nami jak sępy i nie podoba im się nasza działalność, która może zakłócić inwestycje. Użytkownicy pobliskich działek dostali list od spółki deweloperskiej z nakazem opuszczenia działek do 30 sierpnia. Wiemy, że deweloper nie ma żadnej podstawy prawnej, stara się wyłącznie zastraszyć użytkowników i zmusić ich do dobrowolnego opuszczenia terenu. Chce użyć podstępu, ale my stawimy mu opór. Pierwszym krokiem jest action camp – okupacja terenu małego lasku bezpośrednio przylegającego do terenu działek. Camp ma kilka celów, z których żaden nie jest mniej ważny:

1. Powstrzymanie brutalnych działań dewelopera
2. Protest przeciwko niszczeniu terenów zielonych
3. Zamanifestowanie absurdu posiadania ziemi
4. Zwrócenie uwagi mediów i opinii publicznej na brutalne metody działania deweloperów i innych wielkich korporacji
5. Nawiązanie pozytywnych kontaktów z sąsiadami – wspólna walka o zachowanie terenów zielonych
6. Powiększenie kolektywu i przejęcie terenu na stałe
7. Rozpoczęcie kampanii przeciwko TTIP

Co się wydarzy podczas obozu?

Camp to dwutygodniowe wydarzenie. Pierwszy tydzień poświęcimy stawianiu konstrukcji potrzebnych podczas okupacji i obozu – pomieszczeń mieszkalnych, kuchni polowej, toalety kompostowej, domków na drzewach i ogólnemu ogarowi przestrzeni. To czas który mamy nadzieję będzie pełen szalonych pomysłów, kreatywności i zabawy. Pragniemy naprawdę PRZEJĄĆ ten teren. Zamanifestować absurdalność posiadania ziemi. Na drugi tydzień planujemy rozmaite warsztaty (tematyka będzie zależeć od uczestników) i dyskusje, które pod różnym kątem ujmować będą problem TTIP (żywności, ziemi, praw pracowniczych, dostępu do informacji). Podczas wydarzenia chcielibyśmy aby odbyło się wiele warsztatów praktycznych, więc jeżeli posiadacie szeroko rozumiane umiejętności techniczne i jesteście zainteresowani poprowadzeniem warsztatów lub znacie takie osoby, koniecznie dajcie znać. Przed przyjazdem prosimy o przesłanie informacji na maila kiedy zamierzacie przybyć i jakim środkiem transportu (mamy ograniczoną ilość miejsca na samochody więc musimy to dobrze zaplanować). Przysyłajcie również wszelkie inne pytania, sugestie wątpliwości. Namioty i ciepłe śpiwory mogą okazać się bardzo przydatne. Pogoda może nam sprzyjać (wrzesień bywa ciepły) ale może też sprawiać nieprzyjemne niespodzianki. Do czasu campu będziemy na bieżąco informować o postępie przygotowań.

Plan:
I tydzień: zajęcie lasu, budowa pomieszczeń mieszkalnych i społecznych, toalety kompostowej, domków na drzewach, kuchni, itp
II tydzień: warsztaty (zależne od propozycji uczestników/uczestniczek), dyskusje wokół TTIP (dostęp do ziemi, prawa socjalne i pracownicze, własność intelektualna, itp.), dodatkowe wydarzenia: wolny targ, muzyczne jam-session, Tea-tipi przeciw TTIP czyli przyjazne dla każdego/każdej miejsce do relaksu.

Więcej informacji wkrótce!

KONTAKT: radicalallotmentgardens@riseup.net

Date: 11th – 24th of  September 2015

Place: Warsaw, Poland (more info will be announced)

During 4 months of occupying the area of allotment gardens in Warsaw, we have been able to prepare several cottages, build a water instalation and a small 12V system, prepare and cultivate three small vegetable gardens, build several constructions like the tipi, the bender and the water towers, start building a ROD Day Room (a social space with a bar, an oven, a library, an infokiosk, etc). The big challenge has been to establish the positive relationships with old usufructories, gardeners from this area, and to attempt in radicalising them or at least involving them into resistance. But every month we gain new allies. We are proud of our achievements but we also know that time to struggle is coming.

The situation is quite complicated. We occupy an area belonging to a giant developer company and to the city. We are receiving signals that businessmen started to circle over us like vultures and that they dislike our activity which may disrupt the investment. The gardeners got a letter from the company Dom Development with orders to leave the area until 30th of August. But we know that the developer has no legal basis to do it. The company is just trying to intimidate the gardeners and force them to voluntarily leave the area. The developer wants to win by stratagem but we already know them. And we will recalcitrate. The first step is the Action Camp – occupation of the small wood directly adjacent to the allotment gardens. The Camp has several goals and each of them is important:

1. To block Dom Development Comany’s action in this area;

2. To protest against the destruction of green areas by developers and private companies

3. To manifest absurdity of owning the land

4. To pay media and public attetion on the rogue methods of working used by the developers or other big corporations. To establish a relationship with the neighborhood. The neighbors don’t know much about us but they imagine many bad things. We would like to show them that they don’t need to fear and that we are just a normal group of people with a specified ideology. We don’t want to damage their houses or disturb them. On the contrary – we started with an occupation but we also want to share this area and to open it for the local people. We would like to create, realize our ideas and we want to make the same possible for everybody who would like to use this land.

5. To show different action dynamics. We realised that in the Polish anarchist/libertarian movement three types of action prevail: speeches/presentations, demonstrations, gigs/parties. People have a problem with rejecting these schemes. During our Action Camp we would like to show that it is possible to mix the act of creation, fun and essence. Moreover, it is important for us to promote goals, methods and examples of actions derived from RtF network. When we started occupying the area we knew that there would be a conflict. We knowingly act against developers who want to start their work soon. This type of acting is not very common here. People are rather used to looking for safe places for themselves.

6. To make the collective bigger and occupy the area permanently. We hope that after the camp new people will stay and join the collective – the number of members should be big enougth to keep the gardens and the wood as well. The current dynamics within the collective lets us assume that the radicalization of activities can contribute to promoting the tactic of the occupation.

7. To start a campaign against TTIP. We are concerned about the silence surrounding the treaty which will have an impact on so many areas. The time of the camp is close to the date of the vote in the European Parliament. Meanwhile in Poland, silence prevails around it. We must start acting before it is too late.

Date of Camp: 11th – 24th of September

What we need:

Because we are a new and small collective occupying a big area with a big potential, first of all we need various tools (battery-powered as well as manual), nails, screws and – importantly – support at the place. Money is also a very important. We are spending money on printing informational brochures, ordering waste skips and many other stuff (power generator, gel batteries, etc.). We need the skips to clean the wood we want to occupy. These waste containers alone will cost around 300-750 euro. We know it is a lot but the wood is in a bad condition – there is a lot of garbage and we think that cleaning should come first and is very important. Therefore, we need all support we can get (donation events are welcome). If you have a possibillity to come with vans or bigger cars it would be great if you could come with stuff useful for contructing. We started collecting it as well but any amount is needed. We also encuorage you to take your personal tools if you would like to participate in the construction works at the camp.

What will happen during the camp:

The event will take two weeks. The first week be devoted to cleaning up the forest and building the structures – social and living spaces, kitchen, compost toilet, and so on. It is then when – hopefully – we will develop lots of loony ideas, creativity and fun. We really want to RECLAIM the area and manifest the absurdity of land ownership. For the second week we plan different workshops (the topics strongly depend on the participants) and discussions around TTIP (food, access to land, worker rights, access to information). More about the program will be published on our web site: www.reclaimthefieldspl.noblogs.org. It would be great if during the event many practical workshops take place, so if you have any technical skills you (or your friends) would like to share you’re more that welcome to organize a workshop. Just let us know.

Please inform us of your plans to come – specially if you’re going by car. There is not very many parking spaces so we will need to organize them, and it will be very useful to know how many we need.

If you have questions, doubt or proposals – send a message to us.

What to take along:

Remember to take a tent and thick sleeping bags. Usually, September is warm in Poland, but the weather can make suprises, so it is better to be prepared. It would be great if you could take music instruments with you as well. If you want to come with pets, it is possible, but please let us know. And, of course, take your friends, possitive energy and smile.

We hope to see you in Warsaw and we think this will be a great opportunity for international networking.

Because of the activity of the developer and the threat of commencement of the operation at the beginning of September – we need as many people here as possible from the beginning of the month. So if you can come earlier than 11th of Semptember – you are more than welcome!

We will send more info before the camp. Or you can contact us:

email: radicalallotmentgardens@riseup.net (English, German, Polish)

 www.reclaimthefieldspl.noblogs.org