Friends of the Earth International also organized two separate trainings in Brussels, Belgium, in September 2009. One was for journalists and the other for non-profit communications staff. The two target groups also participated in a joint session, sharing their experiences and opinions.

The communicators' training was delivered to 18 spokespeople and communicators from NGOs, mostly from European FoEI groups. Participants discussed and practiced the skills and tools needed to reach specific target audiences and media outlets with their messages.

The journalists' training was delivered to 14 accredited journalists from important mainstream media outlets based in the EU (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia). It provided them with useful tools with which to produce news stories related to climate justice and biodiversity in Europe and in developing countries.

The journalists' training included presentations about climate and biodiversity-related issues in Nigeria, Paraguay, Uruguay and Colombia. Journalist participants were particularly interested in these presentations from developing countries, and most of them produced related stories in the following months.

The vast majority of journalists attending stated that their ability to report on climate change issues had improved considerably following the training. 90% stated that they were interested in attending other workshops on sustainable development issues organized by FoEI.

 These trainings were possible thanks to the financial assistance of the European Union.

global europe

The Global Europe campaign aims to expose the negative impacts and the corporate bias of the Global Europe  strategy; and to counter trade and investment agreements that harm men, women and the environment in the Global South, but also harm Europe's peoples as well.

corporate power

The Corporate Power campaign campaign focuses on dismantling corporate power by exposing and countering corporate crimes and their social, environmental and human rights impacts, specifically on women’s and men’s productive and reproductive activities. It also counters corporate influence over governments and institutions, including international financial institutions and the World Trade Organization (WTO); and building peoples' power by developing and advocating for legal measures to give rights to women, men and communities and to protect them against corporate power.

plantations

EJRN is also engaged in the Plantations campaign (led by the Forests and Biodiversity program) through exposing and countering the role of relevant corporations, and trade and investment flows, and by promoting resistance activities.

Further, the EJRN program also contributed to the Agrofuels campaign by exposing and countering the role of corporations, trade and investments in that sector. 

Finally, the EJRN program contributed to the Climate and Finance campaign (which is led by the Climate Justice and Energy program) by exposing and rejecting the World Bank’s involvement in controversial projects on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD); stopping the World Bank’s Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) and other World Bank involvement in fighting climate change; and proposing and promoting an alternative climate financing mechanism

accomplishments

In 2008, FoEI's EJRN Program successfully:

• Strengthened the fight against the EU’s Global Europe policy
• Continued the fight against free trade agreements
• Disclosed the truth, built awareness about and mobilized against specific corporate abuses
• Tackled corporate lobby and greenwash
  
• Halted destructive projects
  
• Denounced corporate-driven policies
  
• Used legal strategies to defend people from corporate abuses

In 2008, two of FoE Slovakia’s member groups, FoE CEPA in Central Slovakia and FoE SPZ in Eastern Slovakia, ran programs to build their membership and support base and increase their income, to enable them to develop their campaigning potential.

what happened?

FoE CEPA ran a number of activities to inspire and recruit new members. These included educational tours of the Polana region, an area renowned for its rich natural and cultural heritage, but plagued by extreme poverty, particularly among segregated Roma communities. They developed two tours, one focusing on birds and the other on geology, and produced a set of manuals covering all aspects of the tours, including logistics, publicity, and information on the wildlife of the region. Leaflets and posters illustrated with specially commissioned photos were prepared for use with the tours and information stands.

Two information boards were made and installed, one close to FoE CEPA’s headquarters in Ponicka Huta, and the other in a park in the capital, Bratislava. Both are popular leisure destinations, so the information boards have a big audience.

FoE CEPA also developed its work with schools. They delivered 13 seminars in schools signed up to the Climate Alliance schools’ programme, as well as workshops for over 700 participants. They also installed two interactive ‘Climate Connects Us’ exhibitions, which were supported by high quality information that can be used by teachers and students in the schools. In total, some 2,000 students benefited. In October 2008, FoE CEPA hosted the annual meeting of Climate Alliance schools, attended by representatives of 48 schools and municipalities. Popular highlights included a photography exhibition and presentations by visiting representatives of the Federation of Native Tribes of Rio Negro, Amazonia.

FoE CEPA also organised various activities for children and young people from the Roma segregated community living near their headquarters, including training events on environmental issues, skills training, and music and dance workshops. Seven young Roma took part in a course on volunteering along with students from the nearby university.  

FoE SPZ ran a project to increase membership. They held a summer eco-camp for members, supporters and the general public, with lively discussions, talks and trips guided by a naturalist, as well as crafts and games.

They also hosted a weekend seminar for 15 active supporters, which involved discussions and training, including on public outreach skills and techniques, and a survey of a local community about illegal waste dumping in the area.  

They also carried out training in three different locations for volunteers working on street information stalls.

They ran various initiatives to increase income, including a direct mail campaign to 8,000 warm contacts, which brought in 168 donations, including from 69 new members. They also wrote to 800 companies, asking them to donate 2% of their income tax to FOE SPZ.

what changed?

The projects effectively boosted FoE Slovakia’s profile and strengthened the work of its member groups.

FoE CEPA’s schools programme drew a lot of attention from teachers, students and the general public. Interest in their educational tours is also high, and many of those who went on the tours have joined or expressed an interest in staying involved with the organization.

The young Roma who took part in the activities organised by FoE CEPA are much better informed than their peers. FoE CEPA has recruited some regular Roma volunteers, and the youngsters are functioning as an informal youth branch of the organization.

FoE SPZ has increased the number of activists, members, supporters and major donors, as well as revenues from members and supporters. Their activities, particularly the Ecocamp and campaign actions, received good coverage in print, broadcast and online media.

what next?

FoE Slovakia now has increased membership, better financial stability and more political influence, which will bear fruit as it takes its work forward both nationally and internationally. Both the member groups plan to continue the work in 2009.

FoE CEPA has planned four more educational tours, along with promotional and supporting materials (leaflets, manuals and posters) for 2009. There is also a plan to follow-up activities on climate and energy issues with the Climate Alliance schools. FoE CEPA is also developing a new program on sustainable regional development, which may become a model for other national groups.

FOE SPZ is continuing its fundraising activities, and has hired a new staff member to coordinate fundraising and membership development. Plans for 2009 include the screening of a television advertisement.

In 2008, we conducted many activities to support the development of our member groups, as we understand that the strength of FoEI lies in the strength of our member organizations, their capacity to win victories at the local and national level, relate their struggles in a global context, and act in solidarity with fellow member groups in other countries and across regions.

Our Membership Support Fund seeks to pool resources and share them across FoE member groups for the following objectives: network development, capacity building, strengthening national campaigns, and increasing participation in international campaigns.

In 2008, we distributed 1.22 million Euros to 35 of our members: Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, El Salvador, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Palestina, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Togo and Uruguay.

In addition to this fund, other membership support activities in 2008 included facilitation and accompaniment of regional development, particularly in Asia Pacific and Africa. FoEI provided strategic support and facilitation assistance during regional meetings and in setting up regional structures, as well as one-on-one support to member groups in those regions to encourage their participation in the international federation. 

Other areas of membership development are the facilitation of relationship building among member groups across regions; helping to overcome language barriers through timely translations; creating spaces for sharing experiences, such as exchanges and gatherings; and ensuring that member groups are present in the federation and don't fall off the map.

To confront this agenda, international cooperation between FoEI network groups is vital. In March 2006, Ivan Lesay of FoE Slovakia travelled to Uruguay and Paraguay to learn how groups there tackle the threats posed by IFIs.

what happened: First, Ivan attended a workshop on “Investor/State Dispute Settlement Mechanisms” organized by FoEI in conjunction with FoE Uruguay, in Montevideo. Next, he took part in a FoEI campaign meeting on Corporates, IFIs and Trade, then attended a course titled “Constructing Capacities for the Sustainability of the Rio de la Plata Basin ” organised by FoE Paraguay for campaigners from five Latin American countries.

what we learned: The workshop made it clear to Ivan that not only IFIs, but also trade relations are biased in favour of big states and corporations, fostering economic globalisation. Bolivian and Costa Rican speakers demonstrated how organisations such as the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (which regulates trade) and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, work in favour of big business. 

What’s more, says Ivan, “I managed to talk to many people and see the context of their fights at home. Despite the different environment, I noticed that, though in different ways, we do a lot of common work …”

The course organised by FoE Paraguay revealed the realities facing the Rio de la Plata Basin region. Ivan’s own contribution, a presentation (in Spanish) on the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Latin America, was well received. Spending time learning more about FoE Paraguay’s IFI campaigns also revealed those campaigners’ eagerness to monitor European investments in Paraguay and Latin America.

Ivan was inspired by the different style of campaigning he encountered. "It is much about going out to talk to and work with communities; it is much more grassroots-based, based on authentic needs and it is a lot more political, engaged and enthusiastic,” said Ivan, “FoE Paraguay is an extremely developed and experienced organisation that exactly knows where it goes, what it wants .. I would with no hesitation call it a model for the work of any enviro-social group.”

Ivan says that, now, “when I work on some things, I think of how my Paraguayan comrades would comment on it. I think this is one of the most valuable things that I have brought home from my exchange.”

what next: Ivan and FoE Paraguay staff agreed to prepare a joint paper for the EIB about infrastructure integration projects in South America. They also brainstormed about a possible cross-regional course on international finance issues shared by both Latin America’s Rio de la Plata Basin and Central and Eastern Europe’s Danube basin.

with thanks to our funders: the dutch ministry of foreign affairs