Host request 2012

Dear x,

Joao/Alice and I are co-ordinating Ecotopia Biketour (check ecotopiabiketour.net) this year which is a DIY activist biketour which leaves from Barcelona in mid-July and arrives in Venice 2 months later. We are really interested in visiting your project/campaign/group. We are currently based in Barcelona with Research and Degrowth and are looking for places, campaigns, collectives and projects and people to visit and plan something together (action, work-day, workshop, presentation) on our route and help to prepare for the tour. (add a bit about how we found out about the person/project we are contacting) It seems like your project would be a good place to visit because..... We have put together a brief proposal to give you an idea of what this could involve, I hope this sounds like something that you would like to get involved with.

What is Ecotopia biketour?

We are an eco-mobile do-it-yourself activist community who have cycled together for over 20 years. We aim to learn from each other and the local groups we visit, supporting their campaigns in creative ways. We carry all our equipment on bikes and trailers and make all group decisions by consensus. It’s a project for everyone interested in being part of a community and travelling without engines. This year we want to raise awareness about degrowth and connect different projects, struggles and people that relate to this diverse theme. There is lots more information here on our website (especially the about section and wiki.

When would we like to visit?

The current proposal is that we will leave Barcelona in the beginning of July and arrive in Venice on September 19th for the degrowth conference. We have a rough route and time schedule (which you can find here) but as we are still deciding where to go this will change a lot. This means we are likely to be in your part of the world around... and can be flexible if there are certain dates that suit you better.

What we plan to do and what we would need?

Learning from each other and the places we visit is a really important part of the biketour so we would like to find out about what it is you do and help out in whatever way we can, what this means depends very much on where we are. Normally we cycle between 50 and 80km per day, this means some days we will have lots of energy and some days we just need a rest. If there are tasks you could do with a few more hands we would love to stay for a few days and help out (If there you can host us, a camping place or space in the floor is enough!) Our most basic requirement is a place to camp or set up sleeping mats nearby. All the food we cook is vegan/vegetarian and communal and it would be nice to share food and stories with you.

How many people? At the moment it is hard to predict how many people we will have at this stage of the tour but in past years we have had between 10 and 50 people cycling together at one time (last years average was about 15 people per day).

I'm not sure what else to include other than my wish that you will be happy to host/join us! Any questions please ask and we hope to hear from you.