At the invitation of No Grandi Navi, the anti-Croisières fight of Venice, active for 10 years to preserve its lagoon and now all the rest of the harmful consequences of cruises, Stop Cruises went to the Venice Climate Camp, 7 As of September 11, 2022 on the island of Lido.
The program was dense. Beyond the workshop to which European anti-crosses struggle had been invited, every day was an adventure. Here are some extracts from our logbook.
Thursday September 8: action with no grandi nav
As soon as they got off the train, Stop Cruises was taken through the city to reach one of the large canals in Venice. A little coffee on the terrace, and we are waiting for our floating taxis. Thundering entry into matters when the ten boats arrives, in charge of activists and flags, heading straight in the industrial zone of Marghera (the equivalent of Fos for us). The action converges several collectives which are all at heart to defend Venice, by denouncing the extension of the use of coal rather than hydrogen provided in the Marghera power plant.
With the other activists, we land by boat to invade the coal storage area.
Let these industries in the world yesterday leave behind and think of the world we want to build.
Friday September 9
Visit of the Morion Center-Social, heart of the Venetian struggle
Stroll in Venice, meeting with We Are here Venice and Cittadini per Aria, and preparation of the next day workshop
Saturday September 10
Workshop: Present and future of mega-crosses in the Mediterranean
Joined by the platform against the Palma de Mallorca cruise megapaquebots for a workshop for anti-crosrer struggles in Europe, many of us discuss on the subject: the Plama de Palma de Mallorca, No Grandi Nav and We Are Plama and We Are Here Venice de Venice, Stop Cruises de Marseille, and Cittadini per L’Aria de Milan. Together, we want to build solid foundations for a new organization that we call our wishes, Ecan: European Cruise Activist Network, the European Anti-Croisières network. Our manifesto is being written and will soon be shared so that the network can extend to all the ports concerned by the impact of cruises.
Demonstration: walking for the climate
The afternoon is held the big climate march, a major action of the camp, where all the struggles and collective present converge to defend the city and denounce the impact of the various industries, projects and climatic practices. For the occasion, the walk goes to the red carpet of the Venice Mostra, International Cinema Festival. Unfortunately, it will not happen to the red carpet, the police dams being too massive for this, but the walk will have been festive and will have shown a convergence of inspiring struggles for the rest.