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The 2013 Adelaide Activist Skillshare starts today!  

Location: 
Aldinga Beach Holiday Park, Lot 339 Cox Rd, Aldinga Beach SA 5173, Australia)

Contact: Call Tammy-Jo Sutton on 0422 078 021.

Arrive at the venue from 4pm today to settle into the venue and meet one another.  If you are just attending Saturday or Sunday, registrations are from 8.30am, with the workshop program beginning at 9am. 

If you have not already done a bank transfer, please bring your registration payment in cash.

Check here for a list of what to bring. 

We will be giving each participant a Skillshare Program, full of  information on facilitators and workshops and the timetable for this weekend. So it is up to you to choose which sessions you will attend to develop your own individual activist tool-kit!

Actions Towards Transition!

 
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Continue developing your skills after this weekend's Activist Skillshare with The Activists Handbook: A Step By Step Guide to Participatory Democracy.

We are lucky to have for sale at the Skillshare several copies of keynote speaker Aidan Ricketts' essential guide to activism for just $30.  They can also be ordered online, with postage extra.

We will also be providing each participant with a Skillshare program, being prepared for print right now! It is full of  information on facilitators, workshops, campaigns, and extra resources for activists.

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Aidan Ricketts' powerful step-by-step guide draws on the his extensive experience of almost 30 years in activism and education.

Providing all essential practical tools, methods and strategies needed for a successful campaign and extensively discussing legal and ethical issues, the book empowers its readers to effectively promote their cause. Full of ready-to-use documents and case studies, it is an ultimate guide to to grassroots movements.




The Activists' Handbook contents:
  1. Activism, advocacy and the practice of democracy
  2. Building successful social movements
  3. Strategy: The art of activism
  4. Planning and mapping your campaign: practical tools and processes
  5. Media, publicity and research
  6. Public sector activism: How to change the law and influence government policy
  7. Corporate Activism
  8. Direct action, protest and your rights
  9. Digital Activism
  10. Strategic Litigation
  11. Social change and conflict resolution
  12. Empowerment and personal sustainability: Staying active and avoiding burnout

In this accessible text, Ricketts generously shares insights and wisdom he’s gained through twenty years of dedicated activism. His legal training and experience are the real strength to this manual. Too few community activists use the law to its potential and Aidan advocates creative and powerful legal strategies. ~ James Whelan, director, The Change Agency

 
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We are lucky to be hosting the Activist Skillshare this year at Aldinga Beach Holiday Park. It is only 45 minutes south of Adelaide and will provide a peaceful setting for the weekend. The mini-camp is nestled in the scrub and is within walking distance of the beach, so there will be opportunity to immerse yourself in nature.

On Sunday afternoon there are two organised activities to make the most of the surroundings.  A snorkeling adventure will be lead by Michael and James. If you have any equipment, masks, flippers, wetsuits, please bring it along. Of course do not forget your bathers and towel! We are also to have a bushwalk lead by The Friends of Aldinga Scrub. Remember to pack your walking shoes.

On Saturday Mike will be running an Open Mike Night for the talented and not-so-talented among us to show us their stuff. Whatever you’ve got to share, bring the necessary props and show the Adelaide Activist community your chops!

Other entertainment over the weekend will be team games, documentary screenings and music jams in the evenings.


 
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We are lucky to have as our chefs for the Skillshare,  Justin (from Earth's Kitchen) and Nat (TWS activist exchanger) who will be cooking up feasts for you to devour.

All meals will be provided over the weekend, from Friday dinner to Sunday lunch. All will be vegetarian.

If you are gluten free or vegan we will make sure to meet your requirements. If you have complicated food requirements you are encouraged to bring your own food and are welcome to cook meals in the kitchen for yourself.

Menu:
Friday night: Veggie BBQ (with Veggie Burgers, Vegan Sausages, Vegan Potato Salad and Leafy  Green Salad). Popcorn.
Saturday: Breakfast - self-serve cereals (muesli and cornflakes), toast, fruit etc; Lunch - sandwiches / wraps (Gluten Free and Vegan options); Dinner - Tomato pasta dish (GF and V options). ‘The Simpson Dessert’.
Sunday: Breakfast - self-serve cereals, vegan scrambled eggs; Lunch - soup and left overs.

There will also be a breaks for morning and afternoon tea (Gluten Free Vegan Anzac Biscuits!) and a bowl of help-yourself fruit available for munching on. Tea and Coffee available, and the option of soy and cow's milk.

Fill your belly with wholesome food while filling your mind with challenging ideas!

 
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The skillshare is so soon- this weekend! Registrations have now closed. We hope you are as excited as us to participate!

Following is all you need to do to prepare for the event.

Location:
Aldinga Beach Holiday Park
in their mini-camp building. Address is Lot 339 Cox Rd, Aldinga Beach SA 5173.

Accommodation:
The mini-camp has 40 bunks available. We will be placing participants in these bunks as they need to be filled first in order to have the building exclusively and to cover the base cost of hiring the venue. The majority of the rooms sleep 3-4 so it will not be over-crowded. If you really want to camp, you will need to book a site at your own additional expense (per night $27 an unpowered site + extra adults $10 per person) directly from the Aldinga Beach Holiday Park here on (08) 8556 3444.

Transport:
 On Friday we will have one minibus leaving Adelaide CBD at 3 pm (from The Wilderness Society Campaign Centre) and one leaving Flinders University at 3pm. If you need a lift to the Aldinga Beach Holiday Park from either one of these locations,  please email Michael at [email protected] to secure your seat.
If you elected upon registration that you can provide a lift to others Michael will be in contact with you soon to arrange carpooling options.

Arrival times:
The skillshare begins from 4pm Friday 22nd March until 4pm Sunday 24th March.
If arriving on Friday please try to arrive at the venue around 4pm for registration. Ice-breaker games will start at 5pm and dinner will be at 7.30pm.
If arriving on Saturday registration opens from 8.30am and the plenary starts from 9am. Similarly workshops start from 9am if attending only on Sunday.
Upon arrival you will need to ‘check in’, be assigned accommodation if staying at venue, and given a program handbook.

Packing list:

  • Clothing: for two days and two nights. Be prepared for warm, cool and even wet weather. Some workshops are physically interactive so dress accordingly.
  • Your own bedding: for bunks eg sleeping bag, pillow, single fitted sheet. (If camping, your own tent or swag, thermals for night-time temperatures)
  • Notepad, pens: you will receive a Skillshare Handbook, but other paper to write on.
  • Cushion: for sitting on in outside workshops
  • Musical instruments: for jamming and Mike's Open Mike Night
  • Beach gear: towel, bathers, and snorkels, flippers and even wetsuit if you own them. 
  • Walking shoes: for exploring Aldinga scrub
  • Torch or headlamp
  • Hat and sunscreen
  • Candle for Earth Hour on Saturday night
  • BYO self-indulgence, eg chocolate. NO illicit substances allowed.

Anything else you would like to share to help create an awesome weekend!

If you have any questions contact on [email protected] or
0422 078 021.




 
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Hurry- registrations for the Activist Skillshare close this weekend! EDIT: TODAY!

If you have already signed up, please make sure you have paid. Details for how to do so are in the confirmation email. We will also be in contact about transportation and accommodation arrangements. 

Any queries please contact us.

The program has been announced, with facilitator bios and workshop abstracts online and timetabling being finalised.

 
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The Activist Skillshare is less than two weeks away
- have you checked out the program?

We are pleased to announce all the impressive workshops run by our expert facilitators. There really is something to interest and involve everyone keen to develop their skills as effective activists.

We hope you are excited as we are for the weekend of March 22-24!

Friday from 4pm will be a relaxed evening to settle into the venue. It will give us a chance to meet, as well as for a swim at the beach, BBQ and entertainment.

Saturday will begin at 9am with an inspiring plenary session, with our special speakers Aiden Rickett, Doug McCarthy and Peter Owen discussing 'The Big Picture' of integrative, adaptive, strategic activism and campaigning.

Then it is up to you to pick and choose from the range of workshops across the weekend!

The timetabling is being finalised, but you can get an idea of what will be on offer from the abstracts.

If you have not already registered, do so now! You have until March 17 to sign up, but spaces are filling up fast.

Please contact us for answers to any questions.

 
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Simply, activism is the use of campaigning for political or social change.

Activism is action. It is something you do. This year's Activist Skillshare, on the weekend of March 22-24, will help you to act.

Activism can be in support or opposition to an issue or situation. It can take a range of forms: writing letters to the editor; phoning politicians; supporting boycotts; participating in protests and blockades. Activism is not all placards and shouting through loudspeakers. It can simply be informing a friend.

Activism is can be challenging the status quo or fighting against poor decisions of government, business, or the 'system'. It can also be promoting alternatives. Permaculture and Cooperatives are ways of encouraging improvements through good example.

Activism is powerful. “Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has,” (Margaret Mead, anthropologist) Most recently in South Australia, strong campaigning saved Arkaroola from mining and demanded marine sanctuaries. Achievements all due to people power.

Activism, of course, does not guarantee such success. But uncertainty is no reason for inaction. You can be part of the solution, or part of the problem – the latter through ignorance, but also, through ignoring all that you can do to try make a difference. If not you, who? And if not now, when? “If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.” (Anita Roddick, activist).

The Activist Skillshare aims to increase and expand both your knowledge and the skills to effectively campaign. So please register now to attend.
                                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                        - Meg Sobey

 
The skillshare is only weeks away, we are pleased to announce that the program is shaping up excellently.

We will be releasing the program later this week, but for an introduction to some of the experts sharing their skills over the weekend, check out the updated facilitators’ bios page.

Over the next few weeks we will highlight some of the impressive facilitators and workshops to get you excited about what will be on offer at this year's skillshare.

Don't forget to register - places are filling fast, so make sure you do not miss out.
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Douglas McCarty, Chris Warren, John Maguire, Peter Owen- experts in their fields.

Activist Skill-share