|
 ECOCLUB®
is an international network promoting social & ecological
change through and within Tourism.
Influenced
& inspired
by
Epicureanism, Direct
Democracy,
Social Ecology,
Ecosocialism,
Mutualism
& as well as
Vegetarianism the founders of ECOCLUB are
trying to introduce & adapt elements from those theories into Tourism
practice and gradually develop a coherent Ecosocial Tourism Philosophy.
We look forward to a gradual & voluntary passage, including through
Tourism, to a free, stateless & classless world, a world without
borders, divisions and violence of all types, where the mutual interest
of the many takes precedence over the private profit of the few.
Elements & isolated pockets of this better world already exist around the globe and we aim to propagate,
link, support and promote them.
We
therefore advocate for the philosophy and practice of an "Ecosocial Tourism / Social
Ecotourism",
a Tourism that meets the following 5 key criteria (The ECOCLUB Criteria):
|
We are advocating for a Tourism that:
1. is community or family-owned and
small-scale
(OWNERSHIP Criterion)
2. minimises
its own environmental impact
(ENVIRONMENTAL Criterion)
3. meets the real needs of
the community and supports local social & environmental projects chosen by
the community in a direct democratic manner
(ECONOMIC
Criterion)
4. eliminates poverty & inequality, avoids injustice & exploitation of
all types and respects individual & collective human rights & tourism worker rights
(SOCIAL
Criterion)
5. promotes knowledge, freedom of expression, collective
direct-democratic decision-making, international & intercultural understanding
(CULTURAL Criterion) |
With
the help of our Members and friends, and in the context of the broad
world social movement for another world, we are trying to form an alternative
to the current conservative status quo in world tourism & funding
bodies, to the docile & pro-corporate tourism media, and to those paying
lip-service to the need for change, the "green-washers", the "carbon-offsetters",
those interpreting Ecotourism along the lines of satisfying special
interests and 'stakeholders' (one dollar one vote) rather than citizens
(one person one vote) and the real needs of the whole community.
Our Logo: The
colour (teal) is half way between green and blue, key colours of the
earth.
The smiling sun symbolizes
our optimistic & philosophical attitude to life, the will to rise
every day, solar power - renewable energy in literal and
figurative terms and light - the light of science, enlightenment.
ECOCLUB is
coordinated by a small team based in Athens, the birthplace of direct democracy
(which is the opposite of both autocracy and representative democracy).
ECOCLUB is modelled after the
Garden of Epicurus
and everyone is welcome as long as they respect our philosophy and
conduct themselves in a friendly manner. Members are
asked to share the cost of the 'garden's' upkeep in the form of a modest
monetary contribution or, so as not
to exclude those with limited means, to support us with a non-monetary
intellectual contribution, by writing an article.
 Join
us today!
Background
Reading:
| ECOCLUB |
Other (in chronological
order) |
About
ECOCLUB
Ecotourism
Guidelines for Travellers
ECOCLUB,
International Ecotourism Magazine
ECOCLUB.com
Ecotourism Awards
ECOCLUB
Ecotourism Rating System
ECOCLUB
Interviews
ECOCLUB
Member Directory |
Principal
Doctrines, Epicurus
Mutual
Aid: A Factor of Evolution, Peter Kropotkin
Ithaca, C.P. Cavafy
The
Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, UN
Why
Socialism? Albert Einstein
The
Motorcycle Diaries, Ernesto Che Guevara
Imagine, John Lennon
What
is Social Ecology? Murray Bookchin
An
Ecosocialist Manifesto, Joel Kovel & Michael Lowy, 2001
Global
Greens Charter, 2001
The
Belem Ecosocialist Declaration, 2007 |
| |
|
 |
|
