The Activists Café is still engaging with topics for change two years after its launch and climate change is top of the agenda this November
The Activists Café meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Photo courtesy of the Activists Café.
Cardiff Activists Café is meeting this month to discuss direct action and creative protest, two years since the group’s first event.
The group will be looking at how they can directly confront environmental issues and will convene in Riverside’s Wyndham St Centre on 28 November.
The discussion will shine a spotlight on the imminent threat of global warming.
Set up between the Cardiff People’s Assembly (against austerity) and sustainable charity group Cardiff Transition, the Café was formed in 2016 to unite those frustrated by the stagnant state of the current political, economic and environmental world.
It brings together social and environmental activists, said Transition’s Pat Gregory.
“The way we run the events has changed a bit across time,” she added.
One of the Café’s aims since 2016 has been to build social connections, she explained, and now the group is putting more time into the sharing of ideas.
This month’s Café speakers will look at examples of successful protest in the past and share ideas for campaigning on current issues, including climate change.
Last month’s Café focused on disability rights and cooperatives. Photo courtesy of the Activists Café.
Pat said that there is an urgency to address climate change in 2018.
She mentioned the Extinction Rebellion’s ongoing non-violent civil disobedience and said: “It’s a good time to be thinking about how we can make protest more effective, visible and creative!”
Extinction Rebellion is a campaign for change to the political and economic system and it demands the government to implement these changes.
Pat said that serious change can only be government led.
With the recent press release regarding European Parliament’s decision to ban single-use plastics, some progress is evidently being made; however, according to Pat, it is not enough.
“Government action needs to go beyond single issue campaigns, there needs to be a sincere acknowledgement of the need for profound change,” she said.