The Forum 2008: Outcomes and Results
A report on, and the outcomes of, People & Planet's annual decision making event, The Forum, which was held in Manchester between Friday 7 and Sunday 9 March 2008.
Keen P&Pers get to know each other at The Forum 2008
Image © People & Planet
Participant consider the new campaign theme proposals in small groups
Image © People & Planet
Now that almost a month has passed and the dust has settled it’s time for a bit of a look back at the weekend that was The Forum 08. This year it was hosted by Manchester Metropolitan University Students’ Union and, as always, dedicated P&Pers travelled from as far afield as Edinburgh in the north and Cirencester in the South to have a say in the future direction of People & Planet.
Over the weekend participants engaged in sessions considering the support of current campaigns, potential future campaign themes, and other issues as diverse as the future of People & Planet in Scotland and reaching out to returning gap year students. Naturally, there was the odd opportunity here and there to network and socialise, as well as to savour People & Planet’s very own post-party breakfast.
The first of the main decisions that participants were tasked with was deciding whether Treat AIDS Now or Redress Fashion should receive the available office support over the next year. Following analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of each campaign, spectrum lines to portray which campaign students were swaying towards, and small group discussions, the final vote came out at 72% in favour of Redress Fashion. The office will thus support that campaign with its available resources, although both it and Treat AIDS Now are likely to continue to run as DIY campaigns. This means that the students in the network take on more responsibility for planning and running the campaigns. If you’re interested in getting involved in this but couldn’t come to The Forum, please email campaigns and we can put you in touch with like-minded students.
Next up, participants were asked to choose People & Planet’s new campaign theme, which will be ready to roll for the 2009-2010 academic year. This session involved a process of questioning proposers, identifying the proposals’ weaknesses and the best ways to overcome them, and extensive conversation and debate. Subsequently the decision was to endorse the People and Planet before Profit proposal, which will focus People & Planet’s campaigning on challenging corporate malfeasance.
After the campaign decisions had been made it was time for the annual elections to the Management Committee, the body that oversees People & Planet’s work and ensures that it moves in the right direction. These elections saw Alex Wood and Joe Bardwell elected for the first time and Harry Giles re-elected, all of whom will, along with the other members of the Management Committee, be responsible for helping to implement the decisions of The Forum.
Finally, the weekend was rounded off with nine parallel sessions considering a wide array of network proposed items for discussion. Now the process starts again as the network needs to input into how decisions are made at The Forum next year by emailing Joe, and come up with ideas for strands to fit under the new campaign theme, which can be discussed on the network run webforums.
If you’re interested in writing a piece for the website on “The Forum: A Participant’s Perspective” drop Joe a line.