Merging process

One main aim of the ESF is to make activists and members of different organizations, networks and movements to meet horizontally, to break barriers and to encourage new exchanges and alliances.

Because of practical reasons there will naturally be a limited number of venues and time slots for all incoming proposed program activities. This also puts a need to encourage joint program proposals.

Therefore:

- We strongly encourage and recommend organizations, networks and movements to cooperate and make joint program proposals.  Organizations not wishing to cooperate with others can only get access to the smallest rooms, and will not be provided with translation.

- Making a program proposal for the ESF is a process. Until May 31 you can propose activities for the ESF 2008. During the merging period you can still edit already submitted proposals, even after May 31, but not make any new ones. During the whole program process and until the end of June during the final work with the program, there will be a process to facilitate mergers between similar program proposals from different organizations, sectors and parts of Europe.

- We strongly encourage organizations, networks and movements to cooperate and make joint program proposals already from the beginning – or to make use of the existing web-based tools for self-organized merging between incoming proposals. The web-based tools for self-organized merging consists of:

1. Access to a searchable database with all incoming program proposals
2. OpenESF, which is a new, open web-based tool for starting joint projects and bringing groups together within the ESF process.

However, there will probably also be situations, especially towards the end of the work with the final program, where mergers needs to be facilitated. The Nordic Organizing Committee, the European program group and existing european networks will be responsible for this merging process, in cooperation with the program proposers themselves.