Climate Indymedia

Hey so I thought I'd tell ya'll about my latest project...

I somehow got drawn into taking on a big role on putting together an IMC.

IMCs are 'Independant Media Centres' - "A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues." Most of them are local based websites where anyone can post news stories. For instance there are sites for Cites all over the UK, then National UK Site, then IMC World. They are structures like this all over the planet.

The project I have been involved in is a Global Climate focused indymedia.

Its been pretty cool working with people all over the planet.. sometimes having meetings over the internet, with people you have never met, at strange times of the day & night. We found that the universal language of The Simpsons prevails! My main input has been the design, content management, hitting people with virtual sticks, and learning some of the coding to get it online..

Things have been going pretty well, we are now getting many submissions from all over the world. There is still a lot of tecnical work to do, but its a good start.



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Climate Indymedia Is Born

A global group of climate and media activists are establishing a topical indymedia site on climate issues. We are concerned that news reporting on climate issues too often is biased against local communties solutions and the concerns of local communities to government and industry are not being heard. We hope to provide a place for a range of news and views on climate issues to have a voice.

Our site is supported by members of many grass roots environmental, social, climate and alternative media organisations. We hope that you will take advantage of our site to post your stories so that people globally can access of the views of the majority world on this important issue.

You can post on our site by visiting:
http://www.climateimc.org or emailing it to us at imc-climate-organising [at] indymedia.org.au

For information about our project and how we are organsied you can visit our documentation site at

http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/ImcClimate

If you're really keen to get involved in this project you might like to join our mailing list at:

http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-climate-organising

The IMC-Climate Collective
www.climateimc.org

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Bypassed

When I had to leave NZ in such a hurry last year I was in Wellington.

It was the final few weeks before work started on an inner city bypass the local community had been campaigning against for about 10 years. The Bypass is very close to the hearts of many there as many people I know live in the nehibourhood the bypass is to cut through to make it quicker to get into the city. Tensions and preparations were escalating towards the first big demolitions of houses. The local activists were training, organising and there were actions planned I have roles in.. the atmosphere was tense but electric.

And so suddenly, unexpectedly, I was on the other side of the world and in my first few weeks back in the UK I followed the events unfold on TVNZ, Indymedia and text messages from friends "I'm locked on to a digger!", "I'm barricaded into a building they are demolishing!!".

But time went on, most people were arrested, trespassed of the bypass route, the battle has been lost and big parts of the the neiborhood have been trashed.

So it is with mixed feeling I return to Wellington, I am really stoked see so many friends again, but where I am staying is an activist house and community centre right on the route, all the houses are around have been demolished and moved and to really drive it home where there was once homes there is now a two story mound of earth next door.



Its really sad to see posters up for saving community gardens spaces that are now is piles of gravel and mud.



I hear many of the activists here have one by one had their dark times, and depressions, and dissapeaerd form the scene for huge chunks of time. And now the destruction continues around. It made me think of the campaigns I have been involved in and how I don't have to spend much time around the spaces that have been destroyed, and daily face the defeat and in the wrecked places I have tried to save.

So I want to say a big ups to the wellington crew for all their energy and staying strong and continuing to fight environmental and social destruction while they live with this.

with love x