Young Friends of the Earth Europe Campaign Training in Copenhagen

Friends of the Earth Europe organised a campaign training session from 27-30th October 2011 in order to provide young environmental enthusiasts with solid skills in planning and executing a successful campaign. The training course took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, a location which brought back many fond, if frustrating, memories of the historic 2009 climate negotiations summit held there. Staying right next to the symbolic Bella Centre, the 20-something participants, representing a rich and diverse range of European nationalities, followed the footsteps of environmental activists before them in taking important steps towards environmentally beneficial action.

YFoEE participants were welcomed with great generosity by the Danish counterpart NOAH, who graciously offered their offices and services in support of campaign training. The session kicked off with an introduction to facilitating meetings, and continued with presentations of the Climate Justice and Food and Agriculture issues. The team headed out in the evening for ‘traditional’ Danish vegan food and continued the day’s discussions. The following day was dedicated to the processes and development of planning a campaign – planning your goals and how to achieve them. We each split into groups and worked on different ideas for campaigns – the fruits of which are still visible in the reCAP campaign and the YFoE Cyprus campaign for pedestrianising main streets in Cypriot cities and instating safe bike lanes. A very successful outcome!

After this, YFoE Ireland presented on the work that we have been doing and should be very proud of! A presentation was made about the handbook (which was hugely popular, not least because most participants found their photo in there from the Summer Camp in Hungary) and the (in)famous march of the penguins through Dublin’s fair city central to the Department of the Environment. I have to say, our efforts were really incredibly well received – I think we have served as an inspiration for people to dress up as GMO corn and other such like since parading as penguins!

A cultural evening was planned to cap off the end of the eventful second day, where street theatre and media were the topics of discussion. Participants learned how to effectively communicate with the media to publicise their actions; through press releases and photographs. Alternatively, they joined a Swedish-style eco-choir that took famous songs and put activist poems to them! Don’t underestimate the power of belting out a good tune to get your message across! A separate group rehearsed a street piece that was performed on the welcoming streets of Copenhagen, to a background of enthusiastic (and very well-spoken in English) cyclists! After the success and hard work and long hours, we rewarded ourselves with an evening of sharing traditional food, drink and songs from our countries. Unfortunately, the lone Irish representative (me!) was living in Belgium so brought Belgian beer, and sang the Australian national anthem. But not to worry! It was an incredibly successful training session, not to mention a great opportunity to network and being the Friends across Europe closer together, and learn from each other’s ideas. We hope that recap will continue on as perhaps a more long-lasting legacy from Copenhagen than the last summit.