01/25/2023 09:59 (act. 01/25/2023 11:45)
Newcomers to the “last generation” must first pass a training seminar. ©APA/FLORIAN WIESER
To be able to participate in sticky campaigns, state-of-the-art climate activists must complete a training seminar. Only after that you can put yourself like a “bee” on the streets.
From February 13, “last generation” activists in Vienna want to stop morning traffic as widely as possible with a “wave” for the second time. In the meantime, other people also came forward wanting to participate in the protest. But before they can go out on the street under the name “Bee”, they have to attend a training seminar. The most important point here: non-violence. “If we start violence, we lose,” said David Sonnenbaum of the APA.
Training as a climate activist in an intensive seminar
The path from sympathizer to activist usually goes through a contact form on the home page of “Última Geração”. Once completed, individuals will be contacted by the organization and invited to collaborate. After the last week of action in January, the “last generation” received around 300 matching queries. 60 to 70 of them also expressed interest in participating in the controversial sticky campaigns. “But before that, everyone must complete the seminar,” said spokesman Sonnenbaum.
Training the weather glue
In the seminars, activists are informed in small groups not only about the legal framework and possible consequences of their participation, but also about how to deal with eventual aggressive drivers, self-protection in case of aggression or correct behavior when in contact with the police – until then, whether you assume the “package position” that is more comfortable for both of you when you are taken away by the cops or let yourself be carried off the road “like a bag”. “But we always behave defensively,” stressed Sonnenbaum.
Participants are assigned to groups like “bees”.
The participants’ motivation is often anger, but also despair, because for them political and business actors are still doing very little to combat the climate crisis and not even the “minimum requirement” of 100 km/h on highways is being met. . This is all the more mind-boggling because, according to Sonnenbaum, the activists’ demands are now also a scientific consensus. “It’s simply about our survival,” said Sonnenbaum.
After activists complete their intensive training, they are given the “Bee” designation and assigned to a group, usually 10-15 people, with one activist serving as the “Queen Bee”. To prevent their plans from being revealed, only the “queen bees” are informed of the exact time and place on action days. The “bees” are only informed of the meeting point, usually a subway station.
This is how climate activists sticky campaigns work
The actions usually happen like this: the activists enter the road as soon as the pedestrian light turns “green”. Then they line up across the road and don orange safety vests. Once the atmosphere warms up, they sit down on the road as a sign of de-escalation. The patch is only used when the police intervene to prolong the operation as much as possible. “We always make sure to keep the emergency lane clear to allow for any emergencies to occur,” emphasized Sonnenbaum.
Climate activists are aware of the rage and anger
Activists are aware that their protest will lead to rejection. After all, the actions are not specifically targeted at “climate-hostile” actors, but are taken directly to wider civil society. “We are also sorry that it has come to this point, but we have no other choice,” Sonnenbaum said. In the meantime, however, “the movement has also entered the discourse, we are getting a lot of encouragement.”
Second wave of stickers in Vienna expected to last for weeks
For Vienna, the “Last Generation” announced the next big wave from February 13th. This time, the situation could be even more tense than with the most recent “wave”, as the protest is expected to last “two to three weeks”, as Sonnenbaum put it. In the meantime, however, a bit of routine has returned when they encounter the police: the activists are now gently removed from the street with cooking oil and a wooden spatula. In the beginning, only solvent-free metal spatulas were used: “That hurt a lot,” recalls Sonnenbaum.