Tracey Wheatley, an NGO activist with the Budapest-based Energia Klub, attended the second World Social Forum in Brazil. She reports on that meeting, which focused on sustainability while offering an alternative approach to that taken in Johannesburg. Photo: BTA PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL: Activists demonstrate against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (ALCA) on Feb.4. About six months before the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, an alternative gathering of people concerned about the environment and economic injustice took place in Porto Alegre, Brazil. At the Jan.31 - Feb.5 gathering of the second World Social Forum (WSF), critics of globalisation prepared for a meeting to be held this October in Italy, where there will be a major conference on the environmental social and economic problems of South Eastern Europe. These critics object to the way the global economy allows developed countries to invest in lesser developed countries without being responsible for the damage that their investments do to the local environment and economy. The programme in Porto Alegre, where the theme was "Another World is Possible," listed over 700 workshops, 100 seminars, a daily choice of around eight different plenary sessions, demonstrations and cultural activities. Five times more people took part this year than last: 51, 000 participants from 119 countries. But the forum was not simply looking to put "bums on seats." The gathering attempted to strike a balance between maximum participation and unity around common aims. The WSF Charter of Principles lays out the groundwork for the forum process, open to those committed to building a world based on principles of solidarity and social, environmental and economic justice. The forum therefore opposes the current system of global trade that makes profit more important than environmental and social sustainability or global stability. Although the WSF opposes globalisation, it is still an international movement. But, instead of giving priority to international trade, the forum would rather see people of the world working together to protect local environments, economies and social structures. With resistance involving millions of people around the world, and spreading recently in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the description "globalisation from below" fits better than that of "anti-globalisation. "This may be a successful alternative to expensive, top-down approach undertaken by the UN, other national organisations and governments, to prevent a global sustainability crisis, according to Janos Zlinski, a senior adviser at the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe. Although painful associations with communist propaganda cliches from the past mean that people in CEE are still sceptical of the messages of equity, solidarity and sharing of resources, the movement is catching on in the region. As Italian coordinator Rapaelle Bolini said at the Vienna planning meeting in May, the movement "must involve the countries of the CEE and Balkans. Western Europe cannot help build a new world without the involvement of the East." CEE more deeply involved The meeting in Brazil was the first time when activists, movements and NGOs from the former communist states were present in any numbers. They were able to organize themselves to get issues specific to the CEE and South Eastern Europe on the agenda for the European Social Forum, to take place in Florence, Italy at the end of October. With respect to the region 's unique experience, there will be one major conference organised on CEE and the Balkans. All other conferences, from racism and migration, peace and war, the rise of the far right to alternative economic solutions, should include at least one speaker from the region. Organisations from Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Bulgaria, Czech, Serbia and Russia, to name a few, have already got involved. The wealth of experience held in these countries needs to be added to the global debate. There is widespread recognition that the movements in the region are nowhere near as strong as their counterparts on the West, but working together will give a crucial new perspective and encouragement to us all. To join the debate on issues that are important to the WSF, and to participate in organising, join the esfeast@yahoogroups.com list or read about the WSF at www.worldsocialforum.org.

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