Today I spent nearly the entire day at the Cancun Messe - the COP16 space where only those officially registered are allowed to enter, and where national government delegations, multinational institutions, and registered NGOs have spaces or exhibit 'boxes'. This is where much of the networking takes place, and also where numerous presentations and panels run throughout the day parallel to the official negotiations, which are taking place at Moon Palace, just down the road from the Messe.

It was an energetic day, as I walked from one booth to another, stopping to chat with representatives of all those organisations that seemed they might be even remotely of interest to GEN / GEN-Europe (or vice versa). And there were many!

The photos I have just sent are some of the highlights - either of people, material or organisations - that I think may well be worth following up with (and are also likely to contact myself or Kosha, thanks to interest raised in our conversations, as well as in the pamphlet).

Some worth mentioning here are:

- World Future Council - who have a head office in Hamburg, and who have just published "Regenerative Cities", a radical approach to greening cities using design systems very much in line with permaculture and ecovillage design and concepts (which they themselves very much support)

- GENDERCC - Women for Climate Justice - www.gendercc.net - working all over the world, but largely in Africa, and very interested both in GEN Africa as well as in the EDE training. (They gave me a USB full of information on their work, which I will hand over to Kosha)

- Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education - TEBTEBBA - An International Advisory Council (with special consultative statues with United Nations ECOSOC) composed of noted leaders of indigenous peoples and advocates, and working all round the world. Their Publications and Communications Officer, Raymond de Chavez, was thrilled to hear about GEN, and very keen to stay in touch. (I got some of their material too, including several DVDs on how climate change is impacting indigenous peoples all over the world).

- Indigenous Peoples' Global Network on Climate Change and Sustainable Development (IPCCSD) - Global Technical Secretariat with TEBTEBBA

- International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), head office in Bonn, Germany. Their representative, Patricia Flores, was very positive about prospects of collaborating with GEN

- Mediators Beyond Borders (www.mediatorsbeyondborders.org) - contact person Alan E. Gross, UNFCC Observer Project. I think their may be some potential for collaboration here, especially in areas where GEN is doing peace-buildilng!

- African Development Bank/ African Development Fund  - they fund community development projects all over Africa, and had a very positive reaction to what I had to say about GEN Africa. Good to put on our list of possible funding agencies! Contact person is Balgis Osman Elasha (Technical Adviser/ Adaptation Expert)

I handed out many copies of the pamphlet, and in some cases my own contact details, including to national country delegations, and in all cases the response was very positive.

I also went to some of the presentations/ panel discussions, but many of these were rather technical and long and I felt my time was better used networking and connecting with people.

In the evening I visited the Climate Change Village, one of the side events organised by the Mexican government, located in a large space open to the public, where mostly national and international companies can exhibit what they are doing 'for the climate'. As you will see from a few of my photos, most of this was, in my opinion, blatant 'green-washing'.  Nothing much of interest there, and I think the prospects for GEN presence are much higher in Klimaforum, where I will venture to tomorrow!

Again, I have managed to work till past midnight, and we have an early start tomorrow, so best that I sign off here.
Till tomorrow!

Aili