Globalization, Privatization, and H20
SATURDAY, MARCH 26th
Tentative Schedule. Please check back every week for more details
including confirmed speakers and workshop presenters…SCHEDULE IS
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Register on-line at www.massglobalaction.org
9am (Registration and Networking)
9:45 Opening Remarks: Jonathan Leavitt Massachusetts Global Action
10 10:45am (1st Plenary) "Global Water Struggles"
Ruth Caplan Alliance for Democracy (15 minutes)
Karl Flecker Polaris Institute (15 minutes)
Questions and Answers (15 minutes)
11am 12:15 (1st Workshop Session)
Municipal Privatization Deedee Consolati (Concerned Citizens of
Lee), Mark Siegars
Bottled Water/Groundwater Karl Flecker (Polaris Institute), Olivia
Zink (Save Our Groundwater)
Water and Trade - Arnie Alpert (AFSC-NH)
12:30 1:15 (Lunch)
1:30 2:15 (2nd Plenary TBA)
2:30 3:45 (2nd Workshop Session)
Myths of Privatization Jason Pramas (MGA)
Coke Boycott/Campus Work Suren Moodliar and Kim Foltz (NAFFE)
Water and Land Rights Daniel Moss (Grassroots International)
4:00 (Networking on Plans of Action)
Groups have five minutes to present their water related work
4:30 Legislation Roundtable on Water
Groups can offer feedback and critique of MGA sponsored legislation on
water privatization. This feedback and critique will be used to
finalize the language on legislation submitted for this year's
legislative cycle.
Co-Sponsors of Conference ----- Clean Water Action, Unitarian
Universalist Service Committee, Boston/Cambridge Alliance for
Democracy, NAFFE (North American Alliance for Fair Employment), AFSC
Western MASS, Concerned Citizens of Lee, Grassroots International,
If your organization wishes to co-sponsor, please fill out the form at
www.massglobalaction.org and mail it back to us. Please note that for
every $25 your organization can put towards conference expenses, we
will provide (1) free registration for your group.
Workshop and Panel Descriptions:
"Global Water Struggles": Communities Resist Worldwide against
Corporate Water Grab: Hear about worldwide resistance to water
privatization, from Cochabamba, Bolivia to Nicaragua, to India and
beyond citizens are successfully fighting multi-national control of
their water.
Ruth Caplan, Alliance for Democracy, has been a leading organizer on
this issue here in the United States, including organizing the
founding conference of the Water Allies Network back in November of
2003.
Karl Flecker works at the Polaris Institue, a Canadian organization
whose research, advocacy, and action around the issue of control of
water and other corporate control issues has helped citizen groups
worldwide fight for democratic social change.
"Can't Live Without It so the Fight is On! How grassroots social
movements are claiming their right to land and water" . Water and Land
are resources that we all can't live without, but access to safe water
and land to grow food is becoming increasingly unequal in our world
today. In this interactive workshop, participants will look at the
impact of global trade and neo-liberal policies on communities around
the world and at examples of grassroots social movements in Haiti, the
U.S., Brazil and Mexico organizing to regain control over these vital
resources.
Daniel Moss, Director of Development, comes to Grassroots
International with over 20 years of domestic and international
experience in community organizing and community development. In the
90's, Daniel lived alongside a repatriated refugee community in rural
El Salvador supporting villagers in their agricultural and economic
development strategies and in resolving land and water problems.
"Municipal Privatization: What you need to know about your community's
water delivery system and how to stop multi-nationals from gaining
control."
Deedee Consolati with Concerned Citizens of Lee, led the campaign to
prevent Veolia from taking control of the Lee water delivery system.
Mark Siegars, Consulatant for Holyoke Citizens for Open Government is
an environmental attorney who has worked in the water field for a
dozen years.
"Water and Trade: How does this issue of trade treaties such as NAFTA,
GATS, CAFTA and other international trade treaties affect the issue of water?"
Arnie Alpert, is Program Coordinator for AFSC/New Hampshire, and has
traveled and worked extensively around the issue of water
privatization both locally and internationally in countries such as
Nicaragua.
"Myths of Privatization What are the myths that corporations use to
control the dialogue around privatization? Learn the tools for
understanding these myths and effectively counter them with your own
organizing."
Jason Pramas is the Networking Director for Massachusetts Global
Action. He formerly staffed the Campaign on Contingent Work and was a
founder/staff person for the Boston Social Forum.
"Coke Boycott/Campus Work Learn about the International Coke Boycott
that is underway and how it connects directly to the issue of control
of water as well as labor rights worldwide."
Suren Moodliar and Kim Foltz, are co-directors of NAFFE, the North
American Alliance for Fair Employment an organization of over sixty
groups that work in support of workers rights and equitable pay for
contingent labor. Suren is also a former organizer with the ANC, while
Kim previously led the development for INFACT, an organization working
in support of corporate accountability.
Jonathan Leavitt is the Organizing Director for Massachusetts Global
Action. Jonathan led a campaign in Lawrence to stop a corporate
takeover of the water system, and has been an active organizer for
eighteen years, including successful work shutting down two
incinerators, founding the Massachusetts Green Party, running the
first ever Green Party Gubernatorial campaign, as well as qualifying
as the first ever Green Party Clean Elections candidate in Massachusetts.
Olivia Zink is a member of the board of directors of Save Our
Groundwater (SOG). A grassroots, nonprofit, organization of
volunteers advocating that water is a natural resource to be held in
public trust and to be protected now and for the future. Also member
of the Water Allies Network, a multi-cultural, multi-racial network of
grassroots organizations committed to building a movement to ensure
secure and equitable access to clean water as a human right to be
protected for all generations and for all living things. A graduate
for the University of New Hampshire, and currently working on her
Masters in CED at Southern New Hampshire University