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Newsletter #41 - Important information for your action preparation – Make sure you read BEFORE your arrival

The countdown is on…

Christmas, birthday and the festival season can pack up: For weeks we have been looking forward to our action weekend on 19-24 June in Rhineland. Although the climate crisis has finally reached the general public, we have been searching in vain for real measures for climate justice. Right now it is necessary to keep the pressure up: on the road, on the rail, in the mine.

We will probably be more this year than ever before. That is great! At the same time, this poses a great challenge to our logistics. For the action to succeed, it is therefore necessary that you arrive well equipped. We cannot guarantee that we can provide for all people, so please cover yourself up with everything you need for the action – including food. Please read our information in this newsletter very carefully!

We are looking forward to a big, powerful, colorful and creative mass action with you!

1. Overview action weekend: for the climate, for the villages

Ende Gelände protests side by side with other actors on the weekend of 19-24 June: for the climate and for the protection of villages threatened by demolition – at the edge of opencast mines and worldwide. In addition to our announced mass blockade, there are the following further protests:

On Friday, 21June, Fridays for Future (DE) will strike and demonstrate in Aachen.

On Saturday, 22June starting at 1 p.m. the rally and the “Take a seat” action will take place between the Garzweiler open-cast mine and the threatened village of Keyenberg. The local initiative “Alle Dörfer bleiben” (All Villages Remain) together with environmental associations is calling for this action.

At 11 a.m. there will be a demonstration of Fridays for Future for everyone – from Hochneukirch, along the edge of the opencast mine to the rally in Keyenberg.

Also at 11 a.m. you are invited to the bicycle demonstration starting in Erkelenz. The demonstration also leads to the rally in Keyenberg.

Current information about the action day on Saturday can be found at alle-doerfer bleiben (en DE; all villages remain)

Even for people who do not want to take part in actions of civil disobedience, there is a multitude of possibilities to fight for our common cause. Together, this will be monumental!

2. Arrival

Please arrive early so that there is enough time for action trainings, legal advice, finding affinity groups, etc. On Wednesday, 19 June, we start with a first plenary session in the evening.

The exact location of the camp can unfortunately only be announced at short notice. If you buy a bus ticket at your local group , you don’t have to worry, the bus will take you comfortably to the camp. The Flixtrain will take you to Cologne Central Station, from where you will have to organise your further journey to site. If you want to travel individually by train, it’s best to book the train to Cologne main station first. Keep up to date about the journey here: https://www.ende-gelaende.org/en/getting-there-2019/

If camping is not your thing, this year there is also an online accommodation platform (https://www.ende-gelaende.org/en/accommodation-platform-rhineland-2019/ ) where you can search for places to sleep. The more offers there are, the more resistance we can put up!

3. Well prepared for the action

It is essential for the success of the action that we all prepare well! *Everyone* who comes along should have taken part in an action training and be part of an affinity group . Ideally, this should already happen in the weeks before the action, but at the latest at the camp (so make sure you arrive in time!).

Read through the action consensus so that you know what actions are covered by it and what spirit our action breathes.

Pack everything you need in the action yourself (see point 4). Think about whether you want to give personal details or not (see point 5).

4. What to bring? Important information from Action Logistics Team

As mentioned before, self-responsibility is especially important this year! Althougha mobile canteen kitchen will delight us with its usual delicious foodit is possible that their capacities will not always be sufficient if soooo many people are actually actively on the move for the climate. Therefore prepare yourself with food and drink for the length of the action you are planning to join.

The same applies to overnight stays at the camp: Here you will need your own sleeping tents, in the action you may need a sleeping mat and sleeping bag if you are considering staying overnight. Since it is June and we have of course ordered the best weather, sun protection (sunscreen, sun sails, etc. – no greasy cream) and especially WATER will be very important.

And one more request: Bring as little as possible with you that causes garbage and take the unavoidable garbage back with you. Garbage organisation and garbage separation at the camp is a lot of work!

Connect with people who don’t go into action, but stay in the camp. Prepare yourselves for the fact that individual or whole affinity groups (depending upon action level) could land in the detention centre (Gesa). Discuss before the action within your affinity group how the things you leave behind at the camp can find their way back to you (meeting point, exchange emergency contacts of friends, etc.). Otherwise there will be a depot for the remaining items and “wardrobe tokens” to mark them. Please make sure to attach them to your things (especially your tent) at the camp. It is important that your luggage is as compact and recognizable as possible.

But even more important is a good agreement in the affinity group , whether it is about the supply or the luggage question. By taking on responsibility and organizing yourself, you will relieve the camp and logistics structures tremendously!

We have prepared a packing list to help you find your way around.

With many greetings from your action logistics team

5. Your decision about refusing to identify yourself to the police

Ende Gelände thinks that people’s collective refusal of giving the police their personal data is a useful strategy in the context of the mass actions they have planned. So far, Ende Gelände has had good experiences with ID refusal. However, for some people or specific groups of people, there might be very good reasons to do state one’s personal data.

It is very important that you talk to the people in your affinity group about this new situation e.g., of the possibility being kept in detention for up to 7 days and how all of you would like to handle that risk. Everyone in your affinity group should make the necessary preparations for such a scenario. We advise you to really study and consider all the information in the legal aid booklet [1] and the leaflet about the “Ende Gelände’s position on refusing to identify yourself to the police.” [2]
[1] www.ende-gelaende.org/en/action/legal-matters/
[2] www.ende-gelaende.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/ID_refusal_2019_EN_final.pdf

6. Open tasks and meeting in Bielefeld (7 – 9 June 2019)

A successful action does not only include selfies in dust protection suits. All around the action there are bigger and smaller tasks, which contribute to making the action days beautiful and successful. Do you have the capacity and desire to take on other tasks? Yeah! Then have a look here: https://www.ende-gelaende.org/de/jobs-ende-gelaende/#Liste

If you would like to get involved in the preparation before the event, please come to our next meeting in Bielefeld (7 – 9 June 2019). This is a good opportunity to get involved in the process – even at short notice! Please register in advance so that we can plan food and sleeping space.

7. Solidarity with our press spokeswoman

Shortly before the action, RWE starts one last desperate attempt to get attention: the coal company has banned our press spokeswoman Kathrin Henneberger from the opencast mines and demanded a cease-and-desist declaration . RWEs lawyers explicitly refer to Kathrin’s coal-critical public relations work and her speech at the RWE Annual General Meeting on 3 May 2019 in Essen – because she has never been arrested in the mine before. She should therefore be intimidated because she is effective public figure! Of course Kathrin has not signed the cease-and-desist declaration and will continue to disobey. The government has just demonstrated their complete inability to act in the climate cabinet and have shown that we will never get the climate crisis under control without deliberately violating laws.

We therefore call on you to say what you think under #all against RWE!

8. Podcast: Ende Gelände in your ear (sorry, only in DE)

Recently there is Ende Gelände on air and in your ear: on the alliance meeting in Hamburg the first episode of the Ende Gelände Podcast was created! In this episode, the term civil disobedience is discussed as well as how it accompanies us in the fight against the climatic crisis. In addition there is an interview with the political scientist Christian Volk, who has been researching for a long time over civil disobedience. In the last part there is another interview with Nonta of the #Lausitz23, who sat in the JVA Cottbus (prison) for three weeks after an excavator occupation. Listen in!

9. Telegram-Info-Channel (sorry, only in DE)

Recently Ende Gelände can also be found on Telegram: once a week you get the latest information about the mass action and Ende Gelände on our channel – nicely compacted and sent to your smartphone or your desktop. You can join the Telegram Channel directly via the following link: https://t.me/EndeGelaende
P.S..: If this doesn’t work you can also find the channel via the search function by entering “Ende Gelände – Infochannel”.

10. OVERVIEW: Summer of Climate Disobedience 2019

And there’s a lot more going on in Europe. This summer the climate justice calendar is bursting at the seams. Here is an overview of some of the camps with action coming soon, absolutely without claim to completeness… ;)

19 – 24 June Germany, Garzweiler (Rhineland), Ende Gelände against brown coal
01 – 07 July Czech Republic, Limity jsme my – Camp against brown coal
02 – 11 July Switzerland, near Basel, Climate camp & action against finance business
17 – 21 July Poland near Poznań, 2nd Polish climate camp against brown coal
17 – 21 July Portugal, Bajouca (Leiria district), Action camp against fossil gas
26 – 31 July England (South-East), Power Beyond Borders – Action camp
03 – 12 August Germany, Pödelwitz, climate camp in the Leipziger Land
12 – 18 August France, Climate camp from RadiAction
15 – 27 August Germany, Climate camp Rhineland | klimacamp-im-rheinland.de
04 – 08 Septemer Italy Venice Climate Camp
04 – 08 September Belgium, Brussels Climate Justice Camp
12 – 15 September Germany, Frankfurt, Blockade of the International Motor Show (IAA)
19 – 25 September Germany, Brunsbüttel (85km to Hamburg), „Free the Soil“ action camp against industrial agriculture
25 – 29 September Germany, Klimacamp Chiemsee
27 September Earth Strike & global strike against the climate crisis |
27 September and the following weeks: first wave of action of By 2020we rise up

See you soon,
your Newsletter Team