GAIA is a youth environment NGO working on issues like climate change, ecological debt, climate justice, wildlife and nature conservation, animal rights/animal liberation, environmental education,GMO's, eco consumer, etc. We have broad ways of intervening, from education campaigns with some leaflets and posters to direct actions.

Mission

Our mission is to tackle environmental and social problems from its root causes, creating spaces for new alternatives.

Objectives

Our objectives are to raise awareness among the population concerning environmental, cultural and social issues, by promoting new structures for the people to participate in the decision making of their community other than to simply vote, to promote, learn and create ecological and social alternatives to people's daily life.

Campaigns

Here is a list of the campaigns that GAIA is currently running.

Eco-Consumer campaign

Campaigning for responsible consumption. It integrates concepts like ecological footprint and ecological debt and will be targetting the information and denunciation on harmufull corporations and products as well as the promotion of alternative ways for consuming. Some examples of corporate "crimes" to be denunciated (carbon debt, environmental liabilities, biopiracy). It will include direct actions like Buy Nothing Day, Buy Nothing Day Christmas, publishing of leaflets and small a booklet on ecological/responsible consumption, updating and improvement of ECO-Christmas website (http://gaia.org.pt/econatal)

Desertification campaign

One of the most sucessefull campaigns in 2005, this campaign will aim in 2006 mainly on the estableshiment of GAIA in one of the most desertificated areas of Portugal, Alentejo. Trough the project called "Centro de Convergência - Convergence Center) we will work to contribute for the inversion of the rural exodus, social and soil desertification int close cooperation with local goverment and development NGOs. The development of the Center will be based on permaculture principles and practice and will congregate work on various diferent levels of the local comunity, like cultural, artistical and environmental defense aspects. This campaign will also include the development of the Ecological Volunteer Network (REV) that will create a database of volunteer oportunities in the vast field of environmental defense, specially projects against desertification. Some projects already with funding are the permaculture courses for people form less privileged cultural and social environments, the creation of a network website and manifest of artcenters from rural places and an interneship of a social animator student.

Non-violence campaign

This campaign is directioned for the sensibilization of peace and non-violence as a active life atitude and philosophy towards education for peace.

Under the coordination of GAIA it has as partners the Mahatma Ghandi Platform Network on national level and in articulation with Abolition2000 on international level. Some of the main activities will focus on the investigation of the realations between nuclear energy for civil and military pourposes. Fight the weapons trafic and trading, showing also the realtions between some sectors of society, for instance some enterpresises, and the weapon business. Within this campaign GAIA is cooperating with For Mother Earth (FoE Belgium).

Animal Defense Campaign

The core of this campaign in 2006 will be the creation of a Platform Network formed by individuals and e organised groups with the aim of developing actions and campaigns that will work on the abolition of all the forms of suffering and exploitation of animals , in particular non-human animals, that will allow the building of socio-cultural biocêntric paradigms in oposition to the antropocentrism and speciecism that forms the moral base of the countless situations of torture and animal explotation the exist in human societies.

Ecological Debt

With this campaign we aim to divulgate the ecological debt concept in Portugal. Promote its recongnition in Portugal by the general public and at a political level. Study the historical processes of ecological debt in Portugal and folow the developmento of processes that can generate ecological debts by Portugal. Some of the main activities of this campaign will include the production of diverse informative material on the ecological debt subject, spread and promote this materials in the Portuguese Social Forum 2006 (FSP2006), develop a workshop on this subject at the FSP2006, create a workgroup and prepare the participation in the International Conference on Ecological Debt taking place in Bruxels on the 10th of December. This campaign is developed in close cooperation with Observatorio del Deute en la Globalitzation (from Barcelona).

GMOs

GAIA is lobbying against GMOs as part of the «Transgénicos Fora do Prato» portuguese anti-GMO platform, and is coordinating a week of action as part of the in which we would like to include FoE - Giant Tomato.

Other supported campaigns and projects

• GAIA suports and actively participates in the monthly critical mass in Lisbon and Porto, organizes debates and events on severall environmental and social subjects:
  • coordinates workshops on permaculture
  • organic gardening and ecobuilding
  • supports TROCAL networks (equivalent to LETS - Local Exchange Trading Systems or Schemes)
  • partcipates and produces writen opinions on public assessment
  • integrates the "Convergir" Platform for the Urban plan of Porto
  • organizes globalisation related events 

• GAIA is the leading environmental NGO involved in the preparation and participation of the Portuguese Social Forum 2006, where will develop a series of activities related to several issues like desertification, ecological debt, eco-consumption.
• GAIA organises regular fieldtrips for nature Watching (birdwatching, forest walks, geological trips, etc.)