The activists' circus comes to Copenhagen

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/30/copenhagen-activists-circus

The activists' circus comes to Copenhagen

Peaceful protest and theatrical stunts are welcome, say police. But 500 activists in panda masks would stop the party

Bibi van der Zee and Patrick Barkham
The Guardian, Monday 30 November 2009

In two weeks' time, seven-year-old Gabriel Anderson will be in the centre of Copenhagen, climbing on to a step to address the crowds at the end of another Performance Family Picnic. Gabriel, his brothers Sid (the family's two-year-old "head of research") and Neal, nine, plus his parents, artists and lecturers Gary Anderson and Lena Simic, make up the Institute of the Art and Practice of Dissent at Home, a one-family protest unit from Liverpool who take their picnic rugs and perform at galleries and protest gatherings.

Like countless thousands of other activists from across the globe, the Andersons will converge on the lavish DGI-byen conference centre, next to Copenhagen's Central Station. Replete with banquet rooms, a swim centre, spa, bowling alley, climbing wall and state-of-the art restaurant, this is the HQ for Copenhagen's "other" climate conference, KlimaForum 09. Funded by the Danish government at an estimated cost of 1 million kroner (£122,000) it will offer an official welcome to the thousands of environmentalists, NGOs and grassroots activists from around the world who eager to voice their opposition to the global political failure to tackle climate change.

KlimaForum's slick HQ emphasises the sophistication and scale of the protests pitched against the official United Nations climate change summit, which takes place outside the city at the Bella Centre — Copenhagen's largest conference complex, conveniently located next to the international airport for anxious world leaders keen to make a quick, carbon-laden getaway.

While the world leaders will dine on only the finest fare, soup kitchens are now opening across the city for activists. Many are expected to sleep or find refuge in Christiania, the anarchist commune in the heart of Copenhagen that has been squatted since the 1960s.

…

[joshcryer]

1. I don'tthink we'll see G8 style protesting here, will we?

I haven't been reading about plans anyway in the various lists I'm on.