(Last update: 9 March, 2003)
What is happening to our "foods" and "water"? BSE, GMOs, pesticide contamination, privatization of seeds and water, etc... we are facing a lot of problems.
In a couple of Marché events, we'll propose the "slow life" for our future!
Dates:
23 March (sun): Aozora Ichiba (Open-air Market): Cafe & Market Event
26 March (wed): Hoshizora Ichiba (Starlight Market): Slow food party with Dr. Vandana Shiva
Host: Committee "You'll" ("You'll" Jikko Iinkai)
(ATTAC Kyoto, Miyako Food Network, Jubilee Kansai Network, BeGood Cafe Kyoto, and interested individuals)
Contact: marche-kyoto@egroups.co.jp
AOZORA ICHIBA (Open-air Market)
5 Tanaka-Takahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto. Fee: 1 drink order HOSHIZORA ICHIBA (Starlight Market)26 March (wed) 19:00-22:00 (Open 18:00) Anekoji-sagaru, Karasuma-dori, Kyoto; Metro: Karasuma Oike)
Ticket: ¥800 (advance: ¥500) Special Guest: Dr. Vandana Shiva from INDIA Who is Vandana Shiva?
Her most world-famous and praised work is done on the social and ecological consequences of the "Green Revolution". Through her analyses in this and sebsequent works, she successfully disclosed the "violent" character of modern science and technology, trade liberalization, and corporate globalization driven by supranational companies and international organizations such as WTO (World Trade Organization). She has been fighting for long time for people's sovereignty over seeds, foods, water, and resources, against the unbridled power of these companies and organizations. She is also an author of many books, including The Violence of the Green Revolution, Monocultures of the Mind, Biopiracy, and Water Wars. On 26 March, Shiva will give a speech at the anti-GMOs assembly "No! GMOs, No! Corporate Dominance of Foods" (14:00-17:00 @ Avanti Hall, JR Kyoto Station, Hachijo-guchi). Our Hosizora Ichiba is the reception for it. |
The 3rd World Water Forum (WWF3)The World Water Forum (WWF) is a tri-annual conference, proposed by the World Water Commission (WWC) aiming to deepen the discussions about water, and appeal to the world the importance of the pressing issues on water the 21st Century is facing. The 3rd conference in March of 2003 will be held in Kyoto, neighboring Lake Biwa and the Yodo River Basin, following the 1st Forum in Marrakech and the 2nd Forum in Hague. The 2nd World Water Forum raised many criticisms that it excluded participation of NGO's and civil society, thereby leading to corporate-friendly conclusions and disregarding many of the concerns the civil society raised. With regards to such criticisms, the 3rd World Water Forum was originally intended to be a Forum that is "open for all". As the secretariat for the 3rd WWF has repeatedly pointed out, the Forum's guiding principles are, a Forum that is "open to all", "create through participation by all", and "work to translate visions into actions and communities". However, despite the propaganda trumpeted aloud by the secretariat, as of now the honesty of the message is under doubt. It seems extremely likely that the 3rd World Water Forum will be a place with severe limits in terms of both openness for participation and possibility of input to the outcome of the Forum, if the Forum is to be what is planned as of now. Among others, the most serious problem of WWF3 is its strong commitment to the promotion of privatization, liberalization andcommercialization of water management, which is favorable for business sectors but is likely to deprive many people, especially in developing countries, of the access to water. It is afraid that the 3rd WWF will be a place to endorse this commitment by capitalizing on superficial "openness for participation". Out of this concern, some NGOs, especially in Europe, decided to hold The People's World Water Forum (PWWF) in Florence, Italy, against WWF in Kyoto. Related Links: |
Vandana Shiva is a world-renowned environmental thinker and activist engaging in biodiversity conservation, promotion of traditional organic farming, resistance to water privatization, and empowerment of women. She is the Director of the 