Following a long summer of anti-fracking protests which, as this is being written, are continuing to kick off in new places across Britain today, Reclaim The Power has announced a major conference for later this month to spread the lessons learned from its Rolling Resistance campaign and look at what comes next.
With Kirby Misperton in North Yorkshire now latest on the list of sites which have now been signed off for the heavily criticised shale gas mining technique, the gathering in London from September 23rd-24th in Stockwell will reflect on some of the myriad of resistance techniques which have been used to stave off drilling equipment and stymie frack support services from mass demos to lock-ons, truck-surfing, bike rides and kitchen crews catering for hundreds. Reclaim the Power said:
Given the scale of the endeavor, and the importance of thorough reflection and learning, we thought we’d dedicate a National Gathering to debriefing the Rolling Resistance and exploring what we should do next. If you took part in the Rolling Resistance in any way, come along to the Saturday debrief. Sunday is open to everyone, however new.
On Saturday we’ll be digging deep into all aspects of the Rolling Resistance, exploring what worked, what could have gone better, how effective we were, what led to change, and what big lessons we’ve learnt. We’ll discuss how we can continue to support local communities and those who took part in actions. On Saturday night we’ll be having a fundraiser to raise money to contribute towards the court fees of those arrested. There’ll be food, music, drinks, dancing — and rumours have it — even a Raffle!
As well as these debriefs, there’ll be a fundraiser in Bristol on the 22nd September to help raise money for Bristol Rising Tide and Coal Action who incurred huge fines shutting down Ffos-y-fran coal mine in Wales.
