Erasmus University must STOP its support of the Fossil Fuel economy. In pushing for this, we acknowledge that the climate crisis is NOT AN ISOLATED PROBLEM. Its roots reach much further.
This is why, aside from the demand to cut EUR’s connections to companies like Shell and its sustainability policies, we also want to address issues of other forms of exploitation. These include the precarization of academic staff, student debt, and educational inaccessibility. Learn more about these demands by clicking on the four main headlines.
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FOSSIL FUEL
PRECARITY
STUDENT DEBT
INACCESSIBILITY
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WHY THESE DEMANDS
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...........WHAT IS NEXT?
TO PUT ENOUGH PRESSURE ON THE UNIVERSITY AND DISRUPT ENOUGH TO BE HEARD AND BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY, WE NEED TO BE MANY. AS MANY AS POSSIBLE.
WE ARE AWARE THIS ACTION REQUIRES TIME AND COMMITMENT FROM EVERYONE INVOLVED, BUT WE CANNOT WAIT ANY LONGER FOR SYSTEMIC CHANGES THAT NEED TO BE ESTABLISHED NOW. WE NEED TO GET BACK OUR UNIVERSITIES, AND TO DO THAT, WE NEED TO DISRUPT THEIR CURRENT ORDER. WE NEED TO UNITE AND FIGHT.
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U_P_C_O_M_I_N_G
...E_V_E_N_T_S___
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IN-PERSON BRIEFING
Let´s get to know each other and find out more about the work in progress and the various roles we will have during the action.
14th Nov. | 19.00
13th Nov. | 2-8pm
ACTION TRAINING
Specifically recommended for those that have not gotten this training before.
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27th Nov. | 13.00
ART DAY at WORM
We invite you to join an arts day to craft protest signs and other things to use at our occupation! Please feel welcome. We hope to see you there.
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20th Nov. | 11-18pm
TRAINING + WORKSHOP
Organized together with Greenpeace at warehous, Amsterdam
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25th Nov. | 7-8.30pm
IMPORTANT INFO BRIEFING
Online: Find the link in our Whatsapp and Signal communication. Join! It is important.
As a public institution of higher education, EUR is responsible for breaking any and all ties with corporate oil. This is due, not only to the pressing dangers human-induced global warming poses to the global population, particularly the most precarious among us, but indeed accords with EUR’s own stated mission. The emphasis EUR places, in its own words, on being an engaged public university necessitates cutting ties, current and prospective, with big oil as the first and most necessary step toward having a positive “societal impact.”
To urge the university in this and other matters of direct concern, students have decided to occupy EUR as a sign of protest until demands are met.
Thinking and enacting the university we want, we will support the occupation through an educational and artistic program. Within this, there will be engaging academic talks and panels, artistic interventions and entertainment.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAMME HERE!
THE ACTION
We came in a bit before 11, sat down, and refused to leave. We made our demands clear and started our lovely program.
There were inspiring speeches from students, teachers and all kinds of concerned occupiers.
Big thanks to everybody who came to speak, protest and educate.
Zine making and mending workshops took place. We let let our rage imagination and creative minds loose. Thank you to the hosts of these workshops for helping fixing our distressed pieces of clothing and figuring out how to properly fold zines.
The coffee station was waaaay better than what the machines on campus deliver. Simply "cause this coffee was made with love and care."
The occupiers decorate the room with lovely posters and drawings that support our mission.
OOoohHh and the food!!! NO WASTE VEGAN and will forever be something we reminishe about whenever we need more cozy times. Special thanks to RATS kitchen and Sustainability Hub for nourishing our bodies.
We wanted to keep the leftovers to enjoy tomorrow but unfortunately the police did not agree with us (and threw it out on the campus grounds instead).
The university responded, to us and to the press saying that they were open for discussion. We invited them to join out our programme and have a communal discussion in the evening.
Unfortunately, around 18:00 the university suddenly decided to forcefully end our protest by surrounding the building with (riot) police. We counted at least 13 police vehicles, but there were probably more.
Many of us left the building, but some decided to stay in. Within an hou, the police removed the protestors in a dispproportionally violent manner, grabbing them by the hair and clothes, while calling them names.
While the last protestors were dragged out of the building, a potest in solidarity erupted. We chanted, drummed, clapped and made noise at the entrance of the building.
10 protestors were arrested in total, but thankfully they are all released by now.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Here you can find the articles that have covered the action. The screenshots are taken as the content of the articles might change and we want to keep an archive of the initial reactions. If you click on the names of the newspapers written in black letters, you will be directed to the article page.
Read full article
IF YOU HAVE ANY IMAGES FROM THE ACTION YOU WISH TO SHARE, PLEASE SEND THEM TO: endfossilrotterdam@proton.me
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29th Nov. | 19.00
ACTION DE-BRIEFING
PRESS RELEASE
PERSBERICHT – VOOR ONMIDDELIJKE PUBLICATIE
Rotterdam, 29 november 2022 - Op maandag 28 november hebben ongeveer 60 activisten van OccupyEUR het Sanders-gebouw van de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam bezet. De groep protesteerde tegen samenwerkingen met de fossiele industrie, de precaire situatie van onderwijspersoneel, de schuldenlast van studenten en de toegankelijkheid van de campus. De studenten zaten in de hal van het gebouw en volgden een educatief programma met verschillende lessen en workshops. De universiteit verklaarde aanvankelijk open te staan voor dialoog, maar later werd het protest met geweld uiteengeslagen door de Mobiele Eenheid. Onder de actievoerders waren studenten en werknemers van de Erasmus Universiteit, maar ook alumni en leden van andere klimaat- en maatschappelijke organisaties. OccupyEUR veroordeelt de gewelddadige reactie van de universiteit en kondigt vervolgacties aan.
De activisten zijn studenten, scholieren, medewerkers en sympathisanten verenigd onder de naam OccupyEUR. Hun eisen zijn dat de universiteit alle banden met de fossiele industrie verbreekt, een einde maakt aan de precarisering van het personeel, een einde maakt aan studieschuld en een einde maakt aan de ontoegankelijkheid van het onderwijs. Volgens de groep zijn al deze zaken het gevolg van een universiteit die als een bedrijf wordt geleid en niet om haar personeel en studenten geeft. Het programma van de bezetting bestond uit verschillende activiteiten, waaronder toespraken, teach-ins en paneldiscussies over onderwerpen als intersectionaliteit, het Antropoceen en de relatie met lichamen (van mensen van kleur). Daarnaast waren er creatieve workshops zoals zine making en mending, en werd er gratis eten uitgedeeld.
Jesse, een deelnemer aan de bezetting: "Ik ben hier omdat ik me zorgen maak over klimaatverandering en niet wil studeren aan een universiteit die hier medeplichtig aan is. De tijd dringt, maar de universiteit nodigt nog steeds bedrijven als Shell en BP uit voor hun carrièreweken. Het was een zeer vreedzame en veilige bezetting voordat de politie verscheen. We lachten, lazen en volgden workshops. We begonnen ons onveilig te voelen toen we tientallen agenten van de oproerpolitie zagen".
De actie komt in het kielzog van internationale druk vanuit studenten op universiteiten om de banden met de fossiele industrie te verbreken. Maar de Erasmus Universiteit verwelkomt Shell nog steeds van harte op carrièrebeurzen en maakt permanent reclame met hun logo in de lobby van de 'Forumroom' in het Erasmus Expo & Conference Centre. Het Erasmus Trustfonds, het enige endowmentfonds in Nederland, is ontransparant over zijn investeringen. Het sluit fossiele bedrijven niet categorisch uit van investeringen.
Charlie, woordvoerder van OccupyEUR: "Een woordvoerder van het universiteitsbestuur bevestigde onze uitnodiging om om 18:30 bij onze algemene vergadering aanwezig te zijn. Even na 18.00 uur verscheen er echter oproerpolitie. Zonder aankondiging van het bestuur begon de politie de activisten gewelddadig weg te voeren. Het bestuur noemde veiligheidsredenen voor de ingreep terwijl we onze eigen politieliaisons, eerstehulpverleners en een de-escalatieplan hadden. We zijn geschokt en bedroefd dat de universiteit ons beval te vertrekken. Vreedzame studenten, alumni en demonstranten werden met geweld verwijderd door de (oproer)politie. Maar dit zal ons niet stoppen. De klimaatcrisis escaleert en de universiteit moet onmiddellijk alle samenwerking met de fossiele industrie stopzetten. Wij vertegenwoordigen degenen die willen dat de universiteit haar verantwoordelijkheid neemt. We zullen doorgaan met onze acties."
PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION
Rotterdam, 29 November 2022 - Monday the 28th of November around 60 activists of OccupyEUR occupied the Sanders building of the Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The group protested against collaborations with the fossil industry, the precarious situation of educational staff, student debt and campus accessibility. The students sat in the hallway of the building and followed an educational program with different teachings and workshops. The university initially stated to be open for dialogue but later the protest was violently broken up by (riot) police. Among the activists were students and employees of the Erasmus University, as well as alumni and members of other climate and social organizations. OccupyEUR condemns the violent response of the university and announces follow up actions.
The activists are students, students, staff, and sympathizers united under the name OccupyEUR. Their demands are for the university to break all ties with the fossil fuel industry, end the precarization of staff, end student debt, and end the inaccessibility of education. The group believes all these issues are consequences of a university run like a business, not caring about its staff and students. The program of the occupation consisted of different activities, including speeches, teach-ins and panel discussions on topics such as intersectionality, the Anthropocene and its relation to (people of color’s) bodies. Additionally, there were creative workshops such as zine making and mending, and free food was handed out.
Jesse, a participant in the occupation: "I am here because I worry about climate change and do not want to study at a university that is complicit in this. We're running out of time, yet the university still invites companies like Shell and BP to their career weeks. It was a very peaceful and safe occupation before the police showed up. We were laughing, reading and following workshops. We started feeling unsafe when we saw dozens of riot police officers".
The action comes in the wake of international student pressure on universities to cut ties with the fossil industry. But Erasmus University still warmly welcomes Shell at career fairs and permanently advertises their logo in the lobby of the ‘Forumroom’ in the Erasmus Expo & Conference Centre. The only university endowment fund in the Netherlands, the Erasmus Trust Fund is not transparent about its investments. It does not does not categorically exclude fossil companies from investment.
Charlie, OccupyEUR spokesperson: "An executive board spokesperson confirmed our invitation to join our General Assembly at 18:30. However, moments after 18:00, riot police showed up. Without notice from the executive board, the police started taking out the activists. Despite having our own police liaisons, first aid responders, and a de-escalation plan the executive board stated security reasons for the intervention.. We are shocked and saddened that the university ordered us to leave. Peaceful students, alumni and protesters were violently removed by (riot) police. But this will not stop us. The climate crisis is escalating and the university must immediately stop all collaborations with the fossil industry. We represent those who want the university to take responsibility. We will continue with our actions.".
Nederlands
Engels
Click to see all media coverage
SOLIDARITY
EUR Academics Jess Beer, Jiksa Engelbert, Zouhair Hammana, Vatan Hüzeir, Irene Van Oorschot, Willem Schinkel and Rogier van Reekum have published an opinion piece in EM.
'The only 'impact' that the university apparently wants to work for is the impact that the plundering of the planet leaves behind.' They write.
Read full article
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Read and SIGN the petition here
Solidarity from Academic staff:
In Defense of Academic Values: Solidarity with Evicted Students at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
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Solidarity from Faculty Association of Philosophy (ERA) of Erasmus University Rotterdam
Re-direct to Instagram post
RESPONSE FROM EUR
The CvB chose violence over dialogue.
Instead of talking to us and coming to see our programme, on Monday the CvB decided to bring riot police on campus to drag us out of the building. After this act of violence, they are offering a 45 minutes time slot to talk to them. On their terms. With only 3 "representatives." With no possibility of making the conversation public.
We have clearly declined this offer.
E-mail communication:
We are publishing this because this was supposed to be a public dialogue all along.
We will remain fully transparent and expect the same from the university.
READ MORE ABOUT OUR RESPONSE TO EUR IN THIS ARTICLE (click here)
OUR ACTION CONSENSUS
WE CALL FOR THE RESIGNATION OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
Op dinsdagavond heeft er een general assembly van OccupyEUR plaatsgevonden. Er is een duidelijke consensus over de wijze waarop wij in gesprek gaan met de bestuursleden. Dit zal gebeuren op ónze voorwaarden, op een publiek toegankelijke locatie, met allen die zich verbonden voelen met de beweging. OccupyEUR staat open voor dialoog, maar niet langer voor een dialoog met dit college. Dit College van Bestuur, dat keer op keer bewijst de universiteit als een bedrijf te zien, als een verlengstuk van de fossiele en financiële industrieën. Dit College van Bestuur, dat het prima vindt haar eigen studenten in gevaar te brengen, opdat de gebouwen maar op tijd op slot kunnen. Dit College van Bestuur, dat liever de ME op haar eigen studenten afstuurt en hen laat arresteren, dan met hen in gesprek te gaan.
READ OUR FULL RESPONSE TO THE EXECUTIVE BOARD HERE (English Translation coming)
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sooo much info! Remember you can always reach out to us to know more and join in support!
Instagram: @occupyeur
E-mail: endfossilrotterdam@proton.com
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