Self-Management and Self Control Networks in Greece
Directory
From the Tepsie report, Informal Citizen Networks in Greece
"These involve groups of citizens that find innovative ways to express themselves by developing a new way of thinking about everyday life while putting these ideas into action. The main objective of these networks is self- sufficiency and gaining control over factors or situations in order to improve everyday life.
• Apo Koinou (http://apokoinou.com/): Citizen’s movement in the city of Trikala, aiming to show that a "de-growth" process can be a response to the current crisis. Their argument is based on the fact that we can have a better life without having to consume/produce more. The specific movement aims to mobilise the citizens to adopt a new way of thinking and acting in their everyday life (to reduce consumption, to repair and use materials, to recycle etc.) as a response to the current crisis.
• Atenistas (http://atenistas.org/): An open community of citizens of Athens who love their city and believe that they should no longer have to live with or accept some of its more negative aspects. For them Athens is not a "finished story" but a vast field of inventive and effective actions that will make them realise its enormous potential. They draw strength and energy from citizens, thousands of Athenians who want to do something for their city. They are a vibrant community, which through innovative and creative actions aims to transform Athens into a better place for living.
• Nea Guinea (http://neaguinea.org/): This initiative began in September 2009, with the key objective of regaining control over the basic things which are necessary for a decent life (food, energy, health, construction, clothing, etc.). Their key objective is the development of expertise in order for someone to be self-sufficient in response to his/her daily needs. Towards this end they try to disengage from the dominant production system, to create cohesive alternative structures and to resist the exploitation of labour, creating alternative, economically viable and socially fair procedures.
• Saligaros (http://saligari.espivblogs.net/): Saligaros was created in 2009 in Athens by a network of citizens in order to investigate the possibilities and techniques of building with natural materials. Their main tool is self-education and teamwork. They are opposed to paid seminars and the commercialisation of any tool of collective self-sufficiency. They believe that knowledge should be spread freely. They are willing to share this knowledge through horizontal structures in the framework of social solidarity."
• Movement 136 (http://www.136.gr/): A citizen initiative which opposes the privatisation of water resources in Thessaloniki. Their alternative suggestion concerns the social management of water resources through cooperatives on a neighbourhood basis."