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DEVELOPMENT: Australia Social Forum Is Possible

Stephen de Tarczynski

MELBOURNE, Apr 23 2007 (IPS) - While the organisers have proclaimed the third Melbourne Social Forum (MSF), which concluded here on Sunday, a hit, some participants say the event could have been more representative.

“I think it’s been a really big success,” forum organiser Maria Rodrigues told IPS. “I think the community has stepped forward a lot more this year than in previous years.”

With the theme of ‘Change the Political Climate: Turn Up the Heat’, the 2007 MSF consisted of two days of workshops and activities, preceded by the Friday-night launch, to promote environmental and social justice.

As a localised version of the World Social Forum – initially held in 2001 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, as a counterpoint to the World Economic Forum – the MSF provides a space for groups and individuals with a different orientation to meet and discuss issues and ideas.

Since 2001, over 170 social forums have been held in more than 120 cities worldwide, bringing together over a million participants under the banner, ‘Another World is Possible’.

The 2007 MSF featured around 52 workshops, with topics as diverse as sustainable transport, cooperative alternatives and indigenous resistance to globalisation in the Asia Pacific region.

Jodie Martire, who recently returned to Australia following a 15-month stint with Peace Brigades International (PBI) in Colombia, conducted a workshop on unarmed protective accompaniment of human rights defenders, organisations and others in war zones. “I think it was good that there were 17 or 18 people there, that’s a pretty good turnout. People were engaging with the subject matter, which I think is more important than anything else,” she said.

The 2007 MSF was the first social forum that Martire attended. “There aren’t many spaces that open themselves up to all kinds of social justice groups on all levels,” she says. “I think it’s really important as a cross-pollination space to allow all these people to meet face-to-face and to see each other, talk about their work and to get access to all these people at once because otherwise it’s really difficult to get outside of your own particular clique,” said Martire.

Simon Bradshaw, from the Channel Island-based Guernsey Climate Action Network, viewed the MSF as a positive experience. “It’s been very useful to be able to sit down and hook up with a number of people involved in those kinds of (community-based) initiatives and really have a valuable sharing of ideas,” Bradshaw told IPS.

With an estimated 500 people having attended the 2007 MSF, organisers are keen to capitalise on the apparent success of the meet.

José Maria Ramos, who teamed up with five others after attending the Mumbai World Social Forum in 2004 to organise the MSF, believes that it is time to expand the MSF. “I think it’s time to do an Australian Social Forum. I think what the social fora (including those that have taken place in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane) have done is create more cohesive networks within the big cities. But that hasn’t been taken to the national level,” said Ramos.

While Ramos sees possibilities for scaling up to an Australian, Australasian, Pacific or Oceanic social forum in the near future, he believes that funding would be essential. “You would probably need tens of thousands of dollars for the logistics and for the planning,” he said.

The 2007 MSF only received money from the local Moreland City Council. Apart from that, the forum was funded by participants. “We’re running a really tight ship,” explained Ramos.

According to Ramos, an expanded social forum would also require a diverse organising team able to handle the complexities of a larger event. “If we’re going to create a bigger project, the groundwork has been laid,” said Ramos, referring to the local social forums. “However, the next stage is going to be a new turning. But it’s very doable,” he said.

Rodrigues said she would like to see the forum become more of a central point for information exchange, a place for public education about social justice and sustainability. “I think it really has the potential to grow into that,” she said.

The feedback from those attending the MSF has been largely positive. “It’s great. It gives you different viewpoints on everything, on all the different issues that are going around and how you can get involved,” said one participant who gave his name as Dion.

Ursula, a Peruvian living in Melbourne, said she believes the MSF would benefit from the presence of industry or government representatives. “This is an event for non-governmental organisations (NGOs),” she said.

In Ursula’s view to give the even greater legitimacy it had to be more inclusive. ‘’All the questions that I heard were about NGOs or university people. I didn’t hear anybody arguing from other perspectives, such as people from a power station or people who are making an environmental impact assessment or in mining. Was anybody from mining here? No,” she said.