Program Report

Report and decisions from Vienna EPA on the development of program for the 4th European Social Forum, Athens 4-7 May 2006.

The Movements Discuss and Resist! 

a. Until 4th of January 271 activities have been submitted to the workspace
for proposals (http;//workspace.fse-esf.org) by 100 organizations.154
proposals were attached to the 16 thematic areas decided at Istanbul EPA and
117 did not submitted to a specific area for reasons of omission or being
not wishing a particular area.

b. We continue to submit proposals for activities to the website. The
deadline is 20 of February. After 20/2 we start the process of voluntary
merging.
The Greek Program Group will present the map of proposals at the next EPA
which will take place on 2-5 March in Frankfurt Germany.
The European program group will meet on 2nd of April 12.00.
We will decide for facilitators for the merging process at next EPA. They
will help to bring in conduct participants who submitted activities on the
same thematic area and inform on possible transversalities. They will not
decide the mergers but make sure that participants get the picture of the
possibilities of cooperation between networks and organization who submitted
proposals of activities.
*The finalization of the program will take place in the Athens Meeting for
the Program on 1-3 of April.
*The Athens ESF can host around 400 meetings in rooms.
*A new website will help the process of merging. It is crucial to give the
possibility to more than one participant to put together a proposal.
*A new thematic area is added on Urban policies and the cities.
The meetings of networks in Austria started and propose set of activities.
We will continue this process and at the meeting of Program group on 4-5
March we will take into account their proposals.
So merging process will practically start from EPA meeting on 4-5 March in
Germany.
c. The proposal on events of Great visibility proposed by Greek Program
Group was based on the desire of Greek organisers to help mobilization for
ESF and giving visibility to common targets of struggle of the social
movements and the participants of Athens ESF.
Six events were proposed:
1. War, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine occupation, antiwar and anti-occupation
movement
2. Social and workers; resistances to neo-liberalism: the movements against
social exclusion,, precarious employment, privatizations and the
commercialization of public goods.
3. Immigrants and refugees against racist policies in Europe. Fighting for
legalisation, political asylum, equal rights.
4. Globalization, environment climate change and alternatives
5. Europe after the NO to the European Constitutional Treaty
6. Seven years after Seattle, the development and the prospects of the
movement.
Remarks and concerns have been expressed on the number (1 or 2 per day) and
on the character of the 6 proposals. We expect a detailed proposal from
Greek Organising Group for the next EPA( exact character, names of speakers
and so on).
Networks can also propose events of great visibility.
d. Assemblies will be organised in an effort to bring together participants
on each thematic area or for transversal approach of issues and also to
coordinate campaigns and help networking.
e. Proposals about specific thematic spaces should be submitted in the ESF mail list. They will be discussed in the next EPA.
f. It is possible to organize cultural activities and all these proposals
Should be also submitted to the workspace. Artistic creativity has the
possibility to be integral part of the program enriching the Athens ESF.
g. The Assembly of Social Movements will be discussed at the next EPA

Panhellenic Organizing comittee for the 4th E.S.F.

____________________________________________________________