BT 2012 workshop notes

This workshop was held on a rest day towards the end of bt 2011 in a beautiful place by the lake. I wanted to get some feedback about the tour and hear what people had to say about making the next year (2012) even better. Valentina has written a summary of her experiences helping to organise the tour which you can find here. There were about 16 people participating and while we covered a lot we missed out some points as the other discussions took longer than I anticipated (as they always do!. We wrote on scraps of card which I took photos of, here is what we did/talked about:

Workshop agenda

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• Intro to EVS and current route thoughts (5 mins-Alice)
• What have you enjoyed? active listening exercise & feedback to group (15mins)
• What have you found difficult? active listening exercise & feedback to group (15mins)
• More details of the proposal (5 mins-Alice)
• What would you like to see next year? brainstorm in 4 groups (15mins)
• Feedback (15mins)
• Degrowth theme + comments (10mins)
• Ideas for specific locations (direct people to wiki)

Items on agenda mentioned but not covered (ran out of time:

• Local coordinator call out
• Decision making and consensus on email lists
• Winter meeting agenda
• Paperwork and BT 2013

What have you enjoyed?

• Lots of new ideas and learning from other people's experiences
• A chance to live in a community/family
• Good to meet people from other countries and network projects
• New ideas of nature
• Nice places to see
• New things each day
• It's affordable
• There is a good group dynamic, nice atmosphere and love
• Learning lots about food
• Good discussions
• A place for experiential learning
• It gives you space to think
• Cycling! Everyday :-)
• A welcome break from normal life
• A challenge - long distance and hills
• Ice cream/hot springs

What have you found difficult?

• Workshops don't happen - some people are less motivated
• Not enough time made for discussion
• Responsibilities are not always clear
• Stressful at times (can be positive) - lots of pressure on organisers
• Circles are hard
• Decisions take a long time/not consensus
• Not a good balance of personal/group time
• Consensus difficult
• Hard to be part of group/self time/cycling time
• Strong different opinions too much of the time
• Fast/slow cyclist division
• We are too rushed
• Communication is unclear which leads to misunderstandings
• Not enough workshops
• Loose lot of time on waiting for people, loose lots of energy
• Food takes a long time - shopping/preparing
• People need to be more flexible
• Language barriers are difficult, it's hard to be included
• Not enough communication
• We go too fast past beautiful places
• We are always late, we should stick to a better schedule

What would you like to see next year?

Route

• Have a clear route & photocopy for all (this way you don't loose energy planning the route)
• Maps for all!
• Fixed resting days
• Make good BT road markings
• Prepare the route in advance
• Focus on getting to know the area
• 50km average 30-80km/day

Activities

• More time for activities/workshops
• Some days of cycling, some days of woofing
• Visit more farms/associations/workshops/conferences/national parks
• More workshops cause everyone knows special things
• Visit festivals
• Show films/talks
• Stay longer in places to help
• Speak about hospitality - don't abuse it
• Find lots of contacts along the way
• Be more active with the topic on the road
• More direct action
• Contact local groups
• Small ecotopia at the final spot

group dynamics

• Clarify visions at the beginning
• Not be a group of tourists, focus on ecology and the current theme
• There should a new arrival person (tell new people about bt & what has happened) to prevent misunderstandings
• Be better at introducing new people to the group
• Try and be more of a group
• Be clear what tasks there are to do
• Have circle time to get to know each other better
• Be more of a community
• Have more time for the group
• Be more aware of fast/slow people
• Be more aware of language needs
• More games!

Decision making

• Agree ground rules
• Agree on a routine - up at 7am/8am, siesta etc.
• Explain the consensus process to new people
• Improve consensus method (smaller groups?)
• Circles day each day - obligatory!
• Communicate announcements at each circle

Food

• Have a shopping plan, only once a day
• Eat food at the right time, eat better, be clearer what food we buy - NO MEAT!

Money

• 1 person should take care of finances
• Make it more affordable

Publicity/communication

• Make sure that the website (FB, twitter etc) is updated - who does this?
• Advertise in countries in BT is not so well known

Other

• Trailer, get a new trailer?
• Have better awareness of road safety - crossroads, rules of the country
• Get insurance for the group or suggest that people get their own

Degrowth theme

• People were happy with the theme
• We need a good explanation/introduction prepared (as it's not very commonly known)
• We need a balance between theory and practice
• It would be good to be able to explain it in a creative way
• Focus on the practical things about degrowth (use a DIY shower system, skill shares for example)
• Build a rocket stove for the tour when we meet

Location/route

• Allow lots of time, always better to plan more time
• 2.5 months is too long, 2 months is lots of time
• It's good to have a long tour, it can start early for people that can't normally make it
• It's a long way for a 'degrowth' topic
• I don't like the idea of boat as it won't be a sailing boat, it's like taking a bus
• It's important that people stay a minimum of 2 weeks as it's a process
• Booklet should be emailed to all participants before + copies printed

Ideas for specific locations (added to route map)

• Camp along the canal in cevennes & Arrigas in the south of France
• Contact Ecologistas in accion