Over the past 15 years there have been successful campaigns against new runways and new airports in many parts of Europe. New runways have been stopped at Heathrow and Munich. New airports have been stopped at Nantes in France and at Siena and Vierbo in Italy. A new runway was built at Frankfurt but the protests were such the authorities were forced to introduce a ban on night flights for several hours each night. We describe the successful campaigns and look at the reasons why they were successful.

Heathrow

Victory Against All The Odds: how campaigners stopped the 3rd runway.
The story of how the campaign to stop a third runway at Heathrow was won.

“The victory was no fluke.  It wasn’t a question of luck.  It was the result of a clear strategy, a radical approach, daring tactics and an utter refusal by the campaigners to believe that we wouldn’t win.”

This 52-page, well-illustrated book tells the tale of how the plans for the massive expansion of Heathrow Airport, including a third runway, were stopped. The book outlines the strategy and the tactics used. It is an inspiring story. It is a very human story. But it also contains valuable lessons for campaigners wherever they live and whatever their cause.

Read the book

 

Munich

The result was a victory for the very impressive campaign which brought together climate activists, led by Young Friends of the Earth Bavaria, with local residents. Their activities ranged from a spectacular banner drop by Plane Stupid Germany (right) to moving candle-lit church services. They also commissioned work from consultants give them solid economic arguments against the need for the runway.

Read the 3 pager: The German Heathrow updated

 

Nantes

Theirs is the remarkable story of turning a small, rural campaign into one of the biggest environmental movements in Europe. Whether you or not you support their cause, the way the Nantes community built up their campaign has lessons for campaigners, whatever their issue, the world over.

Read a summary of the campaign: Nantes Victory Blog

 

Read about all the successful campaigns here: A Sea of Protest Across Europe

What were the reasons for the successes? Each campaign was different but they all contained most to the elements identified by the Heathrow campaigners.

By John Stewart

There were eight key elements which contributed to our success:

  1. We started early. Bodies like airports and international industries like aviation plan well in advance.  The Civil Service, too, can have long-term plans.  The trick of government and industry is often to let local people know of their plans at the last minute making long-term planning difficult.  But the ideal is to start early.  Plan strategically. Plan for the long-term.
  2. We rejected Nimbyism (Not in My Backyard). It would have been impossible to have made the wider economic and climate change arguments coherently, or make a case for a rail alternative if we were arguing that that expansion should take place elsewhere.  Our ability to develop these wider arguments enabled our campaign to challenge the industry more effectively and to be taken more seriously by politicians.
  3. We worked in a broad coalition. The coalition obviously increased our numbers but it also meant we were able to campaign effectively on a greater range of issues – noise, climate change, community destruction, economics, rail alternatives, and biodiversity – and using a wider range of tactics, from Parliamentary lobbying to direct action.
  4. We didn’t avoid economics. Too often campaigners avoid tackling economics because it seems too daunting or because it doesn’t interest them.  This is a mistake because the reason put forward for many of the developments they are opposing is economic.  The fact that we were able to shed real doubt on the strength of the economic argument being put forward for Heathrow expansion was a critical factor in stopping it.
  5. We set the agenda. We did not wait simply to respond to official consultations and give evidence at public inquiries.  We set the pace through creative, pro-active campaigning.  We tried to put the other side on the defensive through highlighting their flaws, publishing our own reports and co-ordinating a series of high profile events and actions.
  6. We identified our allies. We sought people and organisations which might support us.  We cultivated their support.  This way we established good working relationships with the opposition parties, and many other bodies.
  7. We didn’t waste time on our enemies. This is not to say that campaigners should never talk to those they are battling against but only talk to them if it is in your interest to do so.  Those in authority often love to consult and talk to us in order to bog us down in details and waste out time.   Don’t fall for it!  Sometimes, though, in a broad coalition, it can be useful for some members of it – like elected representatives for example – to talk to the other side while the rest of the coalition gets on with the pro-active campaigning.
  8. We spent many hours on the campaign. Not everybody is in the position to campaign full-time but, without a huge number of hours put in by many people, this campaign could not have been effective.  Campaigning is disruptive of daily life.  But it is a necessary part of any successful campaign.  At its peak some of us were working over 100 hours a week.

If there is one thing I’m asked about more than any other is the direct action.

  • It’s illegal – and that worries people.
  • It’s eye-catching – and that can lead to the perception that direct action is all a campaign is about.
  • It wasn’t direct action alone that won this campaign.

The mustering of solid arguments, the persistence of local communities, the diligence of local authority officers, the intelligent use of the political process all played critical roles.  But it would have been a very different campaign without the direct action.  The direct action campaigners dramatised the campaign.  They also provided much of the energy and creativity behind many of the campaign’s other activities, such as the Flash Mobs, and their presence made very real the threat of civil disobedience if the expansion plans were not dropped.  I’m not at all certain we would have been drinking champagne if the direct action activists had been missing from the campaign.