Power Shift Sweden 2016

In October 2016 the sixth edition of Power Shift took place in Knivsta, located between Stockholm and Uppsala. About 100 young people gathered to take part in workshops, listen to lectures and just engage with others around the topic ”United for transition”.

 

Highlights

The conference was live streamed and can be found on Power Shift Swedens Facebook page. Click on videos and you will find all the recordings. Have a look at our Flickr stream where you can find photos from the week-end.

 

The week-end

The week-end started on Friday evening with an inspirational evening focusing on setting the foundation for the conference. Speakers from Fältbiologerna, PUSH Sverige, LSU, Magnoliamålet and Ende Gelände shared their stories on how they have managed to mobilize people for transition. After this the participants got involved in sharing their expectations for the week-end with each other.

On Saturday small group discussions continued, focusing on deeping the foundation on what we mean with transition and what we need to do to get where we want. An interesting thought experiment was thinking about what we would do if we were at the conference for a year and not just the week-end – how would we organize? The participants could then choose from a range of workshops, for example on media strategies, inner transition, sharing economy, well-being, youth and community-led initiatives, sociocracy, climate change leadership and more. After the workshop we all gathered again for an engagement fair and fika buffet where we could mingle with eacher and learn more about interesting organisations and initiatives. An intense day ended with a relaxed open stage event where we enjoyed the amazing talents of the group: dancing, singing, theatre etc.

Sunday focus was on getting to action: how do we organize? Groups discussed around topics of interest, but also based on where they live. Plans were made on how to move forward and the day ended with a talk about activist well-being and a reflection round on lessons learned during the week-end! Lots of new contacts were made during the week-end, and inspiration and strength was found for continuing engaging for sustainable societies.

See the whole program, speakers and workshops further below.

 

Photos

Here are some photos from the event:

 

Program details

 

Speakers – United for Transition

Ahmed Al-Qassam, PUSH Sverige

Ahmed will enlighten us about the history and achivements of PUSH Sverige, the challenges ahead and how PUSH can be used as a platform for everone involved in sustainability issues.

Romiana Bikasha, LSU

Romiana will talk about Agenda 2030 and her experiences as Swedish Youth Representative to the United Nations High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2016.

Johan Andersson, Fältbiologerna

Johan is the deputy chairperson of the youth environment organisation Fältbiologerna. He will share some success stories from Fältbiologernas mobilisation around certain issues.

Annika Hagberg, Magnoliamålet

In September 2016, Swedish youth sued the state on climate grounds for selling off coal power plants in Germany. Annika will tell us about the lawsuit and their strategies for mobilising people and getting attention for their cause.

Joakim Andrén, Climate Justice Program

Climate Justice Program trained a number of activists before Ende Gelände – a mass act of civil disobedience where thousands of people occupied a coal mine in Germany. Joakim will share his experiences from this.

Workshops

Youth and community-led initiatives for Transition – Alisa Dendro, NGO RELEARN
How do we switch from talking about the change to working for change and being the change? What is there for us, young people, to do to make the world a better place? Alisa’s work is focused on turning people’s frustration about global challenges into enthusiasm about solutions. Starting with an experiential exercise, the workshop will continue with the talk about existing initiatives, projects, networks and possibilities for young people to find their path to be the change.

A journey into inner transition – Emilia Rekestad & Peter Hagerot, Transition Sweden
Inner transition is an important part of the transition model, as we believe that the challenges we face are not just caused by a mistake in our technologies but as a direct result of our worldview and belief system. Join us for a journey where we deepen our inquiry into what our common future may need. This workshop partly builds on ”The Work That Reconnects” by activist and Eco-philosopher Joanna Macy.

Activist well-being – Koen Verbruggen, Climate Justice Belgium
Introduction and video of “validation”, followed by a creative process to see and appreciate people as they are. In order to face our daunting task to make the world better, not only “product” but also process and people matter. Movements mostly run on volunteers, who are diverse. Therefore it’s important to recognise and voice the positive in people and (their) work.

Climate Change Leadership – Hannes Willner & Karl Andreasson, CEMUS
Who can be a leader and how do we mobilize in order to create change? In this workshop you will have the opportunity to try out what it means to do climate change leadership in practice and, together with other, make resistance through mobilizing and organizing.

Sociocracy – Christophe Golle
Not every company needs a boss. Not every group needs hierarchy. No bosses and no hierarchy: sociocracy is an inspiring way for groups to organize themselves and take decisions. It is more simple, more transparent, more flat than the conventional ways. Come and get a taste!

366 Days of Sharing – Maria Eriksson
How can the sharing economy be a tool for using different resources more efficiently? What are the advantages? What good examples are there and what is still missing?

Media och Internet – Beatrice Rindevall, Supermiljöbloggen; Abigail Sykes, Landets Fria; Jenny Stiernstedt, SvD
Under workshopen går vi igenom olika sätt du kan mobilisera via internet, och hur du bör tänka för att nå ut till journalister och media. Du får tips och övning i hur du lyckas på sociala medier, skriver ett effektfullt pressmeddelande, får din insändare publicerad och lockar journalister att skriva om din aktion.

Samhällsplanering för omställning – Martin Gunnarsson
Hur och när kan vi påverka samhällsplaneringen inom dagens system för att nå förändring (Martin Gunnarsson. Samhällsplanerare och grundare av PUSH Sverige)

Earth Hour 2017: mat och hållbar livsstil – Sissa Pagels & Elin Johnson, WWFs Ungdomsråd
Vad har unga för relation till mat idag? Hur hänger mat och hållbar livsstil ihop? Hur kan vi mobilisera kring detta inför Earth Hour 2017?

Tools for Engagement and Mobilisation – Johline Z. Lindholm, PUSH Sverige
Through this workshop we want to inspire you to go from ideas, knowledge and information to start building real plans for change.  In a collaborative, peer-to-peer manner we will explore, and start building strategies for change and try out tools to help you in the process.

PUSH Sverige delegation to COP22