The year 2022 was a challenge for ODG. Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, in February 2022 we found ourselves in a difficult and startling geopolitical context. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine strained international relations, pitting the USA-Europe bloc against Russia, with China in between. This led to a series of security policies (sanctions, increased public spending on weapons, the creation of new alliances), policies to mitigate the impacts of the energy crisis in Europe, and containment policies against the rising prices of basic goods such as food, gasoline or transportation. At ODG, we prepared ourselves to decipher and explain this challenging context, creating a working group to address the energy crisis.
Additionally, the year 2022 was crucial for reconnecting with Catalan movements, the climate movement, the feminist movement and our social base. We were finally able to return to in-person activities. At our events, we noticed the impact of the pandemic on our lives and how it had affected our collective capacity for mobilization. Reconnecting with colleagues and territories in the Global South has been particularly impactful and enriching. In December 2022, five members of ODG’s technical team travelled to Chile and Argentina to document the impact of Europe’s “green” transition on the territories and communities affected by resource extraction and hydrogen production. They also worked to get coordinated with the international network in Santiago de Chile in defence of public services and goods.
We have also made progress with our project to transition towards an ecofeminist entity. The two main processes we focused on in 2022 were the development of a prevention and response protocol for violence from an intersectional perspective, and the development of our theory of change. The structure of our technical team also underwent changes in 2022: we modified the role of political coordination and fundraising. Furthermore, thanks to our research efforts, we ended the year 2022 with an agreement to support our 8-person technical team with two more people in 2023.
