Posts tagged ‘campaigns’
Postcard from Italy – From D’Alema to Vaffa
“Unity in Diversity” is the EU’s motto, although not of course officially. As it is true that to understand the EU we must at least occasionally look at what’s going on outside our Brussels Bubble, we thought we’d venture out into the light and commence our virtual Grand Tour of what’s going on out there in Member State land. This being the summer, as a first stop we followed the rest of Brussels and headed south to warmer climes in Italy.
Virtual Protesters for PETA
There’s more and more talk in mainstream media about Second Life (SL) and at the same time we see that many large businesses, as well as official institutions (such as the US Congress) have made efforts to ensure a SL presence. But is SL really being used in the realm of public affairs and activism?
Well, it seems it is… Once again, NGOs have been quick to embrace new ways of engaging people to take up their causes. Last night, Stella McCartney and PETA launched their anti-fur campaign (which runs until 29 July) exclusively via their Second Life island with a picnic and dance party with a “(second) live” DJ (and yes, all so-called avatars, i.e., your SL alter ego, were quite enthusiasticallly dancing with “Fur is not fair” signs – see above). (Incidentally, we didn’t find Stella).
One Seat – a breakthrough for a digital EU?
In case anyone missed it, the end of last week saw European leaders in Brussels to agree to the framework for an “amending” treaty to reform the way European institutions work. As Gideon Rachman has so equolently pointed out in the FT, the compromises on those pesky institutional issues return to the golden age of EU “obfuscation”. We have given up on seeking to get the citizen to understand the details of qualified majority voting in Council and the rotating presidency (thank god).
One issue that was not on the agenda, but clearly that citizens do understand and do not like is the seat of the European Parliament as over one million of them have signed up to an online campaign calling for the Parliament to have one seat (in Brussels). (more…)
