Hello!
Ecotopia??
One of the topics that came up during the meeting in December 2023 was about the name of the biketour. More specifically, if we want to change it.
The name has a lot of history – it was first used as a name of a bus tour and later gathering from many years ago, starting in 1986, then a biketour was attached to the gathering in 1990, and then the gathering stopped happening in 2008, and since then there is just the biketour!
This isn’t the first time we have discussed the idea of changing the name. It has already come up a few times in meetings over the last years, but the decision to change it was never made. When we discussed the idea in the last meeting, we came to conclusion that the organisation group is too small to make this decision and we want to ask more people what they think.
The main reason we discussed, as a reason to change the name, is to have something that reflects more of the values that we try to practice. Sustainability and the environmentalist approach are still main points on our agenda, however some felt like the name “Ecotopia” can give the impression that we are only that. And since many eco-/sustainability-/climate movements in Europe are very white, ableist and cis/heteronormative, we worry that the name “Ecotopia Biketour” paints that same image instead of the intersectional approach that we want to have. The biketour has changed a lot over the years and has a wider focus than just environmental issues.
On the other hand, we are quite widely known under the name Ecotopia, we have lots of connections and it’s easier for us to receive funding, while we have this long history.
As a small group we couldn’t reach any decisions or concrete ideas, so we want to ask all previous participants, current participants, hosts, friends and community, what you all think. Below is a link to a poll where we want to hear from you what you think.
Here is the poll https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/7LwFw7T5WvS620tZMpnY22UcjIk2L4SvxKIvYMePoKM/
https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/7LwFw7T5WvS620tZMpnY22UcjIk2L4SvxKIvY...