20 free tickets for Green Gathering 2022 will soon be awarded to 20 activists, nominated by a combination of the GG crew and public.
Whilst low-impact living is one of the main components of The Green Gathering, this goes hand in hand with the need to engage in campaigning to enact policies and ethics on a wider scale. For as long as The Green Gathering and its previous incarnations have been around, we’ve been at the heart of the movement for social, economic and environmental justice.
Now we want to recognise those working to do the very same and before we draw the names of nominated activists at the end of the month, we’re keen to highlight a few of the campaigns they’ve been involved with – some you will have heard of, and a few you might not have. We hope you’ll be inspired.
An amazing example of how when you see injustice happening near to home, you can do something about it, even if you think you don’t know how or have no experience of campaigning before. The Anti-Fracking Nanas started as a way to bring together women in Lancashire who were opposed to fracking companies drilling on their doorsteps, involving many who wouldn’t normally label themselves activists at all.
Serving hot food to people in need, without judgement, since 2015. Refugee Community Kitchen has been providing nourishing meals for people displaced in the UK and France, prepared with love and offered in solidarity. Volunteers chop, stir, serve and raise funds to make this incredible service happen. The world being as it is, they’re always welcoming volunteers, so if you’re looking for a way to get involved in London, Edinburgh or Calais, here’s an excellent one.
Did you know the climate crisis is something we’ve been aware of, but largely ignoring, for decades? Exasperated, frightened and devastated by the lack of action, Extinction Rebellion catapulted it into the mainstream with incredible performative protest tactics in 2018 and 2019. XR is now a global movement with communities working together across the world. Anyone can become a rebel – just contact your local XR group to get involved. No matter who you are or what you do, it’s likely you’ll have a skill that’s needed.
Insulating people’s homes is a gloriously simple way to make a tremendous impact. It saves lives, saves money, and will reduce carbon emissions considerably. Convincing the government to take action is imperative and urgent, which is why Insulate Britain activists have taken to sitting on motorways to get their message heard. The extremity of this campaign is a direct response to the fact we don’t have much time left to reverse climate change, and the stand being taken by the activists involved, despite the criticism and potential jail time they face, is incredible.
With overwhelming amounts of misinformation in the media, Undercurrents ‘produce the news you don’t see’, and have been doing so since the early 90s. Their recent focus has been making videos on history, social justice and environmental change, from eco-building how-tos to a documentary on cycling across the world.
A group of people protesting Shell’s plans for the development of Cambo Oil Field off Shetland prove you don’t have to be involved in a large organisation to come together and protest. They’ve been holding rallies in Edinburgh, blocking entrances by sitting and lying down, stating that ‘“To approve the Cambo oil field would be an act of wilful climate criminality from the UK Government.”
Whilst the rest of the world news has been somewhat preoccupying of late, the government has been quietly pushing forwards a terrifying new Police, Crimes, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The rights this bill infringes are so wide-ranging it will affect us all. It will challenge our right to protest, right to roam and right to free speech. So activists have come together all across the UK to do exactly what this bill aims to limit – protest.
‘One year to make a real difference’ – an impactful and exciting campaign from the team at Rewriting Extinction is focusing on saving species, tackling both climate change and biodiversity. They’re doing this through projects with Greenpeace, World Land Trust, Born Free, Re:wild, The Wildlife Trusts, Reserva and Rewilding Europe which will promote ‘simple, but powerful, actions we can all take’.
Another great example of what coming together in your local community can achieve. As a coastal community, Seaford is using its awareness of the impending dangers of climate change as a force for change. The alliance organises events, talks, projects and education, across a whole range of related issues.
A response to the recent environmental collapse of one the UK’s longest rivers (the one we can see from our festival site). Urgent help is needed to save this iconic river from irreversible damage, so River Action has launched a specific coalition to step in where government-funded environmental agencies have failed to do so.
A national grassroots campaign to stop High Speed 2, the proposed new high speed railway, which is vastly over budget and behind schedule. The railway proposed will cause horrendous damage to the natural environment, and the argument that the railway will provide a more sustainable travel option is negated by no plans or proposed infrastructure to modally shift from cars to trains, improve the current rail network or make rail travel affordable. HS2 protesters have thrown themselves in the way as a result, tackling it both through legislation and in person.
