Shared Planet 2005: ''It's no suit-and-tie event.''

John Preece reports from the inspirational 2005 Shared Planet Conference.

Tony Benn Shared Planet Plenary Student union lunch

"If I meet a powerful man, I ask five questions: What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And, how can I get rid of you?"
- Tony Benn, Shared Planet 2005

Shared Planet is the annual conference of People & Planet, the UK's largest student campaigning network. But this is no suit-and-tie event awash with laptop bags, oh no. Over six hundred of the most dedicated and enthusiastic student activists from all over the country get together for a weekend like no other.

Campaigns are often fairly complicated, and it can be difficult to see the forest for the trees. Herein lies the beauty of gatherings like this one. How otherwise would you be able to meet people who've run your campaign before? Where else can you talk face-to-face with people who have experienced unfair trade rules first hand? And how often do you get the chance to explore your beliefs with people just as passionate as you?

This year's sell-out event was hosted in People & Planet's hometown of Oxford. There is something unbelievably refreshing about walking into a students' union and seeing it filled to the brim with campaign stalls and colourful hippies. It's partly this sense of camaraderie, as well as the conference content, that brings people back year on year.

Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of CIVICUS (the Worldwide Alliance for Citizen Participation) and chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (the movement behind Make Poverty History), opened the sessions with a rousing speech, and the enthusiasm never left us. How could it, when we had the ever-entertaining Tony Benn to look forward to on Sunday?

Of course, Shared Planet is much more than a succession of speakers. There are workshops, stalls and skills training going on all weekend, aimed at new and veteran campaigners alike. With sessions as diverse as setting up a co-op, eco design and non-violent direct action, not a single minute was misspent. The sheer amount of campaigning experience concentrated in one building was staggering.

Saturday night saw the now-infamous Shared Planet party - the only way to unwind after a long day of absorbing so much information. Right from the start, we were blown away by the skills of Canadian poetic beatbox CR Avery and his band The Fugitives, who managed to cram more lyrical content into one set than most artists do in a career. Of course, no People & Planet event is complete without the traditional crashpad accommodation - this time courtesy of a sports hall!

The second day passed as quickly as the first, and we were back at the train station almost before we knew it. A few days later, we were still in a kind of daze of inspiration. How is it possible to cram so much content into a single weekend? Whatever secret formula People & Planet is using, it's worked wonders and nothing's going to stop us from coming back next year.