The Climate Camp (August 26th to September 4th, 2006)

The Camp for Climate Action will take place in Megawatt Valley, near Leeds and Selby.

• What will the camp be like?
• How to get to the Climate Camp
• What should I bring?
• Cost
• Dogs
• Commercial activity
• The Climate Camp approach to energy
• Who we are
• Our aims
• Contact us for more information

What will the camp be like?

The camp itself will be a mix of workshops, meetings, socialising, information sharing and action. It will bring together thousands of people from the UK who want to act to stop climate change before it's too late. Everyone is welcome to come for all of the camp or just for part of it.

The camp will feature a programme of almost 100 workshops and discussions on topics relating to climate change and what we can do to stop it.

The camp will be wheelchair accessible. People with accessibility issues are advised to email the Site Practicalities Working Group, site[at]climatecamp.org.uk (replace the [at] with @), so that we can cater specifically for their needs.

Families are welcome at the camp. There will be a Kids Area, with activities for younger children, and space for them to play and be creative, as well as a Youth Space for the older ones. Parents are encouraged to get involved with the childrens' activities. Children will be the responsibility of their parents at all times, even while in the Kids Area. We welcome volunteers to help run activities in the area. If you would like to volunteer check out the Workshops & Activities working group or email workshops [at] climatecamp.org.uk.

The camp itself will offer a hint of what things might be like if we scale back to a more sustainable pace of life. It will use small amounts of energy and most of the energy it does use will come from renewable sources.

The camp will be self run on a neighbourhood system, what this means is that the camp will be split into areas of roughly 200 people, each area will have it's own large marquee with a kitchen at its centre, this kitchen will provide food for the 200 people in the neighbourhood, members of the neighborhood will be welcome to help out in the kitchen whenever they want throughout the camp. This in effect means that the camp will have lots of communities within it, these communities or neighbourhoods will meet everyday probably after dinner to discuss issues relating to the camp, what's happening the next day etc..

On your arrival you will find a Welcome Tent. Here; you will receive information on the workings of the Camp and will enable you to decide where to pitch your tent. If there isn't a neighbourhood for your geographical area don't worry you can choose a neighbourhood of your choice where you will receive a warm welcome.

Many groups are already hosting neighbourhoods but more are needed, if you or your group is interested in hosting a neighbourhood go to the neighbourhoods page for more information.

Part of the aim of the camp will be to carry out non-violent direct action against companies which are among the worst contributors to climate change. Direct action will not occur at the camp itself but the camp will be a place to plan and discuss actions which will take place at nearby locations. There will be a range of different types of actions so people can choose to take whatever role they feel comfortable with. Of course many people will come to the Climate Camp without taking part in any direct actions and this is fine too :-)

The camp will be run non-hierarchically. The work of running the camp will be done by working groups, which are open for anyone to join: if you are interested in joining a working group have a look at the working groups page or come to one of the monthly planning meetings. Every day at the camp there will be a spokescouncil meeting in which representatives of all the neighbourhoods and working groups will make decisions about the day-to-day running of the camp using consensus decision-making.

Due to difficulties in renting a site, we are using a legally occupied (squatted) site. Squatting is legal. The police have a host of powers to deal with gatherings whether on squatted or rented sites. In all cases, coming to the event is completely legal. The police may ask you to leave. refusing may in some circumstances be an offence.

People are needed to help set the camp up - putting up structures, digging compost toilets, etc. - and later to take it down and return the site to the state in which we found it - so while you are at the camp please spend an hour or a day helping with set-up, take-down, as well as cooking, cleaning, recycling, and all the other tasks that will be required to keep the camp running smoothly. This is a chance to learn practical skills and help to collectively create the camp. You don't need to have any prior skills or experience and you can do as much or as little work as you want with the Site Practicalities working group to guide you.