OSCAR REBOLLO. The truth is that we are very pleased with how everything went. The closing ceremony has had a significant impact, important, but what happened from Monday until Thursday was cool too. In all these days, with a group of about 50/60 people, we shared a good afternoon of presentations and dialogue from experiences they want to be emancipatory and empowering people. Globally, we think we have met our modest purposes, announced a program which made explicit the desire to "put another grain of sand (...) in the promotion of alternatives with the person and dignity as central elements of social life"
Now it, to each, draw conclusions, some rest, and take energy to continue in the gap. Before, but, is unacceptable to leave the closed minimally things and meet certain obligations we have as organizers, starting congratulate and thank each and everyone who brought their practices to the Summer School, and wanted to share their experiences, the sense of what they do, methods using, and the conclusions they arrive while pushing forward.
To the School of IGOP, Working with the CRIC (Options magazine), and the Ateneo Popular 9 Neighborhoods It has been a great opportunity from many points of view, and we hope that our cooperation will not remain here. Also the teams of both entities we owe a sincere thank you for all you have contributed, has been much.
Turning now to the content, we think that the large number of working groups, some of them in parallel, has facilitated both the extent and openness of discussions, as now hinders the synthesis of everything that happened, everything said, of everything discussed. Personally, I take a lot. Here you have some of the entries in my notebook this week:
In the opening session I recorded four ideas, and stressed. (1) The idea that empowerment has dimensions (individual, group, Community, political, ...) but it is one, one process, and as such must be designed and constructed. (2) The need for empowerment processes based on dialogue and not indoctrination, thus takes a central role the attitude of listening, active listening. (3) The metaphor of 15M as "Big Snow", by Alvaro Porro: the have in the video of the inaugural meeting (link) and do not's you can lose. And the idea that (4) we must think seriously about the organization, the effectiveness of the organization, and organizational culture.
I have another sheet with some of the lessons that left us the people who build projects Can Batlló i La Flor de Maig: The challenges and difficulties organizationally; the courage to go after claiming build, and therefore, the value and centrality of the project to be built; work with strategy (Tic-Tac), without cortoplacismos; spacious and intergenerational partnerships as one of the keys to success; an overview of the technical more focused on the idea of a power "to do" than that of a power "over those who do"; understand the projects in their relational dimension and, therefore, assume the need to work in these relationships (do community work, we would say) to build consensus, manage conflicts and strengthen links between people.
For me it was very exciting climate lived in the working group IGOP4, on workers' management and social and solidarity economy, with the new wise depicting old: old workers' struggles in Barcelona at the beginning of the decade 1970, chaired by the idea, and the value, of solidarity. Speakers questioned by some keys to the success of this type of experience they pointed the following main ideas: a motor group that believes, combine experience with training, and resistance to the construction; love, which enable complementarity and strengthening the links between people struggling and build.
What hopeful promise of the Net (Internet) as a space that is making possible the implementation of new values (Ethical Hacker, ethics P2P), new practices based on collaboration (P2P) and new models in generating wealth and distribute. (Thanks Communia !!)
I liked the radical / clarity in the approach did Jaume Botey on handouts dilemma versus solidarity (Paternalism versus Policy), as an unsolvable dilemma. In these times, the answer begins in relations between neighbors. Any movement that focuses on helping must be a political movement, and every political movement must do everything possible to help people with urgent needs. Here also left some clues for practice, as the need not identify support: supports individual + collective aid
Sandra Pardo we proposed the concept of "disconnection" as a strong idea for building diagnostics and answers: answers to social exclusion that disconnects people from their environment, its links, utilities, their rights, policy, should aim to re-connect!
It was very powerful presentation that made citizens - affected - activists - and again citizens, the assembly of PAH Barcelona. We could see / understand the capacity to generate practices PAH citizen empowerment, and to translate them into organizational practices of the movement: from the operation of collective advice, actions and accompaniments, to the social work of the PAH. I stayed with two sentences / thoughts / principles for action that left us the companions of the assembly of PAH Barcelona: "In a pluralistic movement basically is respect" and "The beauty of the Assembly of the PAH is that nobody here judge you ".
People CRIC (Opcions magazine) Thursday afternoon flooded experiences of collective empowerment to meet basic needs such as food, housing, income generation or other, and we are left with the idea that effectively, the big snow 15M, snowmelt, has served to irrigate countless "gardens" in which is already cultivating the new world that we like.
In the closing session I did not take notes (Now is the video network and we can see it), but I brought many things that have stuck in my emotional records, and also an idea. A complex debate appeared very delicate and it worked like a symphony.
Finally two messages:
We invite you to let us in Memo school all comments, assessments and proposals you can think
Here you have the accounts Event, so you can see where we spend your money.
REVENUE
Contribution ICE 1.400 €
Summer School Inscripciones IGOP 900 €
Contribution IGOP 1.775 €
TOTAL 4.075 €
EXPENDITURE
Supporting entities 1.825 €
(Can Batllo, Flor de Maig, Common, Pare Manel Foundation, PAH Barcelona, CRIC, Yellow wave, Tide Orange)
Organization and Teaching 1.950 €
(Elia Hernando, Mariela Iglesias, Ernesto Morales, Fernando Pindado, Álvaro Now, Miriam Valls)
Technical Services 300 €
(Ateneo Popular 9 neighborhoods)
TOTAL 4.075 €
