After a year that has seen numerous successes for Trinity activist groups, Fossil Free TCD will to return People and Planet in the UK this summer, with six additional places for Trinity students funded by Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU).
People and Planet, a campaign group based in the UK, organise the event, which is taking place in Manchester in July. In a bid to ensure more students from across Trinity can attend the event, TCDSU is funding six places for students who want to attend the camp, allocating €300 to cover the registration cost for the event. Fossil Free TCD were the first Irish delegation to attend the event last year. Now, only a few months on from their success in lobbying Trinity to divest from fossil fuels, the group want to encourage more students to get involved in activism. Speaking to The University Times Cillian Crosson, a senior member of Fossil Free TCD, said that they’re “really hoping to mobilise people from around Ireland”.
The five-day training camp, running from July 5th to 9th, is designed to educate students on how to shift control from big powers and leave students “powered up and charged to fight xenophobia, neoliberalism and climate injustice”, according to People and Planet’s website. The aim is to encourage students from beyond Trinity’s more established campaign groups to get involved in activism and Fossil Free TCD will not be taking up any of the places funding by the union.
The students will be responsible for organising their own travel to and from the event. TCDSU are not the only group providing scholarships for students to attend with Trócaire, Friends of the Earth and Gluaiseacht all helping fund the participation of Irish students.
The last year has seen numerous successes for the divestment movement in Ireland, with NUI Galway (NUIG) and Queen’s University Belfast also announcing in the last few months that they will divest from fossil fuels. One of the founding members of Fossil Free TCD, Áine O’Gorman, speaking to The University Times, emphasised the importance of learning about activism: “Our campaign was a bit haphazard during the first few months but People & Planet showed us how to expand from a core crew of four to an organising body of more than twenty, engage the student community at large and strategically map out where exactly the campaign was heading and how to get there.”
Crosson noted that People and Planet is “a fantastic network of activists” who are making changes through “working together”. This is a model, he said, that Irish activists should try and emulate.
Speaking to The University Times, President of TCDSU, Kieran McNulty, said that the event is “very worthwhile” and emphasised the “importance of being trained and learning about good campaigning” for students. “I know it really helped Fossil Free TCD last year”, he added.
Founded in 1969 in the University of Oxford, People and Planet is comprised of over 2,000 students from 50 different universities. The group have advocated for campaigns in the UK and abroad and are currently running three campaigns in the UK: Undoing Borders, Sweatshop Free and Fossil Free. Workshops during the five days in Manchester will be taken by experienced campaigners with the overall aim to help students build a base of skills that can be applied to any campaign they undertake.
TCDSU have refocused their campaigning and activist activity over the last year, developing and formalising a lobby group structure that works on a range of campaigns, from higher education to the environment.
As well as the TCDSU scholarship, Fossil Free TCD are running a fundraiser on Friday, June 16th at 6pm in Jigsaw with all proceeds going to funding more places for students at the activist training camp. Applications for the scholarship close at midnight on Monday, June 12th.
