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/7LwFw7T5WvS620tZMpnY22UcjIk2L4SvxKIv…>
https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/7LwFw7T5WvS620tZMpnY22UcjIk2L4SvxKIv…
*** feel free to share this e-mail in your circles, platforms and
communities! ***
hellooo everyone!
this is the *official* announcement of the ecotopia biketour 2023!
the main region this year will be in romania. more route infos below.
the orga has shrunk a lot since the winter meeting and we need your help
with some stuff!
first of all, REGISTRATION on our website is OPEN! you don't have to
register. but if you do it helps us to know how many people we will be
at what time.
you can also give us some useful information there such as an emergency
contact, food allergies and if you need help with finding a bicycle.
you can register here:
https://www.ecotopiabiketour.net/ecotopia-biketour-2023/register-2023
there is also a signal group for on-tour communication. if you've
already registered or you're quite sure you'll join the tour you can
join the chat with this link:
https://signal.group/#CjQKILqrFjQKrAThteXcCbMArATUbSip2WN7E8l0XcY0S9S3EhA75…
second of all, some (very rough!) dates and places:
26.06. - start of the preparation in Welten, Austria
30.06. - START OF THE TOUR in Welten, Austria (QINTAW only (queer,
inter, non-binary, trans, agender, women and everyone questioning their
gender and/or sexuality))
06.07. - arrival in Ljubliana for the Day 0 of the Balkan Anarchist
Bookfair (https://bab2023.espivblogs.net/bab2023-will-start-with-day0/)
07.-09.07. - Balkan Anarchist Bookfair in Ljubliana
(http://bab2023.avtonomija.org/)
15.-17.07. - Zagreb
28.-30.07 - Novi Sad
-- END OF THE QINTAW-only START --
-- from 28th of July on EVERYONE - including endosex hetero cis men - is
WELCOME! --
02.-04.08. - Belgrade
08.-10.08. - visting but maybe not being hosted by Centru Social Iedera
/ Spatiul Armonia in Timișoara (https://www.facebook.com/csiedera/)
21.-24.08. - Ⓐcasă in Cluj (https://acasa.blackblogs.org/)
27.-29.08. - Ermiaj Malin (http://ermitajmalin.com)
04.-06.09. - Sleeping Place near Sibiu
13.09. - arrival at Buruiana and Filaret 16 in Bucarest
(https://www.facebook.com/gradinaburuiana),
(https://www.facebook.com/Filaret16DiY/)
Mid Septmeber - END OF THE TOUR in Bucarest
you can see the routing and the progress we're making with
project-contacting on this map: https://facilmap.org/bt23view#
as you might have noticed: there are still some holes in our plan
project-wise. there are quite some projects we have contacted but never
got an answer. maybe you can help us? if you have any direct contacts to
one of the following projects, please let us know! (also if you know any
other cool places/groups in the region that we could try to contact)
- in zagreb: Zelena Akcija (https://zelena-akcija.hr/en)
#MAZ
(https://www-maz-hr.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en…)
- in novi sad: studentski kulturni centar novi sad
(https://www.skcns.org/?pismo=lat)
Ekokurir (https://ekokurir.rs/) or CK13 (http://ck13.org)
- in belgrade: AKAB Okretnica
Self-education University ‘Svetozar Marković'
bike kitchen belgrade (bike kitchen belgrade)
- in timișoara: a space that can host all of us if we're a bigger group
another thing we might need help with:
- a good bit of our equipment is in berlin. this includes some big pots,
other cooking equipment and tools.
are you coming to the start of the tour from berlin? are you travelling
between berlin and austria sometime before the start of the tour?
if yes, and if you could imagine transporting some equipment, please let
us know!
(there's also still one good trailer lost somewhere in dublin. ^^ if you
have knowledge about that one or even a way to transport it let us know
;)
- also, we still need two communal phones. if you have an old
(functioning) smartphone lying around that you could donate to the tour,
we'd appreciate it a lot! send us a text, then we can figure out a way
to get it to the start of the tour.
also, knowledge needed:
- we are cooking with gas and/or liquid fuels this year. this decision
has been made to reduce the hazard of creating wildfires with rocket
stove-cooking. we are trying to figure out what's the best solution
here. have you ever cooked outside for a lot of people (up to 50
portions)? do you have any recommendations what stoves to use? and do
you know which gas bottles can be exchanged and reused in romania,
serbia, croatia and slowenia? (smaller-sized gas bottles - up to 5kg)
liquid fuels or gas? what's easier to transport by bicycle and safer to
use?
any info is very welcome!
we're looking forward to cycling together this summer!
the ecotopia biketour collective