On Thursday, December 09, 2021, members and supporters of the People’s Plan for Glasgow gathered online, as well as in person at Govan Free State, to hear about, and discuss, our proposal for a people’s assembly on Reclaiming Glasgow’s Economy.
After a few technical hiccups, our session kicked off with an introduction to the event and a check-in. We moved on to hearing the story of the People’s Plan so far, and the other strands of work that will be complementing this process, such as our initial ideas for an electoral strategy, as well as practical activities such as the Make Your Mark tapestry project, which aims to draw attention to the People’s Plan through craftivism.
We then moved on to thinking about the particular economic context for doing a project like this in Glasgow. We heard a presentation from Ben Wray, author of three reports investigating aspects of the city’s finances, commissioned by SANE this year. You can watch a longer version of his presentation here, or on our videos page!
After a quick break, we moved on to exploring the power that peoples assemblies have had in different contexts, including Jackson and Barcelona En Comu. We heard about the different shapes and frameworks that different kinds of assemblies can take, and what they can achieve.
Attendees were invited to think about their own capacity for getting involved, whether as part of the organising group, as a supporter throughout the process, or as a participant in the assembly. These are all important roles that we need to fill and we’re still looking for people to take each of them on!
We finished by setting out a timeline for the next stages of this project, beginning with our first planning meeting for the assembly on January 13 at 6pm (details on location to follow, dependent on our capacity for Covid safety at the time) – there’s still time to get in touch if you’re interested in joining us there!
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