The Young Show Us How. By Claudia Ciobanu, IPS, July 11, 2008. "A group of young people from several European countries are taking a cycling tour from Bulgaria to Turkey to show the world that traveling and a good life are possible without much energy consumption. Fifteen people -- from Bulgaria, Croatia, Bosnia, Spain, Portugal and a few other countries -- started the 2008 Ecotopia Biketour Jul. 4 in Bulgarian capital Sofia. After traveling for about 600 kilometers in Bulgaria and another 1,000 in Turkey, over more than one month, they will reach their final destination, the city of Sinop on the Black Sea coast in northern Turkey. More people are expected to join on the way. Ecotopia Biketour has been taking place yearly since 1990 on different routes around Europe. Participants are headed to the annual international youth gathering Ecotopia... The cyclists are also trying to build up a fair community amongst themselves while on the road. This translates into consensus-based decision-making on all issues and the use of a special currency, the 'eco-rate', which means that those from wealthier countries contribute more to the costs of the trip than those from poorer countries. For instance, the daily cost of a day in the Biketour is estimated at 15 eco, which equals eight euros for Westerners and only four euros for Eastern Europeans. 'We want to show that living like this, in equality, is not utopia,' [said] Ivan Gregov, one of the participants."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment