We are a group of artists and activists that use craftivism to envolve especially “non activists”, into the climate movement. We create groups and teach people how to knit. We make it fun to discuss serious issues such as global warming or climate changes. t’s a cross-culture/economic/age/gender action, and we especially reaffirm and empower neglected communities, like the elderly, to be more active from the citizenship point of view. We have four specific objectives for the next years.

Lisbon, Aveiro, Caldas da Rainha, Porto, Coimbra, Faro, Bajouca and other cities and villages

People's lack of access, interest and motivation to know about the climate crisis is a huge obstacle. One of the goals we have is to increase rail throughout the country and the locations where we will be doing events, will be locations with less access to rail. Rail access is not only a climate and transportation problem, it's also a democratic and social problem, because localities without public transportation are usually forgotten and sparsely populated. With our events we will listen to the local populations and understand what their limitations are for not having access to public transportation, specifically trains.

We will talk specifically to the younger and the older people. Through our partners we will have that facility and we will be able to hear two perspectives that can be very complementary and useful in solving the problems and challenges that we face. With the knowledge and experience of the older populations and with the creativity, strength, and energy of the younger generations we will be able to have concrete proposals for local and national governments. We will be able to identify other problems, innovative solutions, and we will be able to create campaigns that are more focused on what local people want. We will nurture the spirit of democracy and sharing.

Until the end of 2021 we will collect information about the railroad in Portugal (problems, solutions, good practices, innovations, etc) and we will compile the more relevant information in a form, so that we can receive answers from local populations. Throughout 2022 we will go to several villages and cities, with our partners, to listen to the local populations about what are the solutions and the main problems of the railroad, thus building in a participative way (through citizens' assemblies) concrete proposals for this sector, which will be taken at the end of the year to all municipal councils and the central government. We will create local chapters, together with our partner "Student Climate Strike", where anyone, young or not so young can participate. These chapters will serve to guarantee that the proposals that we will produce with the people, have the proper follow-up and that they will not be forgotten. The collection of opinions will be done through our face-to-face events where we will continue to knit our Red Lines but also online, at a national level. This way we can get answers according to the geographic location of the person and it will be easier to adapt the proposals to the region in question.

By the end of 2022 we will achieve several results: We will increase the number of people who are aware of the urgency of the climate crisis ; We will create and propagate participatory decision-making processes, such as assemblies, but we will also listen to the people about the problems and solutions that affect them directly ; We will bring people together in assemblies and chapters, who otherwise would not come together, thanks to our knitting and students partners. With this we will create spaces for citizenship and foster understanding ; We will have concrete proposals, built by the people for the railroad sector, which is part of one of the most polluting sectors in Portugal (the transport sector) ; People will feel part of the solution

First by filling out the forms about the railroad and later through the citizens' assemblies we will listen to the people and then we will amplify their voices. We will create spaces for people to prepare themselves so that they can intervene with the local authorities and actively participate in municipal assemblies with concrete proposals for improving the railroad and public transportation in their area and thus influence their surroundings. We will create spaces where people know how to listen to others and know how to respect their time and possible speaking privileges. The assemblies will also serve to allow people to learn about and determine the best tools to influence decisions about public transportation.

Our campaign was created in 2016 by the non-profit organization Academia Cidadã and Climáximo (grasroots collective) and during the last 4 years we assured that no fossil fuel were extracted in Portugal. In 5 years, fifteen contracts for oil and gas drilling were cancelled. During this period we managed to: knit 1.215 meters of red line during our 116 actions and events in more than 60 villages and cities; we have reached 40.000 people and 2.000 people knitted. Our local partners will help us with the local specificities and will strengthen our connection with the citizens. Our campaign has a history of mobilizing and creating spaces for dialogue and understanding among the population, and our greatest motivation is to continue to provide these spaces for understanding and social change.

18.000€ - Project coordinator
5.000€ - Travel and accommodation
3.500€ - Public relations
3.500€ - Design and communication
3.500€ - Logistics for the events
1.500€ - Accountant

It would be great to understand how we can internationalize our campaign. We are already very active and aware of the climate justice movement at the European level, but we want to have more contacts at the civil society level that are not so directly linked to the climate justice cause. We really w