Why are we doing this

Climate change presents us with one of the biggest global disasters in history. Our ecosystem is threatened by collapse, which will not only lead to mass extinction of countless species, the loss of soil fertility and more extreme weather but will also bring with it the social crises of famine, war and migration.

The small efforts we are doing each and every day (e.g. using less packaging, buying organic food and clothes, stopping drinking with plastic straws) are clearly not enough. We need our governments to take their responsibilities seriously in order to ensure a future worth living to the inhabitants of our world. Therefore, we decided to enter into rebellion, to reclaim what is due: impactful action and transparency from the government on the global climate and biodiversity crisis!

Since last autumn, groups all over the world have been organising non-violent rebellion acts to draw attention to the climate collapse and to address political inaction .

Action

On the 16th of May XR Bern will hold their first Die-In in various places around Bern. The die-in is a form of non-violent resistance. In doing so, demonstrators lay on the ground in public ‘as if dead’, in order to demonstrate that our current situation and lifestyle is life-threatening. Afterwards we rise up together and celebrate life… and the rebellion!

  • Meeting-point: contact XR Bern for more information
  • Message: look the reality in the face and accept that we are heading for extinction
  • Scenario: we walk down the street looking like normal people doing their Thursday evening late night shopping or idling along. At a signal, we all drop to the ground scattering signs and flyers around us.
  • Roles: Some of us will remain standing to make sure everything goes well, and answer potential questions from people. Some of us will make pictures and videos to document the action.

Bring:

  • clothes you’re happy to die in (however you want to interpret that - just remember we need to blend in the crowd for maximum surprise!)
  • your ID (no legal risk for that action whatsoever, but since cops can check your identity at any time and not having ID can lead to problems - simply take it along)
  • signs, drawings etc that you can easily conceal inside your clothes, to reveal as you drop to the ground. Focus on messages related to extinction, greed, consumer society.

To ensure impact & safety, we’ll proceed with the action only if we are more than 10 people involved. It should not be a problem to reach that number, but please drop a line if you’re planning to join so we have an early estimate of what crowd to expect!

If you are interested to join please contact XR Bern via their Facebook webpage.