🌞 Summer Uprising
Project Mushroom 🍄
Starting Monday 15th July, Extinction Rebellion UK will rise up in an organic, de-centralised, coordinated action, with the message: ACT NOW, disrupting central spaces in the following 5 cities:
- Bristol (XR South-west England)
- Cardiff (XR Wales)
- Leeds (XR North England)
- London (XR Central England)
- Glasgow (XR Scotland)
XR Bristol will be bolstered by rebels from all across the South-west.
WHY PROJECT MUSHROOM?
Codename Project Mushroom was chosen as a metaphor for how the ‘spores’ from the International Rebellion in London have spread across the nation, to ‘sprout’ similar major protests in 4 other locations in the UK.
It also symbolises how a national underground mycelium network of communication and support has developed.
The official name of the action is yet to be decided – it could be #NationalRebellion, #SummerRebellion or any other suggestion.
In Autumn even more ‘mushrooms’ will sprout ALL OVER THE WORLD.
Just like a natural fungi network, XR is de-centralised, well-organised, organic, connected and coordinated.
Global Messaging for Action
The main message for this action will be #ActNow, and will be tied to our 2nd Demand. In London our main message was #ThisIsAnEmergency and was tied to our 1st demand.
As a reminder, our DEMAND #2 to ACT NOW is: Government must ACT NOW to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
For this to happen, WE ALL must ACT NOW by taking to the streets and causing disruption in non-violent direct actions of mass civil disobedience.
MESSAGING FOR EACH CITY
Just as in London, each of the sites (in this case, each of the cities), will also have their own specific message. These are yet to be decided. If you recall, in Oxford Circus, we had #TellTheTruth.
For example, each city could focus on a different alarming effect of the Climate and Ecological Crisis, as these clear and present dangers can mobilise all of us to ACT NOW:
- biodiversity loss
- sea levels rising and extreme weather
- ocean acidification and water shortages
- food insecurity from soil depletion (mass starvation)
- climate migrants with no where to go (solidarity)
Another approach could be for each site to focus on the specific causes of the crisis (such as rising C02 levels, climate criminals, land use), etc.
Or, as we have five cities, each site could call on everyone to ACT NOW to protect one of the ‘five elements’ that symbolically represent all life forms and the natural world. In other words to ACT NOW because nature and all life on Earth is in imminent danger:
– Air (air pollution and airport expansions)
– Water (water shortages and flooding)
– Earth (top soil depletion and famine)
– Fire (warming and extreme weather)
– Spirit (eco anxiety, biodiversity loss and displacement).
This is an Emergency: we need to ACT NOW!
Project Mushroom’s overall messaging will convey WHY WE NEED TO ACT NOW (Demand #2), clearly stating that 2050 is ecocide and a death sentence for all.
Two significant underlying motivations for this national action are the flawed Citizens Assembly announced by six select committees of the House of Commons, and the way in which government is continuing with business as usual, complicitly enabling corporations to profit from exploiting people and planet, despite Parliament declaring a Climate and Ecological Emergency.
In our current ecocidal economic and political system, politicians are still green-lighting disastrous projects such as airport expansions, HS2, fracking, oil drilling and exploration and putting billions into new roads, as well as blocking onshore wind installations, allowing investment in fossil fuels and refusing to put ecocide into law.
SOLUTION ZONES
Just as with the Disrupt Circus of Excess: #XR52 Fast Fashion Action, Despair Ends & Tactics Begin, we’ll provide solution zones for those interested to showcase green alternatives. These will include but not be limited to permaculture, more sustainable ways of conducting circular economies and ethical banking, giving examples of cities that have great transport solutions, explaining the science behind different types of renewable energies, etc.
PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLIES
We will also host amazing People’s Assemblies on topics such as transport, energy, land use, finance, divestment, food security, global justice, migrant crisis, etc.
We’re aiming to publicly invite authorities, relevant groups and the general population to these and to hold one or two People’ Assemblies per day. Ideally we will announce the calendar of topics and questions on July 1st.