Biketour 2013

2013 Overview

• Just like every year, there was a Winter Meeting in March 2013 to discuss the tour of the coming summer.

12 people from all over Europe met in Berlin in the snow. You can read the agenda and a summary of the minutes here...

Basically though many things are still up for debate and suggestions - so if you have some ideas - add them to the relevant pages here or contact info@ecotopiabiketour.net.

Why do we keep on riding?

1. Because we believe in DIY, slow travel and Doing it Ourselves!
2. Because we have a legacy of creating incredible experiences together / skills sharing / self organising / experiential learning ... and we want to do it again
3. Because you know it will be the adventure of 2013

This Years Theme

THEME

Brainstorm from the recent Winter Meeting:::::

• WHAT; Migrant Struggles; Fortress Europe; physical borders and ownership of space; social; psychological; on and offline borders; the virtual and cultural borders. • HOW; by having a strong focus(s) on what we can achieve; being sensitive to local border perception.Visiting historical and modern day border struggles and traces. • Action suggestions raged from joining up with existing actions such as the Berlin Wall / East Side Gallery or refugee protests; creating moc border control points; bespoke passports; comparing policies; finding commonalities and sharing skills and cultures, stories; recording and documenting them as radio / video / blog posts and e-activisim tactics. Slogan words brainstorm: commons / community / borders, boundaries and beyond / recycling borders / rethink borders / cultural exchange /granica, hranic, Granit, Grenze, granični / mapping, remap borders /reclaim / open (your borders, boundaries) / identities / identify your borders/boundaries / .. of the commons / geh an deine Grenze(n)! / Allmende / iron wheels / limits / crossing / terre / pedal movement / paddle / libre (freedom) / movement (body, social)

We have a consensus about 'Borders, Boundaries and Beyond' as a (broad) theme, but need to focus snappy slogan and focus one one or some of the above suggestions, depending on the projects and campaigns we wish to highlight for 2013.

SLOGAN'

• should be some positive imperative (like last year: "cycling towards degrowth!")
• ideas still needed: ... (add yours!)

Some nice words:

Libre- that refers to 'free society', freedom' and is also used in the free software and open source communities such as LibreOffice - it does not mean free and no money, it mean free as in free from privatization and exploitation of your data for corporate gain: [1]

Commons - that refers to everything from common land, common natural resources and software, such as 'creative commons' - see also historical and contemporary movements: [2]

Playing with the nice words:

Ecotopia Biketour 2013: Borders, Boundaries and Beyond

Ecotopia Biketour 2013: Borders and Boundaries

Ecotopia Biketour 2013: Beyond the Borders

Ecotopia Biketour 2013: Reclaiming Libre

Ecotopia Biketour 2013: Common Borders

Ecotopia Biketour 2013: Open up the Source

Ecotopia Biketour 2013: On the Commons (already a website in US)

Ecotopia Biketour 2013: Beyond the Commons

Ecotopia Biketour 2013: Beyond Libre

Ecotopia Biketour 2013: Reclaim the Commons (see the history of the Diggers Movement)

Route Ideas

This year the tour is likely to

• start in ((north)/northeastern Germany (most likely Berlin, but could also be somewhere at the coast)
• end somewhere in the wide region between the adriatic and the carpathian mountains, between the tatra and northern dinaric alps

This rough decision was taken during the Winter Meeting 2013. During the following month, the route will be concretised in order to have "skeleton".

See the 2013 route page for

• ideas for places to visit, routes, contacts (add yours, too!)
• maps with ideas route ideas

Do you use FLOSS ? the Biketour does ...

One aim for 2013: To move towards only Libre and Open-Source communcation tools for Biketour, whilst telling people why!

Based on a key decision of 2012, a major goal of the 2013 coordination team is to further go towards a set of information and communication technology tools, which allow us to own our data, not "feed" transnational corporations, whilst protecting ourselves and others against surveillance, and empowering future generations of the incredible and usable "alternatives" online.

While for some people, data safety, privacy and conscious online communication has always been an issue - for others it is simply not considered. Out of a mainstream perspective, this can seem understandable - especially regarding technical knowledge. However, out of ecotopiabiketour's perspective, it seems paradox. If we use bikes instead of cars, eat tofu instead of meat, drink water instead of coke, cook communally instead of passing by the next McDonald's, visit grassroots communities and selforganised groups instead of shiny corporations: Why would we not act as "consciously" online? Here is a page with further arguments for FLOS biketour ICTs.

Here is a page with suggestions for FLOS biketour IC tools: Feel free to add your recommendations and knowledge about the suggested tools!

Kick-off days

This is likely to be a weekend in the first weeks of july. (to be confirmed)

What can we do during the kick-off days?

• Bike repair workshop
  • Regenbogenwerkstatt?
• Rocket stove workshop
• Organising Ourselves: BT 2013 structure
• First aid workshop / course? (Red Cross, THW, etc.?)
• Workshop planning
• Action planning
• City Critical Mass
• Coincide with exisiting bike or border event
• Organise a Bike or Border event ...

Keep your proposals coming ......!

Things needed for biketour

Biketour as a collective "has" some collective stuff (pans / trailers), which are collectively transported and used during the tour. During the rest of the year, these things are stored in different places and should all come together again by the start of the next tour. Things used in 2012 and planned to use in 2013 can be found on the 2013 Equipment page. Please update this page with the things you have and write how they can get to the starting point of the tour!

Every individual joining the tour will have to use some private stuff. See page what to bring for ideas about what participants need.

The tour lives from its different people and all the (material and immaterial) things that these people bring and share. On the 2013 Equipment page you can announce what kind of additional things you will bring to the tour. This can help us to make sure in advance that we won't find ourselves in the strange situations of having 25 guitars but no single bike pump ;). You can also find some inspirations on what to bring.

Print Material On the Road

• BT booklet 2013: including schedule, description of places
• small language book
• maps?
• stickers?

Propaganda

• Where to publicize it
  • some ideas on last year's page [Biketour 2012]
  • put new ideas here!

Text that Needs Translation

These texts need to be translated into key languages (of countries we are passing through - in every case german and polish; maybe czeck, slovakian, hungarian, slovene, naš jezik; and any other language you like!). Please translate them into a new paragraph onto the page of the specific text linked below:

• email info@ecotopiabiketour.net if you can help with translations

Archive of Mailing List Communications

2013 Organization Call-out

2013 Call-out

2013 Host request

2013 Coordinator Call for 2014

Travel plans and advice

Page where people can share this if they would like to.

• to come: list with (cheap) travel opportunities for germany and the greater region