Dear SqEKkers,

Last Saturday we (Gianni, Federica and Miguel) held a meeting with activists from the Squatted Social Centre Liotru http://www.facebook.com/centrosocialeliotru/ (who partially overlap with a university collective, Coordinamento Universitario) in Catania (Sicily, Italy). As anticipated by Gianni last spring in Prague, these activists are very enthusiastic about organising the next SqEK meeting in Catania. Since some of us will meet in Stockholm (the other option proposed in Prague) by April and Deanna's suggestion about Athens could be postponed to 2019, we believe that a meeting in Catania is the most feasible option right now. If you have any objection or addition, please, share it here by Saturday the 16th, the latest.

This is a summary of all the topics we discussed:


Aims of the SqEK meeting

-Share research and knowledge that SqEK members are working on.
-Contribute to political concerns of the local organising group.
-Know about specific issues and context of the radical and squatting scene in Catania.
-Deepen ongoing discussions among the Liotru collective.
-Think about local politics beyond the local, by discussing experiences from abroad.
-Learn about possible "instruments" / "techniques" to deal with specific political issues.
-Reach out local secondary and university students, and the youth in general. 


Contents for the meeting

-Repression to radical activism (taking into consideration the Italian context with increasing pressures, but not only)
-Far-right politics (especially their squatted and non-squatted social centres, one coming soon in Catania if nothing stops it)
-Migrants and their political articulation, autonomy and solidarity (especially in a context such as Catania where most migrants are in transit to the North)
-Squatting, social centres and the youth-students
-Attachment and engagement of squatted social centres with diverse neighbourhoods

-Territorial struggles in which squatters are involved (opposition to the bridge in Mesina-Calabria, the No MUOS campaign, etc.)

-Developments of the research project on squatting, self-management and urban commons (comparison of "success" and "failure" cases)


Organisational issues

-Dates: 13-17 June, 2018 (Wednesday to Sunday)

-Schedule: Reception on Wednesday evening and end of the "internal meeting" on Sunday 1pm (so do not book return trips before 5pm, if possible). Two sessions every morning from 9-11am and 11:30am-1:30pm, plus one afternoon session 3:30-6pm. More precise details of the schedule, venues and activities were also suggested, but we will inform later about them.

-Venues: SSC Liotru, Squatted Palestra (gym) and University of Catania, in addition to other autonomous spaces.

-Social events: Apart from the initial reception, books presentations and a general assembly with social movements of Catania, a "giro" to visit various projects (e.g. Midulla, Officina Rebelde, Teatro Coppola, Palestra Lupo, etc.) was also proposed for Saturday evening (and party, afterwards).

-Call for Contributions (not only academic papers, all forms of contributions -posters, pictures, slides, workshops, talks without paper, etc.- are welcome): Deadline to submit contributions or participation is 15 March, 2018. Deadline to confirm contributions and programme is 1 April, 2018.

-Resources: We could get some funds from the University of Catania if we meet one day there. In addition, as last year, we will open a call for donations so some SqEK members can help covering the expenses of those with more economic problems to attend.

-Accommodation: Around 15 people can be hosted in Liotru, Palestra and activists' homes. A friendly hostel could offer cheap prices for 10-15 people more. All the events will be held in the city centre, but any place within 20 minutes walking distance is quite convenient. You should express your needs and preferences by 15 of March.

-Food: The organisation will provide dinner on Wednesday and lunch from Thursday to Sunday, plus some stuff for the breakfast and breaks. If possible, catering could be provided by an activist's company, so we don't need to cook during the meeting, but this is not fully confirmed yet. Donations could also cover these expenses.

-Translation: Some bilingual speakers (Italian-English) would be needed every day to support individuals unable to understand English. We will arrange this in place.

-Welcoming: Five people (from both Liotru and SqEK) will be more active in welcoming everyone, especially newcomers to a SqEK meeting, introducing them to others and helping about their specific needs, with a special attention to gender, ability, ethnicity, etc. Quick rounds of self-presentation on Thursday and Friday are also recommended.

-Facilitation: We need to appoint facilitators for each session in order to evenly distribute discussion time. Different people could also take minutes / notes of the every session.

-Organising committee: 5 local activists (Federica -also in SqEK-, Simone, Ester, Fernando and Emiliano, all now subscribed to this e-list) and two people from SqEK (Gianni -also local- and Miguel), at least (more are welcome), will discuss details offlist and will timely inform the SqEK list about the main issues (confirmations, programme, etc.). If possible, a website (linked to the SqEK website) and a specific email will be created to ease the diffusion of the event.

For your information, Gianni recently wrote an interesting piece about squatting in Sicily (paper attached).


All the best!

Gianni, Federica and Miguel