Information on the meeting in Nairobi

Friday 9 February 2007

On January 24^th 2007, journalists and social communicators from different alternative media invited by the International Ciranda of Independent Information, gathered in a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, Africa. The meeting was part of the World Social Forum 2007 program and aimed at debating the future and strategies for shared communication within the WSF process.

The initiative was welcomed by the percussion and dance group The Drum Beat Of Uganda From Uganda, which was also welcomed and very much appreciated by Ciranda. The group’s drums and artists celebrated the opening of a meeting whose first conclusions will take place within a year, during global mobilization journeys called by the WSF process.

Communication activists from Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe started the meeting with a brief historical of shared coverage that have taken place during the WSF process since 2001, including regional and national inititives - the most recent one took place in New Deli, as noted by a member of the Indian Social Forum.

There was also a presentation about the concept of shared press coverage, which opposes itself to market journalism, and the discussion about Ciranda, an initiative always transforming itself. The moment was followed by a dialogue on future initiatives for the process 2007/2008 when, instead of having a central WSF event, many journeys are planned to take place simultaneously in order to raise voice against the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Ciranda’s participants identified that our main challenge is to cover social movements’ actions and initiatives in this process and, at the same time, take part in a social movements for another communication, a non-competitive and non-market oriented one, which is also aware of social struggles for another possible world.

The meeting was successful in its aim of reassuring the concept of shared communication as one of the altermatives to the current standard media. Rather than supporting the building of mass media, which ends up being controlled by small groups, our participants are interested in being connected with different media and people through horizontal networks capable of conjointly promoting communication initiatives.

The themes and the participation stablished during the meeting in Nairobi correspond to the WSF process and is in accordance with the WSF Charter of Principles. Besides being in touch with different media, the group of people present at the meeting also engaged in communicating with social movement and to keep defending the rights related to communication.

In other words, from the meeting in Nairobi emerged a work group prepared to start preparations for the global mobilization journeys in 2008. The group that is open to whoever wishes to participate. And our first move is to produce and distribute this document. In order to start our activites, we have selected some communication tools, as follows:

1) Creation of a communication list by e-mail, which has already been done by Hipatia. The e-mail address is: alafas listas.hipatia.info, always in English, through which we will share information regarding organization;

2) Monthly documents in other languages containing information about our activities will be prepared in order to be distributed to differente discussion lists that are part of the WSF sphere;

3) A webpage wiki is being prepared in order to share information on the construction of projects and iniciatives of action, and also to share methodology and conceptual references, which is at the website www.ciranda.net/wiki; (under construction)

5) The website Ciranda Mundi (Spip system of collective publishing) in order to publish articles or information about the WSF’s mobilizations and themes. The address is www.ciranda.net/mundi (under construction)

6) Now we also have the webpage Ciranda Africa, which is coorganized by Ciranda Afro (Brazil) and M.A.U. Group (Kenya) and different African journalists that were present at the meeting in Nairobi. The website: www.ciranda.net/africa (under construction)

7) Priorize dialogues with other alternative media that are partners, in order to develop share activities using free software and comunication tools, like audio and video contents with an interface at Ciranda’s webpages.

The meeting in Nairobi will continue virtually, through e-mails, and also in person, in different spaces where our participants also act. If anyone wishes to join us, please send and e-mail to ciranda ciranda.net, with one’s name, organization and country.The person may choose between joining the work group (lista Alafas) or receiveing information (listas Ciranda).

Information on how to take part in the wiki webpage, in Ciranda Mundi or Ciranda Africa will soon be sent through the discussion lists Alafas (English) or Ciranda (other laguages).

Another meeting is to be held in 2009, during the next World Social Forum edition.

January 24^th, 2007

Kasarani Stadium, Nairobi, Kenya

See: http://www.ciranda.net/spip/article973.html?lang=en