Ecotopia gathering
Encyclopedia
Ecotopia is an annual summer gathering for activists in Europe
, since 1989. Typically, the event draws young environmental activists from both east and west Europe. In most years, Ecotopia has at least one large direct or symbolic political action
associated with it near the end of the two to three week long camp.
The camp has dozens of workshops on various topics, including both ecological campaigns and lifestyle/general interest topics. Ecotopia attempts to use a Leave No Trace
philosophy, in which the camp site is left in the same or better ecological condition than when the event started. Ecotopia is historically organized by local groups on the site of the event in conjunction with the EYFA international office in Amsterdam. Participants pay differential rates for the event based on the country they come from using the Eco-Rate system.
The project is originally initiated by European Youth For Action
and takes place in a different European country every year. In 2008 EYFA announced that it would no longer take part in the organisation of Ecotopia gatherings. Following this announcement former participants of the gatherings started preparing a follow-up event called "Ecotopia 2010" in the Fläming
region near Berlin, Germany.
.
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, since 1989. Typically, the event draws young environmental activists from both east and west Europe. In most years, Ecotopia has at least one large direct or symbolic political action
Protest
A protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
associated with it near the end of the two to three week long camp.
The camp has dozens of workshops on various topics, including both ecological campaigns and lifestyle/general interest topics. Ecotopia attempts to use a Leave No Trace
Leave No Trace
Leave No Trace is both a set of principles, and an organization that promotes those principles. The principles are designed to assist outdoor enthusiasts with their decisions about how to reduce their impacts when they hike, camp, picnic, snowshoe, run, bike, hunt, paddle, ride horses, fish, ski or...
philosophy, in which the camp site is left in the same or better ecological condition than when the event started. Ecotopia is historically organized by local groups on the site of the event in conjunction with the EYFA international office in Amsterdam. Participants pay differential rates for the event based on the country they come from using the Eco-Rate system.
The project is originally initiated by European Youth For Action
European Youth For Action
European Youth For Action is an environmental youth network in Europe. It is based in Amsterdam and has partner organizations in 18 European countries.-History:...
and takes place in a different European country every year. In 2008 EYFA announced that it would no longer take part in the organisation of Ecotopia gatherings. Following this announcement former participants of the gatherings started preparing a follow-up event called "Ecotopia 2010" in the Fläming
Fläming
The Fläming Heath is a region and a hill chain that reaches over 100 km from the Elbe river to the Dahme River in the German states Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg. Its highest elevation is the Hagelberg...
region near Berlin, Germany.
Past Ecotopia gatherings
- 2010 Wiesenburg (Flaeming), GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
- 2008 SinopSinop, TurkeySinop is a city with a population of 36,734 on İnce Burun , by its Cape Sinop which is situated on the most northern edge of the Turkish side of Black Sea coast, in the ancient region of Paphlagonia, in modern-day northern Turkey, historically known as Sinope...
, TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe... - 2007 AljezurAljezurAljezur is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 323.5 km² and a total population of 5,322 inhabitants. The word is derived from the Arabic word "Aljuzur" , the plural of island....
, PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the... - 2006 Zaježová, SlovakiaSlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
- 2005 Saharna, MoldovaMoldovaMoldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
- 2004 GorinchemGorinchemGorinchem , also called Gorkum , is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 21.99 km² of which 3.03 km² is water...
, NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... - 2003 Sheshory, UkraineUkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
- 2002 TuamgraneyTuamgraneyTuamgraney is a village in eastern County Clare in the west of Ireland. Situated on the River Graney which flows into Lough Derg, it is an ancient settlement, noted for St Cronin's church, said to be the oldest church in constant use in Ireland....
, IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
- Organised by Gluaiseacht for Global Justice - 2001 BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
- 2000 FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
- 1999 RomaniaRomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
- 1998 FreiburgFreiburgFreiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... - 1997 ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
- 1996 Czech RepublicCzech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
- 1995 PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
- 1994 RomaniaRomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
- 1993 FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
- 1992 BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
- 1991 EstoniaEstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
- 1990 BugacBugacBugac is a village in Bács-Kiskun county, in the Southern Great Plain region of southern Hungary.-Geography:It covers an area of and has a population of 1657 people ....
, HungaryHungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The... - 1989 CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, West GermanyWest GermanyWest Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
History
EYFA - the European Youth Forest Action movement - was a daughter organisation of YEE - Youth Environment Europe, the umbrella organisation for all independent youth led organisations by and for youth in Europe working around nature and environment. EYFA was created to develop a platform for all those interested in working on the acid rain problematic in the 1980s. When this issue was solved because the Sulfer was removed out of the fossile fuel for cars and trucks and the NOx problematic was addressed by catalyst in the exhaust pipes, the organisation changed its name to European Youth For ActionEuropean Youth For Action
European Youth For Action is an environmental youth network in Europe. It is based in Amsterdam and has partner organizations in 18 European countries.-History:...
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