Britain, Cyprus hail 'new era' on military land

Yahoo – AFP, 9 May 2022 

An aerial view of the United Kingdom's Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area east of
Larnaca -- it is one of two such areas on the island of Cyprus (AFP/Amir MAKAR)
(Amir MAKAR)

Thousands of Cypriots living on British military land will have the right to develop their properties under a deal to take effect next week, ending decades of unequal treatment, officials said Monday. 

Under the 1960 treaty granting Cyprus independence from Britain, the United Kingdom retained control of two Sovereign Base Areas covering three percent of the island's land area. 

These include not only the bases themselves but Cypriot communities home to around 12,000 people -- more than the number of British military personnel and their families. 

Non-military development on base land has until now been generally restricted. 

Cypriot property owners on base land were subject to "62 years of distortions and imbalances" which the deal to be implemented from May 16 will remove, Cyprus's President Nicos Anastasiades said at a ceremony. 

Residential, commercial and other developments will be possible under the arrangement. 

"It is a truly historic agreement", Anastasiades told the ceremony attended by base officials. 

British High Commissioner Stephen Lillie told the gathering that "a new era of non-military development" begins next week. 

"From that day, landowners in the bases will be able to submit planning applications and develop their land much like they can anywhere else in Cyprus," he said, describing it as a "levelling up." 

In a statement, British Forces Cyprus said that, for the first time, third-country nationals in addition to Cypriots will be able to own property, live, and run a business in the base areas -- subject to environmental, security and zoning considerations. 

Anastasiades reached an agreement in 2014 with then-British Prime Minister David Cameron paving the way for the changes being implemented from next week. 

In an interview with AFP, Anastasiades said the agreement did not mean an alteration to the 1960 treaty and did not require discussions with Greece and Turkey, the other 1960 signatories. 

He said it is simply changing the status of the residents in the base areas, "giving a chance for development which is a great thing. We are talking about a huge extent of land." 

The base areas cover 254 square kilometres (98 square miles). 

Cyprus, an eastern Mediterranean island, has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded following a Greek-sponsored coup. The Republic of Cyprus, whose overwhelming majority are Greek Cypriots, has effective control over the southern two-thirds of the island.

Nestlé agrees to pay all employees living wage

Company to pay entire UK workforce – including agency and contract staff – minimum of £8.80 in London or £7.65 elsewhere

theguardian.com, Press Association, Monday 30 June 2014

Nestle becomes the largest manufacturer to sign up to the living
wage in the UK. Photograph: Laurent Gillieron/EPA

Food giant Nestlé has become the first leading manufacturer to commit to paying the living wage.

The firm already pays at least the living wage to its 8,000 staff but the move will benefit contract employees and agency workers. About 800 contractors working with Nestlé will implement it by December 2017.

The announcement was described by campaigners as a significant milestone in the drive to persuade employers to pay the living wage, which is currently set at £8.80 an hour in London and £7.65 elsewhere, compared to the national minimum wage of £6.31.

Nestlé UK & Ireland's chief executive, Fiona Kendrick, said: "We are proud to be the first mainstream manufacturer in the UK to become a living wage employer and see this as an opportunity to be a positive influence in our sector.

"As a major UK employer, we know that this is the right thing to do. Not only does it benefit our employees but also the communities they live and work in."

Living Wage Foundation director Rhys Moore said: "The accreditation of Nestlé as a living wage employer marks a significant milestone in the campaign to tackle in-work poverty. We hope that the leadership they have shown will encourage others in this industry to follow suit and improve conditions for those at the lowest end of the pay scale and sub-contracted staff.

"We are aware that Nestlé is going above and beyond the basic requirements of becoming an accredited employer, and is extending their commitment to graduate, internship and school leaver programmes."

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, said: "With in-work poverty on the rise, many employers are simply ignoring their responsibility to pay staff a decent wage. They should take note from Nestlé's positive stance which shows that paying a living wage is not just good for communities but makes good business sense too."

Tim Roache, of the GMB union, said: "Nestlé have always recognised their greatest asset is their workforce and are demonstrating this with action, not just words. This shows once and for all that if one leading manufacturer can pay a living wage to all employees including young workers and those contracted out, then many more are able to do so."

The business secretary, Vince Cable, said: "I welcome Nestlé's decision and encourage all businesses to pay their staff above the minimum wage when it is affordable and not at the expense of jobs."

The shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna, said: "It is fantastic news that Nestlé is announcing its accreditation as a living wage employer, having worked in collaboration with Unite, GMB and the Living Wage Foundation to achieve this.

"We want to see as many businesses as possible take the decision to become living wage employers, so I hope other firms will follow the strong example which Nestlé is setting."

Spanish island to be fully powered by wind, water

Yahoo – AFP, Katell Abiven, 28 April 2014

Wind turbines are pictured near the upper reservoir of the Gorona power
station on El Hierro island on March 28, 2014

The smallest and least known of Spain's Canary Islands, El Hierro, is making a splash by becoming the first island in the world fully energy self-sufficient through combined water and wind power.

A wind farm opening at the end of June will turn into electricity the gusts that rake the steep cliffs and green mountains of the volcanic island off the Atlantic coast of Africa.

Its five turbines installed at the northeastern tip of El Hierro near the capital Valverde will have a total output of 11.5 megawatts -- more than enough power to meet the demand of the island's roughly 10,000 residents and its energy-hungry water desalination plants.

The lower reservoir and hydropower station

 at the Gorona power station on El Hierro

 island on March 28, 2014. (Photo by

Desiree Martin/ AFP)

Although other islands around the world are powered by solar or wind energy, experts say El Hierro is the first to secure a constant supply of electricity by combining wind and water power and with no connection to any outside electricity network.

Surplus power from the wind turbines will be used to pump fresh water from a reservoir near the harbour to a larger one at volcanic crater located about 700 metres (2,300 feet) above sea level.

When there is little or no wind, the water will be channelled down to the lower reservoir through turbines to generate electricity in turn.

"This system guarantees us a supply of electricity," said the director of the Gorona del Viento wind power plant, Juan Manuel Quintero who is supervising final tests before the plant starts functioning in a few weeks.

Emplyees work in the pump room at

 the Gorona power station on El Hierro

\ island on March 28, 2014. (Photo by

Desiree Martin/ AFP)

The plant will account for 50 percent of the island's electricity demand when it is officially inaugurated at the end of June, a figure that will rise to 100 percent over the following months.

The scheme will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 18,700 tonnes per year and eliminate the island's annual consumption of 40,000 barrels of oil.

El Hierro will maintain its fuel oil power station as a back up, just in case.

'World pioneer'

The island is cited as a pioneering project by IRENA, the international organisation for renewable energy, and other experts such as Alain Gioda, a climate historian at France IRD science research institute.

"The true novelty of El Hierro is that technicians have managed, without being connected to any national network, to guarantee a stable production of electricity, that comes 100 percent from renewable energy, overcoming the intermittent nature of the wind," he said.

A Turbogenerator set (L) and a lubrication

 (blue) at the Gorona power station on

 El Hierro island on March 28, 2014.

(Photo by Desiree Martin/ AFP)

El Hierro's wind power plant has sparked interest from other islands seeking to follow its example.

Officials from Aruba, Hawaii, Samso in Denmark, Oki in Japan, and Indonesia have all shown interest.

"It is a project which is considered at the world level as a pioneer and it is one of the most important in the production of renewable energy," said the president of island's local council, Alpidio Armas.

"El Hierro can be a sort of laboratory," he added, providing an example to other islands around the world which are home to around 600 million people.

El Hierro, the westernmost of Spain's Canary Islands, has also been invited to present its project at several international conferences, including in Malta and South Korea.

Electric vehicles

El Hierro wants to extend its environmental credentials even further by ensuring that by 2020 all of its 6,000 vehicles are run on electricity thanks to an agreement with the Renault-Nissan alliance.

A recharging point for electric vehicles at

 the Gorona power station on El Hierro

 island on March 28, 2014. (Photo by

Desiree Martin/ AFP)

The wind power plant cost 80 million euros ($110 million) to build.

The island authorities own 60 percent of the plant, with 30 percent held by Spanish energy company Endesa -- a subsidiary of Italian group Enel -- and 10 percent by a local technology institute.

"We wanted to be the owners of the majority of the plant. That means that the profits as well as the possible losses, that is the destiny of Gorona del Viento, is the responsibility of the residents of the island," said Armas.

Revenues from the plant will boost the island's budget by about one to three million euros per year, he said.

"These are revenues that can go to the local residents, to subsidise water prices, infrastructure, social policies," he said.

El Hierro, designated by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve with 60 percent of its territory of 278 square kilometres (107 square miles) protected to preserve its natural diversity, also hopes its green energy drive will draw visitors interested in nature and science.

"We cannot turn down the benefits that tourism brings, but we don't want mass tourism," said Armas.

Old-age poverty soars in Germany

Deutsche Welle, 22 October 2013

Gaps in Germany's statutory pension system have forced nearly a half-a-million retirees to turn to local welfare offices for subsistence funding. Unions and charities are demanding that the government intervene.

Germany's federal statistics bureau said on Tuesday that 465,000 retirees older than 65 were registered in 2012 as dependent on basic welfare subsidies. That was a 6.6 percent increase on the previous year and almost twice the count in 2003.

The DGB trade union federation said the true level of impoverished elderly in Germany was twice as high as the registered level given in the official statistics.

DGB presidium member Annelie Buntenbach said it was commonly known that many elderly persons among Germany's 20 million retirees felt ashamed and did not submit formal applications for basic assistance to their local authorities.

The chairman of the AWO workers' charity, Wolfgang Stadler, said without reform of Germany's pension system, which is funded by monthly transfers from employers and employees, Germany would end up with millions dependent on basic welfare assistance.

Metropolitan poverty

The statistics bureau based in Wiesbaden said German retirees classed as impoverished lived mainly in larger cities.

On average across Germany, 3 percent of all retirees drew basic welfare allowances. In Hamburg the level was 6.2 percent; in Berlin 5.3 percent, it said.

Last week, the tabloid "Bild" featured a DGB survey that indicated that 42 percent of employees in Germany assumed that on retirement their statutory pensions would be insufficient to make ends meet.

More than two-thirds said they had little or no entitlements to supplementary pensions that some employees accumulate during their working lives.

ipj/hc (epd, Reuters, AFP)

Serbian postman goes the extra mile

Google – AFP, Jovan MATIC (AFP), 16 October 2013

Postman Filip Filipovic brings groceries on October 7, 2013 to a family near

 Kursumlijska Banja, some 300 kms south of the capital Belgrade (AFP/File,

Andrej Isakovic)

KURSUMLIJSKA BANJA — When Filip Filipovic was named postman for a cluster of isolated villages deep in the mountains of southern Serbia, he soon knew his job would not stop at delivering the mail.

"I simply knew I could not look away and turn a blind eye to reality, to the living conditions of these children who have nothing, and lonely and abandoned elderly people," said the 30-year-old, recalling his first tour of the remote area.

Filipovic covers a dozen mountain villages scattered along the border with Kosovo, travelling along dirt roads from his post office in the small town of Kursumlijska Banja.

Postman Filip Filipovic (R) checks on

October 7, 2013 on a swing in front of his 

post office in Kursumlijska Banja, some 

300 kms south of the capital Belgrade

(AFP/File, Andrej Isakovic)

"When I saw children having to walk to school 10, 15 kilometres (6-9 miles) every day, who live without water and electricity, often in a single room with their parents, I decided to do something to help," he told AFP.

Kursumlijska Banja, some 300 kilometres (180 miiles) south of the capital Belgrade, hosts one of Serbia's oldest spas, which has been closed and in ruins since 2007, sign of the economic hardship blighting the country.

Filipovic was 28 when he first made the journey from his hometown Kursumlija to Kursumlijska Banja, a dozen kilometres along a narrow road lined with rows of pine trees and empty houses, some collapsed, abandoned cafes and restaurants.

"I told myself I had to do something. A few kilometres from 21st century civilisation, we have people forgotten in the 19th century," Filip said.

He started by renovating the post office, in a shabby building which also hosts the local primary school, using his own money to repaint the premises.

At the same time, chipping away at his salary of barely 300 euros ($400) per month, he was bringing chocolates and sweets to children in remote villages, for whom such luxury was unheard of.

At 6:30 am in Kursumlija, it is a morning like any other.

With a list in hand, Filipovic tours shops to buy a range of items from bread to newspapers or cleaning products, before swinging by the office for his post bag and hitting the road.

"There are no more shops in the home villages of the people I help, so I do the shopping for them," explained the self-effacing young man, with light brown hair and bright eyes.

"Filip is our guardian angel," said Marika Pavic, a grateful 70-year-old woman whom Filipovic visits daily.

Around midday he knocked at the door of the Dragicevic family in a remote house on a meadow, surrounded by dense forest.

That day, he picked up their boys Milomir, 7, and Radomir, 9, and drove them on to school so they would not have to walk the eight-kilometre journey.

"At the Dragicevic's, we have started to build a bathroom as they don't have one. I hope it will be done by the end of the year," Filipovic said.

Postman Filip Filipovic checks documents

on October 7, 2013 as he leaves the post

office in Kursumlijska Banja, some 300 kms

south of the capital Belgrade (AFP/File,

Andrej Isakovic)

"Without Filip, we could never afford to provide our children with everything they have. What he is doing is very rare and precious," whispered Milena, the boys' 28-year-old mother.

The postman did not stop there.

For two years he has financed, organised and helped with the renovation of the local school?s only classroom that provides education for six boys aged 7 to 11.

Last year, the six left home for the first time in their lives for a one-day excursion, organised by their postman at his own expense, to a town in central Serbia.

He bought the boys schoolbags, notebooks and pencils, and also provided six computers.

Filipovic rebuilt the school's toilets in the yard. This summer, during his vacation, he built a playground for his young proteges.

"When I saw the swings I told him 'You are the best, better than Santa Claus'," said smiling Aleksandar, an eight-year-old boy surrounded by his classmates.

"Two swings and a slide. For children from the town it's certainly no big deal, but to them it changed their whole universe," smiled the postman.

Related Article:

Serbians buy 'solidarity meal' for poor

Energy bill scheme in Belgium could help UK consumers

BBC News, Matthew Price, Europe correspondent, Bruges, 24 october 2012

Related Stories 

• Q&A: Plans to simplify energy tariffs
• Ofgem issues energy tariff plan

Grassroots activism in Belgium is
 putting pressure on energy providers
to cut tariffs

Many households across the UK could substantially reduce their energy bills if a scheme running in Belgium and the Netherlands successfully catches on.

Consumer groups and campaigners in Britain believe that "collective switching" could result in savings for most homes that take part.

If the experience of Lien Cappelle is anything to go by, then collective switching works - and works extremely well.

Just under a year ago, the mother of two switched energy supplier. The last bill from the previous company was just over 400 euros (£324; $518) a month. Her new monthly amount is 78 euros.

"I was very surprised - I didn't expect it to be so much," she says, with a broad grin on her face as her two-year-old son, Artur, plays quietly in the living room of their family home.

"It makes me very angry - the old company wanted me to pay far too much, and that's not fair."

To find out how she cut her bill by three-quarters you can just take a peek into one local cafe on a Friday morning in the Flemish region of Belgium.

It is packed. Figures from a projector light up the wall. Sums are being done. Many of the people are signing up for what they hope will be cheaper energy, thanks to a "collective switch".

'Stronger Together' 

Benedikte of Samen Sterker says
 consumers have much more lobbying
power by clubbing together

It is a simple idea. Get enough households to band together. Ask the energy companies for the best deal they can offer the group as a whole. And move, en masse, to the one provider with the lowest price.

In Belgium and the Netherlands, the system more often than not is organised by the local council, or a community group, with help from a third-party company that specialises in energy negotiations.

The local group organising this collective switch is Samen Sterker. It translates as "Stronger Together" and its spokeswoman is Benedikte Van Eeghem.

"If you go to a supplier and say: 'I want a decent price', they're going to say: 'Well, you have a decent price, I'm not go to change it for you only.'

"If you do this with 10,000 families, that's a different situation. That's 10,000 people who are prepared to switch to a new supplier, which means that these suppliers offer a decent price in order to get them as new clients."

For just over three years now, collective switching has been growing in popularity in Belgium and the Netherlands, where it has been pioneered.

Most of the hundreds of thousands of consumers who have benefited have not managed the astonishing reduction that Lien Cappelle did. On average however, each household has saved some 200-250 euros a year.

And there are those who believe the same could be achieved in Britain.

Earlier this year the consumer organisation Which? organised the first collective switch in the UK. Almost 40,000 people took part, with average savings of £223 a year.

A pilot scheme is running in Cornwall, and South Lakeland District Council in Cumbria is finalising the first local authority project in the UK. Other local councils are expected to follow suit soon.

Simpler method 

Lien Cappelle has made big savings in
her energy bills

The UK consumer champion Consumer Focus is pushing it too. Its Director of Energy is Audrey Gallacher.

"It's an easy way for people to engage in the energy market. You have a trusted third party who's actually doing all the leg work and making it more simple. [They] go out and carry out an auction and hopefully get the best possible price for the consumers involved."

Not everyone is so sure. The energy company that won the Which? competition, Co-operative Energy, lists a number of concerns on its website. The main fear, it says, is that "collective switching schemes… can be unfair to loyal customers. In some energy suppliers, loyal customers end up subsidising eye-catching tariffs created to tempt new customers."

There is also a fear that it is the young and more savvy who will get involved, leaving the elderly and those who can ill afford higher bills paying steeper tariffs.

The energy regulator in Flemish Belgium, VREG, says that after some initial teething problems the system is working well.

"It's bringing down prices and giving better service to the customers. There is pressure on the companies both to be competitive and to give good service - otherwise the customers leave quite rapidly," says Dirk Van Evercooren from VREG.

He also says it is helping to free up the energy market, bringing new providers in who are challenging the dominance of the two big Belgian energy firms.

Consumer Focus's Audrey Gallacher believes collective switching can provide a good deal across the board.

"What collective switching will do is not necessarily get you the absolute cheapest deal in the market, but get a fair price for everybody - get a better deal for the people that have never switched before."

"Lots of people don't want to switch because it's too complicated and they're frightened. This takes that all away. We think it's a positive thing all round."

As does Lien Cappelle, back in her home in Bruges, now with an extra 300 euros in her pocket each month.

"We can buy other things with the money we saved. We're very happy we made the switch."

China's geothermal energy could run the country for 260,000 years

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2012-10-07

A geothermal energy project in Tibet. (Photo/Xinhua)

China holds potential geothermal energy between 3,000 and 10,000 meters below the surface of the earth equal to 860 trillion tons of standard coal, a storage which is estimated to have a lifespan of 260,000 years using current figures for energy consumption.

The Ministry of Land and Resources underwent a national survey on the distribution of geothermal energy over the country between 2009 and 2011, re-evaluating the storage of shallow geothermal energy in 287 cities, geothermal energy in 12 sedimentary basins and 2562 hot springs regions, as well as the potential hot-dry-rock geothermal power at between 3,000 and 10,000 meters below the surface of the earth, reports our sister newspaper the China Times.

The results showed that the total shallow geothermal energy storage is commensurate with 9.5 billion tons of standard coal. The usable part is about 350 million a year, which can save 250 million tons of standard coal and reduce 500 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions in a year if the energy is fully exploited and used.

The geothermal power in sedimentary basins is commensurate with 853 billion tons of coal, while the usable part for a year is equal to 640 tons of standard coal, which can reduce 1.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide emission a year.

The survey found the total geothermal energy stored between 3,000 and 10,000 meters below the surface of the earth is about equal to 860 trillion tons of standard coal, which is 260,000 times China's total energy consumption a year.

Geothermal energy is a kind of renewable energy, originating from the original formation of the earth and radioactive decay of minerals. The ministry said the country is moving slowly to exploit the rich energy and need to push the reusable project soon.

A report by Massachusetts Institute of Technology said the United States only has to exploit 2% of its geothermal energy between 3,000 and 10,000 meters below the surface of the earth, which is able to offer electricity equal to 2,500 times the country's total electricity consumption a year.

Related Article:

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much….”

Spain's 'Indignados' continue protest behind the scenes

Deutsche Welle, 17 September 2012

Long before the Occupy movement besieged Wall Street a year ago, the 'Indignados‘ set up their tents in the center of Madrid. The tents have gone and the Spanish people’s protest movement has become less visible.

To many foreign observers, the Spanish 15-M movement which first shook Spain and the world on May 15, 2011, has failed. In fact, most Spanish people have lost faith in it.

"They refused to join existing political groups - that's what tore them apart," said Leon Arsenal, author and the commissioner of cultural affairs with the Spanish party Unión Progreso y Democracía (UPyD). Arsenal admitted, however, that the May 15 protests were what triggered the worldwide ‘Occupy' movement. "It was the first time that Spain was a pioneer in anything."

Work behind the scenes 

Indignados protesting against
rating agencies

Arsenal‘s party shares the goals of the Indignados ("the indignant ones"). That's the name the various protest groups joined in the 15-M movement gave themselves. Both UPyD and the ‘Indignados' want more participation of citizens in the political decision-making process. They fight for simpler state structures and for more transparency. But while Arsenal's center-right party has grown over the past few months, the 15-M movement seems to be fading from the public eye.

That said, behind the scenes its members are still active. The massive tent camps full of protesters singing on Madrid's Plaza del Sol may be gone, but thousands of volunteers are continuing their protest. It's just less visible and tends to take place in the poorer neighborhoods of big cities.

"15-M has become a movement of voluntary social workers," said their spokeswoman and coordinator Ruth Martinez. The 33-year-old journalist has a master's degree in languages and medieval literature, and despite her qualifications she among the 24 percent of Spanish people who are currently unemployed.

Family as a safety net

The average income for people in Spain between the ages of 20 and 45 is between 1000 and 1500 euros ($1300 to $2000). Until now, families have served as a safety net for many young people who often live with their parents until they get married. But with private debts on the rise, even families are now slowly reaching their limits. "That's where we help out," said Ruth Martínez.

Thousands of lawyers, teachers and doctors who sympathize with the 15-M movement offer their services for free. Many of them have lost their jobs themselves. Others fill out tax declarations for people in need and help out when people are evicted from their houses.

In neighborhoods like Madrid's Lavapies, where many immigrants live, the work of the 15-M movement is particularly important. There, 15-M members protest in banks, in public offices, and they assist people in need.

Talk the talk, and walk the walk - 15-M has become a network of
social workers

Occupied houses and public assemblies

15-M regularly organize public assemblies. "We do whatever the government and the media fail to do. Of course we occupy an increasing number of empty houses because we think it's unfair that families are evicted from their homes simply because the banks have talked them into accepting exaggerated mortgages," said Martínez.

15-M's latest success is that a lawsuit against the insolvent bank Bankia has been accepted. That means that some of the people in charge will at last have to explain themselves in court.

"We don't storm buildings to the same extent anymore because the police in Spain intervene massively. And when you organize protest gatherings with more than ten participants you now risk fines. But that doesn't mean that we've vanished from the scene worldwide." 15-M and all its sub-forums will be taking part in the Global Noise event, organized by the Occupy movement worldwide on October 15, 2012.

Nevertheless, 15-M is still a big success, said Ignasí Carreras Fisas, director of the social innovation department at the Barcelona-based business school Esade. Even if it hasn't developed enough political clout to actually pave the way for real change. "Traditionally, protest groups are in a difficult position in Spain. Some regions have a strong desire for independence, which makes it hard for these groups to act on a national level. But 15-M and the Indignados have managed to overcome that to some extent."

Bristol goes rogue: British city launches own currency

AFP/Google, by Judith Evans (AFP), 16 Aug 2012

Bristol pound banknotes, which all contain symbols of local pride 

(AFP/File, Handout)

BRISTOL, United Kingdom — As Britain loses faith in its banks and feels shockwaves from the euro crisis, one city is trying to keep local wealth in local pockets with the launch of its own currency.

The Bristol pound -- usable only with member businesses in the city in southwest England -- is to launch in September, and organisers are deluged with local firms wanting to sign up.

"The perception of banking and money is that it's a very ruthless system: people are out for what they can get," co-founder Ciaran Mundy told AFP.

"This is about saying yes to something new. It's tapping into a different set of values about money."

The scheme has "captured people's imaginations", he added, in a recession-hit year when British banks have been beset by scandals and ministers talked openly of a possible euro collapse.

Hundreds of businesses have joined, from the acclaimed Arnolfini arts centre to the Chandos deli chain, and the launch had to be postponed from May to September 19 because of the level of interest.

Bristol is the first big city in

 Britain to launch a local currency.

(AFP/File, Adrian Dennis)

Security professional Richard Wright signed up his company Wright Guard as soon as he heard about the Bristol pound, hoping it would help him fight back against encroaching security giants.

"I'm Bristol born and bred, and I always want to support local businesses," he told AFP. "I'll want to keep the Bristol pound flowing."

The notes feature symbols of local pride from nineteenth-century religious writer Hannah More to the Concorde aircraft, partly developed in Bristol, and images of the St Paul's Carnival Caribbean street festival.

Evoking a long history of dissent, one side of the £5 note shows a tiger writing on a wall in graffiti: "O Liberty!"

Other British towns have launched local currencies, but Bristol, home to half a million people, is the first big city, and its scheme is ambitious.

Businesses can pay local taxes in Bristol pounds and the council has offered its 17,000 staff the option of receiving part of their pay in the currency.

Mundy's team -- funded initially by grants -- have designed an electronic system for payments by text message, plus what they say are forgery-proof notes.

Stores selling products from cider to skate shoes said they were considering joining the scheme, which Mundy believes will have a tangible economic effect.

"Eighty percent of the money leaves the area if it is spent with a multinational -- but 80 percent stays if it is spent at a local trader," he said.

Such localism might seem strange in a city that grew to prosperity as an international port and is now a centre for aircraft manufacture.

But Bristol is also a left-wing haven with an activist tradition. The People's Republic of Stokes Croft, an urban renewal group, made headlines last year with a campaign that became a riot in protest at the opening of a Tesco supermarket.

They have greeted the Bristol pound warmly.

"We need to run things from the bottom up and from the grassroots, so that people have control over how things happen where they live," said spokesman Chris Chalkley.

But Louisa Jones and Joh Rindom, co-owners of Stokes Croft vintage clothing store Shop Dutty, thought the scheme would just add to their administrative burden.

"We're sceptical that having a micro economy within a macro economy is a bit backward," Rindom said.

Ben Yearsley, investment manager at Bristol-based financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown, also won't be rushing to convert his sterling.

"It's just a big gift voucher scheme... I'm sceptical that it's going to make any difference," he told AFP.

"Local businesses need to compete on quality and service."

The Bristol pound will not be legal tender and must be exchanged through the Bristol Credit Union, with a three percent charge for conversion back to sterling.

This and charges on electronic transactions will pay its running costs.

Despite the naysayers, Mundy hopes hundreds of thousands of Bristol pounds will be traded in its first year, increasing to "double figures of millions" by the third.

A man holds euro notes and the

 "Chiemgauer", the local currency of the

 southern German city of Raubling.

 (DDP/AFP/File, Lennart Preiss)

His model is the Chiemgauer, a German complementary currency of which millions of euros' worth is traded yearly.

Online database complementarycurrency.org lists more than 225 such minority currencies worldwide, of which 102 are in Europe.

They have won a high-profile advocate in Bernard Lietaer, a Belgian economist who helped design and implement the convergence mechanism for the euro.

"We will never have a stable, sustainable monetary system with a single monopoly of a single type of currency, whoever manages it," he said in a lecture in Brussels.

"Everybody can do something at their own scale... sustainability requires diversity," he added.

Mundy said that the ultimate test of his system would be the market.

"If people freely decide to market and trade with each other (in the currency), they should be able to do it," he said.

"If we're not doing a good job they won't use the system. Consumers will decide." 

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