Making the forum more participatory and diverse
The ESF program is based on self-organization. However, experience tells us that the ESF space tends to reproduce existing inequalities and power structures. Therefore, in the program process, we would like to highlight the following areas in order to make the forum more participatory and diverse:
- Please make efforts to make all program activities participatory. By experience this means for example avoiding big plenaries, instead trying to focus on or complement bigger events with participatory workshops and discussions in smaller groups.
- Please remember that the ESF is not a singular event, but a process for changing Europe and the world. This means that the mobilizations and preparations before the ESF, as well as the results and following up of program activities are of fundamental importance. During the ESF itself, series of workshops or other activities could also be more meaningful than aiming at just one singular event.
- In order to boost exchange and meetings between participants on the forum there will be rooms for self organized last minute events as well as well defined ways to announce such meetings.
- We strongly encourage program activity proposers to commit themselves to ensure diversity when it comes to speakers and other visible roles for seminars, workshops and other program activities. This means to include different points of views in panels etcetera to diversify the debate by gender, age, geographical and cultural backgrounds, different abilities and so on.
- We will specially focus on women inclusion. The program group of the Nordic Organizing Committee and the European program group will give priority to proposals where there is a commitment to balance women and men. For bigger ESF-events such as assemblies there will be a quota rule. At least 50 percent women have to be in panels and other visible roles for such events.
- We will also specially focus on the inclusion of perspectives, participants and program proposals from Central and Eastern Europe, resource poor sectors and marginalized groups. Costs of participation, lack of information, network contacts, and social realities in Europe, underlines the need for an active and special emphasis on facilitating the participation of Central and Eastern European movements, resource poor sectors and marginalized groups.
