Ecologists in Action will celebrate its 25th anniversary and its next Confederal Congress in Zaragoza
- Ecologistas en Acción turns 25 years old. The organization has presented this anniversary at the Ateneo La Maliciosa in Madrid, the organization's confederal headquarters.
- The event welcomed representatives of the main environmental, social and union organizations and groups in the Spanish State, who offered and expressed their best wishes for the coming years.
- Ecologists in Action, which celebrates more than two decades of social environmentalism, has announced that its next Confederal Congress, where it will renew the coordination and positions of the Confederal Secretariat of the environmental organization, will take place in Zaragoza.
During the decades of the 70s, 80s and 90s the environmental movement was divided into multiple organizations, mostly local. That dispersion, together with the structural weakness of the groups, made it necessary to move towards state coordination. For this reason, in 1996 an intense process of contacts and negotiations began aimed at the unification of a large part of the environmental movement. In December 1998, the confederation of Ecologists in Action was born, in which more than 300 environmental groups were integrated.
“Remnants of fight. Weaving futures” is the motto that Ecologistas en Acción has chosen to celebrate its 25 years. The slogan emphasizes two of the hallmarks of the environmental organization: the diversity of territorial struggles and collective work to, in the midst of the ecological emergency, build other better and possible societies.
At the presentation of this anniversary at the Ateneo La Maliciosa in Madrid, confederal headquarters of Ecologists in Action, Sara Acuña, coordinator of the organization, highlighted the effort for environmental confluence that was achieved with the unity of more than 300 groups 25 years ago. years: “Our strength lies in the perseverance and dedication of all the people who make up this organization, in the voluntary work they have carried out at the local level to defend their territories for more than two decades,” he declared. Next, Acuña has highlighted examples of struggles in the territories since the constitution of Ecologists in Action: “In this way, all together, we have achieved great victories, such as stopping Eurovegas in 2012, the declaration of the Algarrobico hotel as illegal in 2022 or the paralysis of the Marina Isla de Valdecañas complex this year, to give just a few examples. “We are facing an unprecedented ecological and social crisis, but we know that another way of living, putting life at the center and respecting the limits of the planet, is possible if we continue united.”
For his part, José Luis Martínez Álvarez, historical activist of Ecologistas en Acción and member of the Platform in Defense of the Mountains of Aragón, has related how a local group ends up organizing into Ecologistas en Acción: “Ecofontaneros, the group of Ecologistas en Acción of Zaragoza, was born in the 90s, as a response to the corruption of the Aragonese political class and large speculative projects, such as Gran Scala or the Huesca airport. Our protests to defend Moncayo and the Pyrenees were very striking: we buried ourselves in cement or climbed the Eiffel Tower. Its merger with Aragonese sister groups gave birth to the federation of Ecologists in Action of Aragón. This federation has played a fundamental role in the campaign in defense of the Canal Roya glacial valley, where we participate within the framework of the Platform in Defense of the Mountains of Aragon." He ended by adding: “I consider one of the great historical values of Ecologistas en Acción to participate in different collective struggles without capitalizing on them.”
Another of the coordinators of Ecologists in Action, Luis Rico García-Amado, has stressed that everything achieved in the last 25 years would not be possible without collective work, mutual support and joint struggle: “If something characterizes us, it is the formation of alliances with all groups that pursue environmental and social justice. This implies being a connector of a great diversity of social movements, unions, environmental, neighborhood, anti-racist, feminist or fight against precariousness organizations, many of them present here today, although groups from other territories that have not been able to do so are missed. come but they have congratulated us from a distance.”
2023 is also a special year for Ecologists in Action because during its next annual meeting a Confederal Congress will be held, an event that occurs every three years and involves a change in the Confederal Secretariat, with a new coordination team.
Marina Gros Breto, activist of Ecologistas en Acción and member of Ecolojóvenes, the organization's youth group, has launched a suggestive approach: “Ecologistas en Acción is celebrating 25 years and, therefore, we are at the same time a young organization with a lot of experience.” . After mentioning the difficulties for generational change that many organizations have, “at a time of low tide for social movements”, he celebrated (“because sometimes we don't celebrate enough”) the birth of Ecolojóvenes in 2022, emphasizing the new ways of doing and organizing: “Intergenerationality is very nutritious and is key to the future of any organization and project with a transformative vision. Thus, experience and historical knowledge are mixed with a new vision and ways of doing things. We young people also bring the transversality of care in all our work.” Then, alluding again to the fight for the protection of the biological corridor of the Canal Roya valley, he announced that the city where the 25th anniversary of Ecologists in Action and the Confederal Congress will be celebrated will be Zaragoza, with a complete and substantial program organized by the federation of Ecologists in Action of Aragón.
Next, he made a toast that was supported by Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, SEO/BirdLife, WWF, ATTAC, Platform for a New Energy Model, CGT, CCOO, UGT, Housing Coordinator, Tenants' Union, Youth for Climate –Fridays for Future, Extinction Rebellion, SOS Racismo, Aliança contra la Pobresa Energetica, ONGD Coordinator, Oceana, FRAMV, Espacio Conciencia Afro, Sindicato de Manteros, Traficantes de Sueños, Fundación de los Comunes, Teachers for Future and Feministas por el Clima, among other invited groups.
Ecologistas en Acción wants to emphasize the importance of joint work between organizations and citizens in order to face the enormous socio-environmental challenges of today. Despite the profound environmental crises, wars and inequalities, for the environmental organization “the path makes sense if it is collective.”
