Climate Barcamp

Exploring local climate solutions for Central and Eastern Europe

русский

Together we can save the climate but it will not happen without active people and civic initiatives. Apply for the Climate BarCamp – an informal space for mutual learning – to discuss local climate solutions with more than 70 passionate environmental activists from 7 different countries of Central and Eastern Europe! 

The Climate BarCamp will be focused on presenting, discussing and developing pro-climate measures at municipal levels. How to build an effective environmental movement? Would the idea of citizens’ assemblies work in your country or your city? What can the international movement do to rebuild Ukraine in a sustainable way, to make it a brilliant showcase of carbon neutral solutions and just transition? We will try to find answers to such complex questions at the BarCamp!

If you are interested in broadening your understanding of public participation, learning from the best practices, sharing your own experience on climate change solutions and starting to work together with your counterparts from other countries, we are waiting for your application!

What can you expect from the event?

We are creating the Climate BarCamp space following our value of flexibility, participatory approach and shared responsibility. We therefore expect these 4 days to become a time of inspiration, new knowledge and informal exchange with passionate professionals and grassroots activists from different countries. 

At the barcamp, there will be:

  • No long lectures, rather inspiring inputs and discussions;
  • No super-tight program where you can barely breath in and out between the sessions, but a balanced and human-oriented approach;
  • Less traditional sessions, rather diverse and creative activities;
  • No outdated theoretical information, rather transformable solutions on the topic which are proven in practice.
  • No formal speeches without any content, rather getting to the point.

Sounds like a perfect plan? You are welcome to join and contribute!

The program of Climate BarCamp will include several “open windows” that the participants can use for their own seminars, workshops, presentations and informal activities.

The blocks should be as interactive as possible and should last 45 minutes including the closing discussion. If you are interested in using this space, you should specify the details in your application form (there will be a special section for that). To learn more about BarCamp philosophy, click here.

Elita Seferyan about her BarCamp experience in 2019 in Kutaisi:

“Thank you for the opportunity to attend the event – it was a very nice atmosphere, I learned a lot of new things and met amazing new people at the same time. I got a good experience exchange with my colleagues, an opportunity to develop my work, and very good contacts”.

Additional session: developing new climate initiatives and preventing burn-out

Note! For participants from Ukraine and Czechia only, under the age of 31 years old.  

What’s more, with some of you we will spend a few more days on creating some practical outcomes from the event, that might be later used by environmental activists’ communities in different countries. But don’t worry, that’s not all! Fuck-ups sharing night, morning yoga or exploring mysterious Lesser Poland? Let’s see 🙂 

Profile of the participants

Activists, NGO workers, journalists, researchers and other representatives of civil society, who work with or are interested in the topic of Climate Change Solutions. 

Climate BarCamp (April 20-23, 2023) welcomes participants from Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Czechia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine. No age limitations. 

If you’re from Ukraine or Czechia and under the age of 31, we would like to invite you to stay for two more days for an Additional session on developing new climate initiatives and preventing burn out (April 24-25, 2023).

Working Languages

Official languages of the International BarCamp are English and Russian, consecutive interpretation will be provided. 

Please note that the Russian language was chosen only to increase participation from Eastern European countries. NESEHNUTI team has a clear and strong position regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. You can read more about NESEHNUTI’s support for civil society in Ukraine here. 

Dates

International BarCamp will take place on April 20-23, 2023 (arrival on April 19 in the afternoon/evening, departing on April 23 in the afternoon). 

Participants from Ukraine and Czechia under the age of 31 are invited to take part in a follow-up activities program that will conclude on the 25th of April, 2023.

From most places in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and also from Budapest and western Ukraine, you’ll depart on 19th April in the morning and will be back in the morning following the last day of the event. From other places, travel might take up a little bit more time.

Venue

International BarCamp will take place in a picturesque area of Southern Poland. The exact place will be announced to selected participants only. 

Cost of the program

Participation is free of charge. Organisers provide accommodation (two people of the same gender sharing a room) and vegan meals for the days of the program, as well as reimbursed expenses of green travel to the venue and back. Please note that participants from different countries will have different reimbursement limits and the organisers will inform selected participants about it individually. 

How to apply

Fill in the short application form here by March 12th, 2023. Since the places are limited, the applicants will undergo a selection process. All the applicants will be informed about the selection outcome no later than on March 20th, 2023.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact volha@nesehnuti.cz (Volha / Воля). 

Organisers of the BarCamp

For over 10 years, we, Czech NGO NESEHNUTI (Independent Social Ecological Movement) and our programme The Initiative Way have been supporting civic initiatives from Eastern Europe and South Caucasus to change their communities for the better and address socially significant problems. We feel responsible for what is going on around us and we want to see changes in society that bring about justice and equality. We want to have an open society made up of engaged people who can talk to each other. We want a society based on respect for nature, people and animals. We encourage communities and individuals to behave with respect for their ecological and social context. We accept responsibility as an integral part of freedom.

We organize the Climate Barcamp together with:

The event was supported by:

International Visegrad Fund

The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, TRANSITION programme

European Union