Overview of G8 mobilisation
Thursday, 16 June 2005 – www.dissent.org.uk
G8 Summit 2005: Dissent! Update
Important information about anti-G8 Summit activities in Scotland, including arrival and accommodation.
The following sections are included:
(1) General, (2) Transport to the Summit (3) Arrival in Edinburgh (4) Accommodation in Edinburgh (5) Arrival in Glasgow (6) Accommodation in Glasgow (7) Rural Convergence Space (8) Timetable of actions.
Protests and Resistance to the 2005 G8 Summit looks likely to be enormous. Many people are arriving now, and asking about accommodation and getting further involved. Others are asking about convergence spaces and accommodation for the days leading up to and during the Summit. This article should give the basic information you require, or point to sources of more information.
Note, it appears that as the authorities cannot publicly disagree with the sentiment to 'Make Poverty History', and hence the protests, they are attempting to limit numbers coming here by highlighting a supposed lack of accommodation. The police and media regularly intimidate anyone offering space to those against the G8, of any political stripe. Do not be intimidated by this. There is legal accommodation for those who require it, but perhaps not enough for everybody. Families and those with other legal concerns will be prioritised with legal places to stay. There are plenty of other accommodation options. There are already sorted convergence spaces.
Finally, we need more people to get involved now, resources and money. Help out with all of the below, donate things we need (http://www.dissent.org.uk/content/view/195/125/), or donation against the G8! (http://www.tenpounds.org/)
1. GENERAL
If you coming to protest and resist the G8 be as self sufficient as possible. Bring a tent, sleeping bag, waterproofs, warm clothes, strong footware, plate, cup and cutlery and an imagination! In general head for 'convergence spaces' - places where people can find information, meet, socialise, organise actions and get cheap food. Some convergence spaces offer accommodation.
Enquiries can be sent to dissent-enquiries
riseup.net or telephone 07913 263 515. But always check the website and websearch ('google') your enquiry first. You can also call the following numbers Edinburgh numbers: 0131 477 2954 (London Road Anti-G8 office), and 0131 554 2440 (Leith Walk InfoPoint).
There will be a free newspaper for the protests, with all the practical information you need. Look out for this.
2. TRANSPORT TO THE SUMMIT PROTESTS.
Anti-G8 Transport Hubs, offering lifts, and explanations of how to get to Scotland, from the rest of the UK and from Europe as cheap as possible are here:
[http://www.cambridgeaction.net/taxonomy/page/or/2934].
You can add your transport offers here too.
Special trains from London to Edinburgh can be booked now at [www.resistg8.org.uk]. Book now to guarantee a place.
Transport is also being organised by other mobilisations.
See: [http://www.resist.org.uk/reports/archive/g82005/g82005-05.php] or
[http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/mph/transport/view.do?code=G8]
3. ARRIVAL IN EDINBURGH
Go to one of the two central Edinburgh Dissent! InfoPoints now open, 24 hours per day at:
25 London Road, Edinburgh EH7 5D3.
10 Albert Place, Leith Walk, Edinburgh. EH7 5HN.
Forest Café, 3 Bristo Place, is a volunteer-run café and arts space, and is also a useful point of information. It has a big Anti-G8 noticeboard with info about meetings. The street entrance next to Forest Café will go to the Indymedia space above, setup from 25th June.
University Convergence Space. Part of Edinburgh student union is booked for Dissent! to hold convergence meetings, and workshops etc., from 29th July to 7th July. The address is Teviot buildings, Edinburgh Students Union Building, Bristo Square, Edinburgh.
Other parts of the university are being used by other groups.
4. ACCOMMODATION IN EDINBURGH.
Before the Summit:
Goto the Dissent! infoshop, 25 London Road, see above section, and we will find you somewhere from there. Exact accommodation will depend on numbers, and specific needs. Prepare to be flexible! It may be necessary to send people to Glasgow for accommodation before the 1st July. We are still actively looking for large warehouse space, and all other avenues. However, options in Edinburgh are almost exhausted.
During the Summit:
Our ideal scenario is to have a legal self-managed space for the week. However, the attitude of the local council, the volume of people expected and the focus on the rural convergence site (see below) mean this is not yet finalised, and may not be.
The following options exist.
The council is providing camping space on the outskirts of Edinburgh, near Craigmillar, a bus ride from town. The cost is likely to be 10 for the week. The council has currently put in place restrictions including potential searches and no meetings, but people involved in Dissent! are in dialogue with the council to remove these restrictions. The space is for 15,000 people, but the council also have a long list of back-up accommodation sites.
Concern has been expressed that due to poor community consultation there is significant local opposition to site in Craigmiller. Some efforts to ensure community support in other parts of Edinburgh to hosting protestors are being made.
The local media have repeatedly run stories that people will camp in the parks of Edinburgh such as Holyrood, and action will not be taken by the police to stop or evict city-centre camping over the week of the main protests.
5. ARRIVAL IN GLASGOW.
Goto the Dissent! InfoPoint, open 24 hours a day:
G42 Collective, Suite 3, 674 Pollockshaws Road, Glasgow, G41. This is on South Glasgow, get either the 44, 22, 23, 57 in Central Glasgow and ask for Eglington Toll. It is approx 30 mins walk from the city centre. If you have problems call 07981 954 132.
6. ACCOMMODATION IN GLASGOW.
Before the Summit: goto the G42 Collective space, and you will be directed to the Dissent! warehouse sleeping space which is open from now until well after the Summit.
During the Summit: the same warehouse space will be available. Additional space will be obtained if necessary.
The warehouse space is self-managed and is also used as a convergence space for meetings.
7. RURAL CONVEGENCE SPACE.
The rural convergence space will be a large self-managed outdoor space near Gleneagles: a space for all who aspire to radical decentralized alternatives to capital, power and ecological collapse. A place to meet, chat, eat, sleep, organise, and more.
Over the past 6 months, people from the Dissent! network have been trying to secure a large piece of land near Gleneagles. Lots of sites have fallen through which appears to have happened because of police pressure. The police appear happier to see people in the cities, as they know that the area close to Gleneagles is where we can really shut the G8 down!
We have now been offered a site, but are still negotiating for yet more rural space as the land isn't as big as some of the others. To put an end to rumour we make clear that it is not on the site of an old landfill, but nearby one filled in over 20 yrs ago. It is large enough for thousands to sleep, eat, plan and act from. Families and those with other legal concerns will be prioritised space to stay on the legal sites. Other people may want to form autonomous camping sites in the beautiful Scottish countryside around Gleneagles.
The rural convergence space will operate around a "neighborhood" system, similar to the "barrio" system used at some previous resistance camps. Neighborhoods will host camping, eating and meeting together and will be the focal point of decision making on the site. The neighborhoods will be information and discussion areas to aid communication across the site and beyond. Inter-neighborhood meetings will manage the whole site.
Many groups are already hosting neighbourhoods but more are needed. You don't need to be a huge group or have loads of equipment to host a neighbourhood. The neighborhoods should be self running, once people start arriving. The aim is for each neighborhood to be as autonomous as possible, with its own kitchen or food serving facilities, alternative-technology power sources and meeting space. A neighborhood could also include anything else you would like to bring, like a library, cinema, crèche or spaceship.
A site plan has been created by the 40+ participants at the recent 'Earth Activist training course'. People are needed to be on site setting up the space on the 25th June until the site opens.
Lots of stuff is needed for the site, see http://www.dissent.org.uk/content/view/195/125/ for the full list. Please provide what you can. Transport is available to get larger objects to the site, although if you can find a way of getting it here yourself, then all the better.
The site will be open to all from the 1st June. Bring a tent and your dreams of another world!
8. PUBLIC ACTIONS, DEMOSTRATIONS AND PROTESTS.
Late June
Rural Convergence Centre, with accommodation, opens near Gleneagles. Open to everyone. Camping equipment required. Location details will appear at: www.g8convergence2005.org
From Saturday 11th June
Cre8 Summat. Cre8 a community garden and social space along the proposed and widely opposed M74 motorway, Glasgow, until 18 June.
See Cre8 section.
Friday 17 June
Anti-G8 Bike Ride, leaves Brighton for Scotland. www.g8bikeride.org.uk
Sunday 29 June
Cre8 Summat. Community festival, Glasgow, until 3 July.
Saturday 2 July
Make Poverty History demonstration, Edinburgh
Sunday 3 July
Make Borders History. Tour in Glasgow www.makebordershistory.org
Monday 4 July
Day of Action against the armed wing of global capitalism. Blockade of Faslane nuclear submarine base. www.faslaneg8.com
Carnival for Full Enjoyment, No wage slavery, No Benefits Slavery, No Debt Slavery, No Army Slavery. Raucous party visiting the institutions responsible for the increasingly insecure way we experience our lives. Meet 12.00 @ West End of Princes St, Edinburgh. www.nodeal.org.uk
Tuesday 5 July
Open Borders, Close Dungavel Asylum Seeker Detention Centre! "Close Dungavel, No-one is Illegal!" mass protest near Glasgow. Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees. glascamrefhotmail.com
Beacons of Dissent! Lighting beacons on the hills to south of the G8 Summit. www.dissent.org.uk
Wednesday 6 July
Mass blockades of the G8 Summit. A diversity of tactics will be used to blockade the various routes to Gleneagles. Come along to the Convergence Spaces, meet with others and start organising how to disrupt the Superpower Summit! www.g8blockades.org.uk
Global Day of Action. An anti-capitalist day of action against the G8 in cities, towns and villages worldwide.Peoples' Global Action (PGA): www.agp.org | www.all4all.org
Hill-walking actions in the Ochil Hills, southeast of Gleneagles. Continuing throughout the Summit.
Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army's 'Operation H.A.H.A.A.' (House Arresting Half-witted Authoritarian Androids) begins. www.clownarmy.org
Thursday 7 July
Peoples' Golfing Association (PGA) Golf Tournament at Gleneagles! Dress for golf, rain or shine. www.dissent.org.uk/pga.html
Friday 8 July
International day of action against the root causes of climate change. Stop climate chaos - flood the G8! www.dissent.org.uk/g8climateaction
Other actions are also being prepared by G8 Feminist Action (g8feministaction.frockon.org), a queer anti-G8 group (www.queeruption.org.uk/queerg8), an autonomous kids group and many, many others.
Last Updated ( Saturday, 18 June 2005 )