## STEBER OKOLJE IN PODEŽELJE: Srečanje z okoljskimi iniciativami in razmisleki o antiavtoritarnem podeželju
Tisti, ki smo soustvarjali okoljsko podeželski steber, smo od prvih korakov načrtovanja vztrajali, da tovariše in tovarišice iz Chiapasa popeljemo iz Ljubljane, kar smo kljub časovni stiski tudi izpeljali. Ker vemo, da kapital najpogosteje napada tiste na margini, je seveda enako tudi v kontekstu okoljskih bojev, pri katerih je jasno vidno, da se uničevalske projekte umešča v najbolj ranljiva lokalna okolja. Zato se moramo tam povezovati s tistimi, ki se borijo proti degradaciji narave, zdravja in odvzemu možnosti za poti sobivanja.
V nedeljo zjutraj smo se s tovariši in tovarišicami podali v Zasavje, kjer smo se na kmetiji zavidljive nadmorske višine srečali s predstavniki okoljskih iniciativ Eko krog ter Eko Anhovo in dolina Soče. Uvodoma smo predstavili različne primere napadov na okolje in naravo, ki so se še posebej zgostili v zadnjem letu in pol, ko so oblasti izkoristile korona-krizo za vrsto zakonodajnih sprememb, ki odpirajo vrata različnim uničevalskim projektom. Po predstavitvi okoljskega konteksta Zasavja in doline Soče ter drugih zgodb, ki so jih pisali boji proti uničevanju okolja in narave, torej po nizanju zmag, porazov, predvsem pa vztrajanj in tovarištev, je sledila diskusija. V njej smo spet, zopet in znova ugotovili, da v uničevalskih projektih po vsem svetu – tako pri nas kot na drugih kontinentih – prepoznamo kapitalizem, ne glede na podobo, ki jo ob tem zavzame, pa naj gre za podobo velikih multinacionalk ali malih koruptivnih energetskih firm, medijskih hiš ali lokalnih in državnih oblasti. Utrdili smo, da je planet zgolj en sam in da je v času globaliziranega kapitalizma nujno globalizirati boje za ohranitev narave in okolja ter s tem možnosti za življenje.
Po izjemno gostoljubnem sprejemu domačinov in tovariških iniciativ v Zasavju smo se podali v Slovenske Gorice, kjer smo z zapatistično delegacijo načeli še nekaj vprašanj, ki jih v jutranji diskusiji še nismo razrešili. Dotaknili smo se dilem zelenih energij in zelenega kapitalizma, postavili pod vprašaj »iskanje alternativ« in se raje zazrli v lastne potrebe, nato pa na točki agroekologije, ki je že napovedovala tematike naslednjega dne, nadaljevali s podajanjem izkušenj v petih točkah, ki jih je za nas pripravila zapatistična delegacija. Tovariši in tovarišice so nam govorili o načinu avtonomnega organiziranja, o strukturah in principih delovanja, o možnosti samovladanja v njihovem kontekstu. Dan smo zaključili s poezijo, petjem in zgodbami, v sklopu skupnega samoorganiziranega kulturnega programa Pokaži kaj znaš, v številnih izrazih in jezikih.
Naslednje jutro smo varni pred dežjem izmenjevali poglede na različne procese, s katerimi kapitalizem na različnih koncih sveta preoblikuje podeželje z namenom akumulacije dobička, s čimer onemogoča delo na zemlji, ki je osnovni pogoj za samooskrbo skupnosti in razvoj njenih potencialov. Najprej smo naredili hiter zgodovinski pregled od časov fevdalizma do socializma in se spomnili družbenih hierarhij, ki so nekdaj obstajale znotraj podeželske produkcije hrane. Nato smo skozi nekaj primerov orisali sodobne trende, ki vplivajo na razvoj podeželja in soustvarjajo njegov specifičen videz ter številne težave, s katerimi se soočajo prebivalke in prebivalci podeželja po razpadu Jugoslavije. Omenili smo procese izseljevanja s podeželja; umanjkanja spodbud za razvoj malih samooskrbnih kmetij in birokratizacije kmetijskih politik v prid intenzivnega kmetijstva; preoblikovanja podeželja v predmestja z individualiziranimi načini življenja in spremljevalno infrastrukturo; turistifikacije podeželja ali umeščanja škodljivih projektov v podeželska okolja pod pretvezo ustvarjanja zaposlitev; gradnje velikih infrastrukturnih projektov, ki uničujejo naravo zaradi zagotavljanja umeščenosti tukajšnje geografije v globalne logistične tokove kapitala ter dileme urbanega vrtičkarstva, kadar zaradi dobičkonosnosti kooptira tradicionalne lokalne prakse.
Za zaključek smo z zapatistično delegacijo izmenjali nekaj predlogov, preko katerih razvijamo idejo antiavtoritarnega podeželja. Razmišljali smo, kako misliti urbano samopreskrbo s hrano, kako se povezati kljub geografski razpršenosti in vpetosti v lokalne kontekste lastnih kmetij in skupnosti ter na kakšen način samoorganizirano delovati onkraj okvirjev kmetijstva kot ga količijo državne institucije. Prehrana in okolje sta namreč bazično izhodišče, brez katerega ne preživi nobena politična skupnost, ne glede na to, na katerem kontinentu vztraja. Prav zato sta dostop do hrane in zdravo okolje neločljiv pogoj naših skupnih bojev za boljšo prihodnost.
*Koordinacija za pripravo in izvedbo zapatističnega srečanja na ozemlju Slovenije (Balkanska pot)*<br><br>
---<br><br>
## ENVIRONMENT AND COUNTRYSIDE PILLAR: Encounter with environmental initiatives and reflections on antiauthoritarian countryside
From the very beginning those of us involved in the process of organizing the Environment and Countryside Pillar insisted to invite our compañeras and compañeros out of Ljubljana. Despite the limitations of time, we have managed to do just that. Knowing that capital often attacks those on the margins we understand that this is true also in the context of the environmental struggles. Those clearly expose the reality that many destructive projects are being situated in the most vulnerable local contexts. This is why we have to connect with those who fight in these localities against the degradation of nature and health, and against the deprivation of possibilities to forge new ways of cohabitation.
With this in mind we went to Zasavje region with compañeras and compañeros on Sunday morning where we met the representatives of initiatives Ekokrog and Eko Anhovo and Soča Valley on a farm located at a fascinating altitude. In the opening round of the discussion, we presented different cases of attacks on the environment and nature in our context. We have stressed that they have increased, especially in the last year and a half, when the government took advantage of the corona-crisis in order to introduce a range of legislative changes that opened the doors for various destructive projects. After the presentation of the environmental situation in Zasavje, Soča Valley and other stories that have been also written by the struggles against the destruction of the environment and nature, thus recapitulating victories, defeats and above all episodes of endurance and comradeship, a discussion followed In it we have again and again confirmed that behind the destructive projects all over the world - in our geography as well as on the other continents - we recognize capitalism. No matter what is the form that the latter takes in specific situations, be it the form of a big multinational corporation or a small corruptive energetic company, media outlet or local and state authorities. We have affirmed a mutual understanding that since there is only one planet a globalized capitalism demands globalized struggles for the preservation of nature and environment and with it the very possibility of life.
After a very welcoming reception by the locals and the comradely initiatives in Zasavje we headed to Slovenske gorice region. There we addressed some questions left unresolved from the morning session. We engaged with the dilemma of a green energy and green capitalism, questioned the 'alternative seeking' approaches and decided to put our own needs in front. We also started to discuss certain agroecological issues, a theme that introduced the topics of the following day. Then the Zapatista delegation took the word presenting the Zapatista struggle in five points. In this session the compañeras and compañeros spoke about their model of autonomous organizing, their structures and principles, about the possibility for self-governance in their specific context. As the day gave way to the night the word turned into poetry, songs and stories as a part of self-organized cultural program , in which many expressions and languages thrived.
Next morning, we woke up in rain but this did not discourage us. Safely sheltered from the raindrops we continued to share our views on various processes through which capitalism on different sides of the world transforms the countryside driven by its intent to accumulate profit. These render work on the land – a basic condition for a self-reliant community and a development of its potentials - practically impossible. We began with a quick historical overview of how the production of food on the countryside in this geography was organized in various historical periods, including feudalism and socialism, and which social hierarchies it was based on. Then we sketched through concrete examples of the contemporary trends that affect the development of the countryside and co-create its specific landscape after the disintegration of Yugoslavia. We mentioned emigration from the countryside; lack of encouragement for the development of small self-sufficient farms, the bureaucratization of farming policies and its bias in favour of intensive farming; a transformation of countryside into suburbia with individualized ways of life and corresponding infrastructure; turistification of the countryside and placement of destructive projects in the countryside under the pretense of job creation; a construction of large infrastructural projects that destroy nature to facilitate the inclusion of this geography in global logistical and capital currents; dilemmas of urban gardening that arise when traditional local practices are coopeted due to their profitability.
As a conclusion we have exchanged with the Zapatista delegation some of the proposals through which we develop our idea of the antiauthoritarian countryside. We were asking ourselves how to envision food self-sufficiency in an urban environment; how to connect in a way that helps us overcome the obstacles implied by geographic distances and the situatedness of our farms and communities in specific local contexts; how to act in a self-organized way outside of the framework of agriculture as it is framed by the state institutions. Food and environment are the basis, without which no political community can survive, no matter the continent it persists on. This is why access to food and healthy environment are inseparable conditions of our common struggles for a better future.
26-27/09/2021, Zasavje, Slovenske Gorice.
*Coordination for preparation and realization of the Zapatista meeting on the territory of Slovenia (Balkan Route)*
