User Guidelines

  • The Active Citizen
  • Group Actions
  • Local Government
    • Earth Car Free day 2001 has been carefully designed from the outset to provide for a maximum number activities and involvements on 19 April in towns and cities all over the planet. After careful observation and reflection on all that has taken place until now under the CFD heading, and with full attention to the trickle-up concept as an alternative to the more familiar top down organizational approach, we set out with three co-equal target groups in mind: (1) the individual caring citizen, (2) groups of many kinds that may be ready to take an active role, and (3) responsive and inventive local government. And from the beginning we have made a real effort to see how it might be possible to make these three flows of involvement mutually reinforcing.

    With this in view, you will find here a compact listing of the tools and choices that are open to eventual participants at each of these levels.

    The Active Citizen

    Talk to a lot of people around the world in 2001 and they will tell you that democracy does not seem to be working out all that well in many places that nominally have it. Certainly if progress in terms of sustainability is any guide, there seems to be much to be desired in terms of our present arrangements. De Tocqueville warned us almost two centuries ago about the pitfalls of "administered democracy" and passive citizenry, and it seems that most of us have been too busy thinking about money, personal comfort, things and what the government ca do for us to give his warning the attention that it deserves.

    Which brings us to what Car Free Days are in fact really about. We see them as exercises, training grounds if you will, in active citizenry. Think of it as 21st century voting if you will -- with the citizen not waiting for the next set of electoral promises concerning all that will be done for them, but rather ready to forge ahead in a chosen area of community and governance and do her or his part in creating new patterns, new arrangements that are going to respond to the needs of the entire community and, in this case, of the planet.

    Here in a nutshell is how you can put these tools to work for you in your community:

    • Citizen CFD Organization
      1. First hear about ECFD & April 19th
        • Word of mouth, Mainstream media, WWW
      2. Visit & examine ECFD 2001 website contents
      3. Inform self on other CFD activities (Using ECFD Database)
        • All listed activities in own area
        • Identify all active groups in own area
        • Other citizen projects in other places
      4. Decide & organize your individual action
        • Post your plan on ECFD Database
        • Update and complete as you go
      5. Other possible CFD activities in your area
        • Consider initiating a local Petition
          • Or supporting an existing one
        • Consider association with other area projects/groups
      6. 19th April
        • Participate/Do your thing
        • Observe & reflect on results
          • Of your personal project
          • Of other CFD activities in your area
          • Accomplishments & results in other cities & places
        • Discuss with family, colleagues, neighbors, others
      7. Lessons & Decisions
        • Eventual follow-on to your personal project?
        • Other forms of participation in follow-up activities in your city
        • And what about ECFD 2002 (22 April 2002)?

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