Note that this session was not recorded!
Fearless (or Rebel) Cities - radical municipalist movement
"Never forget who we are or why we are here" says a note Ada Calou put in her office the first day she became leader of the Council in Barcelona. It remains there today.
The global municipalist movement goes by many names Fearless (or Rebel) Cities, Cities for Change, Indy Towns, neomunicipalismo and democratic confederalism to name a few. One of the defining characteristics of municipalism is its conviction that the 'how' of politics is just as important as the 'what'. Municipalism as a process always in the making and constantly using a process and culture of listening and reflection to keep power in the service of the many and to build shared visions of better fairer futures for all. In this session we will hear experiences of the process, successes and what didn't go as planned from people who are building more meaningful versions of democracy community by community, street by street, person by person.
Xavi Ferrer is from the European Municipalist Project. The EMN project is developing three actions: a Municipalist School, a Mapping of the municipalist ecosystem, and the ongoing Feministization of Politics. Each part of the project constitute an autonomous Working Group and also contributes to the general coordination. The day-to-day decisions of the project are discussed in the Executive Plenary, open to all members of the WGs. At the same time, a monthly Strategic Assembly welcomes anyone interested in developing the municipalist space at the European scale.
Background
Since the first Fearless Cities gathering in Barcelona in 2017, there has been renewed interest globally in the potential of local politics to achieve broad social and political transformations. This new wave of municipalist politics and policies has been particularly effective at tackling two pressing issues globally:the Climate Crisis and the emergence of Far-Right nationalist political projects. But more importantly, this movement represents a promising way of building political power from the local level in a way that changes how politics is done. It is experimenting with new ways of democratising and feminising the way politics works.
A positive new municipalist dynamic has been particularly strong in the European continent, where a number of international gatherings have been organised in the past years – including in Barcelona, Belgrade, Naples, Warsaw, Brussels, Amsterdam and other cities through which an informal network has emerged and been in regular contact. After a first meeting during the summit that took place in Belgrade in June 2019, some of the more active actors of this loose network developed the European Municipalist Network project as a collective strategy to strengthen this emerging space.
Karolina Iwa is from the Leadership Festival, a global Collective coming from a wide range of backgrounds. We made a promise to each other to help co-manifest & co-shape the new paradigms of leadership, emerging globally and locally.
Nurturing a heart-driven Transformative Community of Practice, emerging globally & locally, we commit to a leadership from abundance, aiming for creating win-win-win dynamics. Leadership where impact is not an after-work interest, but an aspiration interwoven into each action.
Together we inquire into how to take Social Field informed collective action during & beyond our gathering.
Puli Cabrera is from Cities for Change ... The world needs to change.
We are facing a Climate crisis, housing shortage, growing inequality in wealth and power, and now the corona crisis. However, change is coming from cities, neighbourhoods and districts all over the world. Here a movement is growing and flourishing for a social, just and sustainable society in which well-being and solidarity are at its centre. It's time for thinkers and doers from these cities to come together, share, inspire, learn from each other, connect and work together. That is what the Cities For Change Forum, initiated and facilitated by the city of Amsterdam, is all about! The Cities for Change Forum is a two-month online programme. With, for and by residents, neighbourhood groups, social organisations, NGOs, officials, administrators and anyone interested.
Fanny Malinen is a freelance journalist, researcher, organiser and part of the workers collective Research for Action. Research for Action is a workers cooperative producing research which supports social, economic and environmental justice. https://researchforaction.uk
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