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Self-Understanding

Self-Understanding (Vienna)

1. We, as Erde Brennt Wien (Earth is Burning Vienna), are a student-led movement. We are determined to no longer just watch existences and livelihoods being destroyed. We are part of the worldwide movement EndFossil. 

2. The prevailing systems are producing intertwined crises. More concretely, we take the following three as the basis of our protest:

  •  Social crises, including inflation, precarious employment, discrimination, wealth concentration.
  • Climate crisis, including exploitation of the environment, waste of resources, fossil dependency, extinction of species.
  • Education crisis, including discrimination and power structures in the education system, underfunding, pressure to perform, teaching that ignores crises and is geared towards the economy.

3. Our goal is radical system change. We want to help overcome the multiple crises and their structural causes in a democratic, socially just and sustainable way. To do this, we must also change university structures. We want to have a say and create spaces that contribute to rethinking our society.

4. We use different means of protest to make grievances of our society visible and to create spaces for visions of the future. 

5. All sectors of society must be part of a deep, radical transformation that puts people and the environment at the center. The university forms and maintains power structures and thereby prevents social change. 
As a student movement, we see the university as our place of protest to demand change and actively partake in shaping it. In doing so, we explicitly invite people outside the university to occupy space together. 

6. We see ourselves as self-organized, non-partisan, and in solidarity with all those working for a social and climate-just world. 

7. We work in democratic, transparent and open structures. 

8. We oppose all forms of exploitation and oppression and actively work to dismantle hierarchical and discriminatory structures and create an inclusive, participatory environment. 

9. We are a non-violent movement and adhere to the action consensus during our actions. 

10. We put community at the core, act in solidarity and are there for each other