As the new coordinator for the project to make Boulder a “Fair Trade Town”, I want to start the new blog with a post that maps out the future path for the campaign.
Project Phases
I see the project in three phases:
- Short Term – Gaining the FTT Designation – Boulder already has some requirements (see below) fulfilled, so we just need to pull it all together and submit the application
- Medium Term – Community Building – we should broaden and diversify the community and make the project more visible to Boulder and beyond.
- Long Term – Being a Fair Trade Town – further into the future Boulder can consider what kind of FTT it wants to be. This is certainly an ongoing project – more of a journey than a destination.
Coordinator & Champions
Our plan is to have a central coordinator (me) and several area-specific coordinators or ‘champions’. For example, Marissa, the Faith Organization Champion, will invite churches, synagogues, mosques and other faith organizations to participate in the campaign. She will help organize faith-based events and encourage the faith organizations to engage with the project. My role as the coordinator is to initiate this process, guide the overall activities and support Marissa along the way.
Events
Our activities will be focused on organizing events. Events will raise awareness of Fair Trade and the Fair Trade Town campaign in Boulder. They will be hosted at public events (perhaps the Farmers’ Market or BIBA fairs) and also at individual organizations (such as churches or universities). They will likely include
- Guest speakers – perhaps farmers visiting Boulder or live video-conferencing via Skype
- Local retailers – presenting their products and sharing their experiences
- Supporting information – videos, posters, brochures
Fair Trade has its own dedicated events, such as World Fair Trade Day (May 14, 2011) and Fair Trade Month (October 2011), so we will hold special events to celebrate these occasions.
North-South Linkages
Fair Trade has a more open supply chain than usual trading relationships, because information about the producers often accompanies the products to allow the consumers to know more about what they are buying and what the impacts of their buying habits are. As a Fair Trade Town, Boulder has an opportunity to support this and foster greater connection between our local consumers and the geographically distant producers.
Engagement through Information
I hope that by blogging about how the campaign is progressing, we will inform and engage the whole city. The meetings’ minutes will be posted here on this blog and so will the plans, events and activities. Twitter and Facebook will help this become a more inclusive and multidirectional flow of information, so please do help make this happen by connecting with us online as well as in person at events. You can stay up to date online via…
And you can reach me by email (boulderfairtrade [at] gmail.com).
Howard Vickers
Fair Trade Town Boulder Coordinator
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