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Randy Ghent co-founded Car Busters in 1997 in Lyon, France, while working as a coordinator of the Towards Car-Free Cities I conference. Since 1997, he has been based in Lyon, Melbourne and Prague as a full-time staff member of the Car Busters collective, with a diverse range of roles and projects. From 1998-2000, he was European Correspondent for Adbusters magazine. From 1992-1997 he was office manager of the Alliance for a Paving Moratorium/Fossil Fuels Policy Action Institute in California, where he served as editor of the Auto-Free Times. Randy previously gave this presentation at the Towards Carfree Cities III conference in Prague, 2003. All shows wheelchair accessible unless otherwise noted.
The presentations were very well received and each had its own special qualities. In all, six presentations and one radio show (archived below). The presentation to the bicycle coalition lead to much discussion of class; the Palo Alto crowd was warmly receptive; the show above the Berkeley campus (in the westerly Wurster's Wizard's tower) was intimate, serene, yet riveting; the show after San Francisco Critical Mass was magical if disruptively eruptive -- the crowd was very fiesty from pouring through the streets and then creating a whirling velodrome/bike disco in the outdoor palacial arched dome at the Palace of Fine Arts, complete with dance music and performances (live carfree rapper Fossil Fool had the crowd howling, and a becostumed violin player giving us traditional folk songs of the UK had the crowd clapping, stomping, dancing and prancing); the Ecology Center show received announcements about local events and issues (such as Berkeley Bike Month, and the Vista College transporation issue) from the sponsoring groups given to a large crowd of diverse and well-educated folks, many of whom are working on related issues (from transportation and land use to issues of the Middle East) leading to a very detailed discussion of the intricacies of life in Morocco and a call for ever more data and analysis, even asking how many donkeys serve the 156,000 residents (280, with 210 for good transport and 70 for waste). Randy quickly pointed out that a modern carfree city need not rely on donkeys; and the final show, at the Long Haul infocafe, was perhaps the best show of all in terms of visual quality, diversity of the crowd and the impassioned discussion afterward which focused most on, "What can we do?" in order to transform our cities for a life independent of cars? After a delicious vegan meal, attendees filled every available inch of space (setting the feel for a trip into dense and socially vibrant Morocco), piling up the stairs and squatting in the aisles. The enormous screen and very dark room gave the largest and most crisp representation of the images of all the venues, and raised the most funds for this very low-budget tour. We have video of the Ecology Center presentation (and some bits of the SF presentation and the ride before it) which can be copied for a suitable donation or for a good cause (to reach the most people). Randy hopes to find someone with a slide scanner so that his presentation can be placed online, as well as so the highest image quality may be inserted into the video piece. If you would like to donate to help defray the costs of this production, please do DONATE. Past Opportunities:
Tuesday, April 20, 8:30 PM
Wednesday, April 21, 7:30 PM
Pizza, sandwiches and salad served during the main meeting, 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM. This will be the first meeting where there is an optional orientation for new folks from 5:00 - 5:30 p.m. During the final hour of the meeting, we will break up into four working groups that will help develop strategies on each of our main campaigns. Strategic Plan and Campaign Development; RTP Land Use Campaign; Defending the Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Program; South Bay Save Our Transit Campaign; Please Join Us! The slide show occurs after the meeting. 7:30 PM. Check the TALC website or call 510-740-3150. (Not-quite-definite but a great meeting even without the presentation.)
Thursday, April 22
You can listen to the archived show online here. The show featured Randy Ghent of Car Busters Magazine and the World Carfree Network, Matt Nichols of the Office of Transportation (OOT) of the City of Berkeley , and local Bay Area activists Wendy Alfsen of Berkeley Ecological and Safe Transportation Coalition (BEST) and Jason Meggs of the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition (BFBC), the Bicycle Civil Liberties Union (BCLU), and Berkeley Critical Mass.
Wednesday, April 28, 7:30 PM
Thursday, April 29, 3:30-5:00 PM
Friday, April 30, 8-ish
Saturday, May 1st
Sunday, May 2nd
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Experience
Carfree Morocco.