WORLD CARFREE NEWS >>>
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Edition no. 45 - July 2007 - English version
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Contents:
QUOTATION OF THE MONTH
ACTION!
- SLOVAKIA MOBILITY JUSTICE CAMPAIGN
IN THE NEWS
WORLD CARFREE NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS
- TOWARDS CARFREE CITIES VII, AUGUST 27-31, ISTANBUL
- 2ND ANNUAL STREET CONVERSION DESIGN CONTEST
SPECIAL: SUMMER GATHERINGS
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QUOTATION OF THE MONTH >>
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"When you're a young guy that grows up in Sudbury and you're the first
guy in your family not to work underground, once you're successful you
have dreams of having a couple of cars and you can afford them, you
buy them."
-Canadian Environment Minister Laurel Broten, on her and her
husband's four piece car collection, around the time her proposed
two-story garage was being challenged at the Ontario Municipal Board
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ACTION! >>
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SLOVAKIA: A PROPOSED BILL TO FORBID CYCLING IN FORESTS
Your immediate action is requested to help prevent a draconian law
from being approved by the president of Slovakia. Deadline: Tuesday,
17th July!
Mikulas Dzurinda, the former Slovakian prime minister, was joined by
300 cyclists, who demonstrated in front of the presidential palace
last Sunday, in an attempt to lobby the president of the Republic,
Ivan Gasparovic, not to sign a bill currently under consideration.
This bill would both outlaw cycling and horseback riding in forests
nationwide. In addition to this, the bill would also allow for great
amounts of forests to be clear-cut. The president is expected to come
to a decision by Tuesday afternoon, thus your statements of support
for the Slovakian campaign are urgently needed.
What to do: Send a fax to the office of the president Ivan Gasparovic,
telling him that you support the Slovakian campaign's plea NOT to sign
the bill. Send a fax to 00421 2 57 888 103. You may also send an email
to informacie@???. The website of the president is:
http://www.prezident.sk/?introduction.
There is a campaign website in Slovakian at
http://www.ekoforum.sk/
and you may also write to Juraj Smatana: smatana [at] strazov.sk. An
English language campaign page is run on the World Carfree Network's
website. Stay tuned to the events by watching
http://www.worldcarfree.net/slovakia.php
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IN THE NEWS >>
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- Naked Critical Mass. From the UK to South Africa, and From Israel to
Peru, on June 9th and 10th, people joined the annual World Naked Bike
Ride in over 60 cities across the world.
http://www.worldnakedbikeride.org/
- Subarctic Critical Mass. A new northern star has appeared on the
Critical Mass horizon: The last Friday of every month in Yellowknife,
Northwest Territories, Canada, at latitude 62N longitude 114W,
Critical Mass is being celebrated. Roughly two dozen riders took part
in the first two rides so far.
- BART hopes to increase frequency of trains. Despite the real threat
of the state's governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to divert a needed $1.3
in state public transportation subsidies, the Bay Area Rapid Transit
(BART) board has voted to push forward with plans to increase service
frequency in their network in off-peak times from the current 20
minute intervals to 15 minute intervals. For the full story:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/15/BAG61QFVCT1.DTL
- Dutch cycling still on the rise. In the last five years, distances
cycled in Holland have risen by 10%. In 2006 the average person in
Holland cycled 2.5 kilometers per day, equalling more than 14 billion
kilometers in all. Bike sales in Holland also climbed by 9%, to an
amount of 453 million euros, in 2006. The first half of 2007 has seen
an increase in sales of roughly 20%. (source: greenfo.hu)
- European Commission's Green Paper on Public Transport review period
comes to a close, amid high expectations for greater European level
support in the realm of sustainable urban transport. This concludes
the mid-term review of the Transport White Paper, and will be among
the 21 strategic priorities of the Commission, to be published this
autumn. The review period also included an internet consultation as
well as four technical workshops and two stakeholder conferences.
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/clean/green_paper_urban_transport/index_en.htm.
- Bike Detector introduced in Grijpskerke, Holland. An electronic
warning sign was erected at a car and bicycle intersection in this
town in Holland, that lights up in the presence of cyclists, and
alerts car drivers to lower their speeds. Initial results of this
project appear to be positive. For picture and full article in Dutch,
see
http://www.verkeerskunde.nl/moxie/actueel/nieuws/fietsverklikker-benvloedt.shtml
(source: greenfo.hu)
- Complete Streets coming to California? Hope is that a new bill being
considered in Sacramento, California, USA, will offer equal options
for walkers, riders and bus users.
http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=6132&state=5&res=1024
- No parking places required. In an unusual instance of the city's
parking requirement for new housing relaxed, a new building - the
Curran house - was constructed in a low income area of San Francisco's
Tenderloin district, without parking places. Local tenants in general
cannot afford a car, and the house is close to eight major bus lines
and a subway station, and thus the city listened to the architects'
request and granted the exemption. As a result the whole process was
cheaper, a resident tenant was able to open a barbershop, there are
additional units and more common areas. For photos see the project's
website:
http://www.dbarchitect.com/project_detail/9/Curran%2520House%2520.html
- Live Earth mega concert day. On the 7th of July concerts were held
around the world, with over 100 artists involved, to bring attention
to climate change. The Red Hot Chili Peppers sang "How could I forget
to mention the bicycle is a good invention" in their Bicycle song. A
page on the website offers advice on how to be a part of the solution
of the climate crisis:
http://www.liveearth.org/crisis_solutions.php
- Successful VeloCity conference. Almost 1.000 participants from 50
countries met at the VeloCity conference between June 12-15 in Munich,
Germany. The topic was "From Vision to Reality", with best practices
presented from Germany, Norway, Denmark, France and other places. This
was a record attendance. The next VeloCity conference will be held in
2009 in Brussels, Belgium.
http://www.velo-city2007.com/
- New UITP office in Turkey. On the 5th of July, The International
Association of Public Transport (UITP) opened a liaison office in
Istanbul, Turkey. With the main office situated in Brussels, where it
was founded over 120 years ago, today the Association includes 2,900
members in over 90 countries. For Turkey, it comes at a time of the
country's growth, as well as during a time of light rail revival. For
more information, visit
www.uitp.org.
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WORLD CARFREE NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS >>
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TOWARDS CARFREE CITIES VII, AUGUST 27-31, ISTANBUL
Conference registration is still open, and participants should already
book their accommodation. Please see the conference website
(
www.worldcarfree.net/conference) for further information. We hope to
see you in August and welcome you to Istanbul.
2ND ANNUAL STREET CONVERSION DESIGN CONTEST
Due to the popularity of last year's competition and the importance of
continuing to promote alternative and creative uses of public space,
the Street Conversion Design Contest returns in 2007. The contest is
open to all. The details and guidelines are posted at
<
www.worldcarfree.net/contest/>. The deadline for submissions is
August 15, and the judging will take place at the Towards Carfree
Cities VII conference in Istanbul. Please circulate widely.
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SPECIAL: SUMMER GATHERINGS
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ECOTOPIA
This year Ecotopia will take place between 4 - 19 August in Aljezur in the
south of Portugal. Ecotopia is a two-week activist camp and an open
event for everyone
interested in environmental and social justice issues. Ecotopia takes
place every summer since 1989 in a different country. It is organized by
EYFA (European Youth For Action) and hosted by local grassroots
environmental organizations. This year's theme is migration, and there
will be a 3 days migration focus on the venue from 10th to 12th of
August. For more information, check
http://ecotopiagathering.org/
THE BIKE TOUR
Closely connected to Ecotopia is the yearly bike tour, which
criss-crosses Europe on the way to Ecotopia. It is not too late to
join. Currently crossing Spain, all the last-minute information you
need is available at
http://thebiketour.net/
CLIMATE ACTION CAMPS
There are climate related action camps on both sides of the Atlantic.
In the UK, the "Camp for Climate Action 2007" will be held from the
14th to the 21st of August near to London. Further information at
http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/. In the USA, the "Convergence for
Climate Action" will be held from August 8th to 14th on both the West
and East coast. For more information see
http://www.climateconvergence.org/.
EARTH FIRST GATHERING
In Norfolk, UK, from the 18th to the 24th of July, an eco-living,
planning actions and more will take place at the summer camp, hosted
by Earth First.
http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk/.
BIKE SUMMER
"An evolution of bike activism and culture" will be celebrated this
year as well, continuing the fine tradition of theater, art,
workshops, films, rides and more. This year holds many locations: USA:
Los Angeles, Portland, New Haven, Columbus, UK: Birmingham PORTUGAL:
Lisboa
GREEN ANARCHY GATHERING
The fifth annual Green Anarchist Gathering will take place from the
27th of July to the 5th of August, in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range
in Northern California, USA.
http://www.greenanarchy.org/index.php?action=feralvisions. For related
walking tours and carfree camp, see also
http://carfreeuniverse.org/Members/colin/walkingsangha/.
INTERNATIONAL ACTIVIST CAMP
In the beautiful Pirin mountains in Bulgaria, ASEED and Za Zemiata are
putting on an international camp for those interested in ecological
living, energy, climate-change and activism, and for whom Ecotopia in
Portugal might be just too far away.
http://www.aseed.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=381&Itemid=1
...
Bulletin #45 by Justin Hyatt
<justin(at)worldcarfree.net>
"La bicicletta è il veicolo più rapido nella via della delinquenza; perchè
la passione del pedale trascina al furto, alla truffa, alla grassazione!"
-Cesare Lombroso-
