Planet Diversity will be a global congress and festival on the future of food and agriculture, organised by NGOs, GMO-Free Regions, farmers and social movements around the world. From 12 to 16 May 2008 this event will involve about 500 participants on location and thousands of people, who will participate through the internet and by spreading the word before and after this first "Planet Diversity" congress. The message is: Local-Diverse-GMO Free.

Preliminary Outline of Events
Monday, May 12th (Pentecost): A Festival of Diversity
A public festival of the senses will mark the beginning of Planet Diversity and the kick-off of the government negotiations within the framework of the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to take place over the next three weeks. 

 

We invite professional and amateur farmers and gardeners, seed producers and propagators, chefs and food producers to present the diversity of their products, varieties and plants to be seen and smelled, shared and tasted. It will be a great Festival of Diversity, to which we invite the people and families of Bonn, Cologne and surrounding areas as well as all friends from Europe and the world.

Together, we will then assemble around the venue where representatives from 141 member states will convene to the International Protocol on Biosafety under the CBD and discuss minimum standards of liability and redress for damages caused by genetically modified organisms. How safe is a technology that no insurance company today is willing to insure? Why would industry and important industrialized nations reject any meaningful international liability regime?

In the evening, the demonstration will end in a concert and revelries appropriate to the celebration of diversity. All official participants of the Biosafety Protocol will be welcome to join us in dancing, eating, drinking and debating the essence of diversity.

Tuesday, May 13th: The Conference Begins - Stories and Initiatives
The first day of the Conference will serve as an opportunity for participants from all over the world to meet and get to know each other. GMO-free regions, consumer initiatives, farmers, environmentalists, chefs, gardeners, seed initiatives, parents and other food experts will present their conflicts, problems and share their successes with representatives from five continents. This will take place in joint plenary discussions as well as workshops and regional events. The focus of this day will be on reports and stories from the regions of the world.

Wednesday May 14th: Policies, Markets and Technologies
The message of this day will be: there is no market for genetically modified food. This message will be delivered by representatives of farmers, food producers and retailers, consumer and environmental organisations, of regional and national governments. They will explain their visions of diversity, rural development, agriculture and food culture. They will also address key issues and challenges, such as agro-fuels, global warming, expropriation and intellectual property claims on seed and knowledge, global market pressure and depletion of natural resources.

Thursday, May 15th: Strategies for Diversity -Concepts and Perspectives
This day will be dedicated to suggestions and planning of next steps. Which issues do we have in common? What demands unite us? Which forms of global cooperation do we have and which could we further develop? The final day should lay the groundwork for practical, future cooperation not only with conference participants, but also with those who follow the conference on the internet and contribute to the debate via email and video.

Friday, May 16th: Government Showdown, Small Farmers' Tribunal, Excursions
We will follow the Biosafety Protocol negotiations throughout the week. Experience has shown that the meagre chances of an agreement on liability being reached would materialise on this last day of negotiations, usually late at night or early in the morning. At this point, public support from the outside can play a small, but not insignificant, role. For this reason, we will be prepared for discussions with delegates as well as a public night time vigil.

In addition, a farmers' tribunal on opportunities and risks of GMOs for small farmers, organised by Via Campesina and other small farmers' associations, will present its findings to the public. There will also be an opportunity for excursions on this day.

What else is happening?
We are still in the early planning stages of the conference and festival. The following is a list of ideas and suggestions to be integrated into the above-mentioned events and are subject to change.

Side Events
During lunch breaks, we will take advantage of the opportunity to organize short presentations and discussions on topics of interest within the official framework of the Biosafety Protocol negotiations.

Diversity Bazaar
In addition to the festival on the first day, there should be a biodiversity bazaar running parallel to the conference where representatives of communities, initiatives, organisations, companies and institutions can present their work to the participants of the conference and official negotiators. We will also provide space and opportunities for specialized workshops parallel to the conference.

Virtual Participation
We will broadcast the conference live and aim to allow for live contributions to the discussions via the internet. We also invite initiatives and organisations to participate in the Diversity Bazaar by means of the internet from home. We invite professional and amateur film producers to contribute and to help us in bringing the stories, views, experiences, joy and misery of communities, grassroots activities, kitchens, gardens and fields from around the world to the common table of this conference.

Lobbying and Public Scrutiny of the Biosafety Protocol Negotiations
On the conference website (www.planet-diversity.org) we will also cover the official negotiations and enable people to follow and react to the positions taken by negotiators of their countries in close cooperation with the specialised lobby task force of NGOs.

Film Festival
Many excellent films on this topic have already been produced, and we would like to show them over the course of the week - not only to conference participants, but also to the general public.

Art & Action
Diversity in agriculture and food lends itself to visual and sensual representation. At this time we are looking for artists who would be interested in exploring this option.

Food, Tradition and Delights
Obviously, stuffing the participants with fast food is not a catering option for this event. Lunch- breaks and dinner will be important elements of the conference deliberations and enable participants to exchange their traditions, pleasures and experiences sometimes hard to describe with words in the universal language of shared meals.

Contact:
Planet Diversity Secretariat, Foundation on Future Farming
Marienstr.19-20, 10117 Berlin, Germany, Tel +49 30 27590309 Fax +49 30 27590312
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For more information, http://www.planet-diversity.org/