The 2009 Animal Rights Conference is for campaigners, activists, volunteers and members of animal advocacy groups or simply individuals with an interest in animal rights issues. It will provide a relaxed, friendly environment to share ideas, strategies and successes with those that advocate for animal rights throughout New Zealand.

The conference is a unique opportunity to hear and meet key animal rights campaigners, law reformers and animal law professionals from around Australasia. It will provide an invaluable forum for discussion and networking with other animal advocates and members from New Zealand's leading animal rights organisations.

The conference is two days consisting of a series of practical workshops and presentations presented by key people within the movement. Vegan lunch and refreshments provided. The two days will include forums, panel discussions, workshops, films, stalls, merchandise and the chance to network with like-minded people.

SCHEDULE

Saturday 28th March

9am Welcome & housekeeping

9.30am FORUM: The State of the Movement
Speakers Hans Kriek, Mark Eden, and Yolanda Soryl with facilitator Darcy Peacock.

11am Morning break

11.30am Options

Theatre Sustainable activism
Studio 3 Introduction to animal rights


12.30pm Lunch break

1.30pm Options

Theatre New Zealand Open Rescue Workshop
Studio 3 Fur and Fois Gras Campaigns
Studio 4 Education workshop

2.45pm Options

Theatre Campaign Strategy
Studio 3 Short film selection
Studio 4 Education workshop
Outdoors Direct action workshop

4pm Options

Theatre Anti Vivisection campaigning
Studio 3 Practical media training workshop

Studio 4 Rolling Petitions - 'a five year plan starting this year'

5pm End of day one

Saturday Night Event 7pm

Public Event featuring Dr Martin Balluch President, Verein Gegen Tierfabriken (Association Against Animal Factories), Austria, plus New Zealand speakers.

Dr Balluch will be speaking about the successful Austrian campaign to ban battery cages and his perspective on the way forward for successful animal advocacy campaigns.

$10 Public.

Sunday 29th March

SESSIONS

FORUM: The State of the Movement

The State of the Movement in 2009: Hear reports from local animal rights groups around the country and hear perspectives from different campaigners on the State of the Animal Rights movement in NZ and what challenges we face in the future.
Speakers Hans Kriek, Mark Eden, and Yolanda Soryl with facilitator Darcy Peacock.

Sustainable activism

‘How to stay long term in the animal rights movement, avoid burn out and still have a life’.
A presentation by Yolanda Soryl. In her 25 years of involvement in animal rights, Yolanda has seen many people come and go and has questioned why some people in the animal rights movement stayed active and some burn out or disappear. Her presentation ‘Sustainable Activism’ looks at this question, drawing on both research and her own personal experience.

Introduction to animal rights

Marianne MacDonald will guide us through the concepts underpinning our attitudes and actions towards the animals we love being used as variously as pets, food, clothing, entertainment and sport.

Education workshops

"Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar." -- Bradley Miller
This is your chance to learn how to be an effective animal advocate. There will be four sessions. The first two will cover the more practical aspects of public speaking and how to plan your presentation. The third session will focus on how to work with schools and the importance of understanding the curriculum. The final session will introduce SAFE's education programme Animals & Us with examples on how animal advocates can take part in the programme.
Those serious about advocating for animals are encouraged to come to all four sessions.

Direct action workshop

An interactive workshop led by AARC aimed at familiarising participants with public direct action situations animal rights activists often find ourselves in. Participants will be given a scenario and roles will be given out, a short discussion will follow after the role play to discuss issues relating to public direct actions. (20 people max)

New Zealand Open Rescue Workshop

Learn about NZ Open Rescue Collective's approach to media, campaign strategy and tactics. How their message is conveyed to the media and the public and why this approach is taken.

Foie gras and fur campaigns

Over the years, various animal rights groups in Auckland have been campaigning hard around issues such as fur. AARC has developed their own tactics around organising and pressuring business to make compassionate choices regarding animal rights. Two members of the group will present past and current strategies around reaching our aims in the two campaigns "fur free Auckland" and the "anti foie-gras" campaign.

Campaign Strategy

Dr Martin Balluch talks about how to run an effective campaign to achieve real political change for the lives of animals. Effective strategy as used in Austria include a range of tactics such as the lobbying of politicians, direct action and public awareness raising.

Short film selection

A selection of short films produced by NZ animal rights campaigners.

Anti Vivisection Campaigning

Mark Eden and Deidre Bourke present an overview of animal research in New Zealand. They will discuss how the law operates, what the weak points in the industry are and how an effective movement against vivisection can be built.

Rolling Petitions - ''a five year plan starting this year'

Mark Beavan presents a session on “a long term strategy of rolling petitions to government using both information stalls and the internet to gather names, with website access to see progress and make feedback available. The first campaign is to ‘Petition to Ban Factory Farming’ by removing clauses 4, 5 and 6 from Schedule 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 1999".

Practical media training workshop

How do you get people to hear what you have to say and respond positively? Hans Kriek leads this session which will discuss the importance of the media to the movement and how to get your message across in a manner accessible to the public.

Saturday Night Event

7pm $10 Public.

Public Event featuring Dr Martin Balluch President of Association Against Animal Factories, Austria, plus New Zealand speakers.

Dr Balluch will be speaking about the successful Austrian campaign to ban battery cages and also state repression of animal protection groups in Austria.

FORUM: Networking within the NZ animal advocacy movement

There is passion and many independent campaigns within the NZ animal advocacy movement but what is our common purpose? This session is devoted to structured networking between individuals and groups to see what the potential is to work together more.

State interference with animal rights campaigns

Internationally the animal rights movement is facing enormous repression with activists in the US and UK being jailed for running websites and campaigning against vivisection. In Austria legal campaign work is being criminalised and here in New Zealand, we have had private investigators and "anti-terrorist" police informants infiltrating and disrupting our groups. Is this inevitable? What can we do about it? With Dr Martin Balluch, Nicky Hager and Deidre Bourke.

Animals and the Law

Peter Sankoff is the co-editor of the just-released Animal Law in Australasia, the first scholarly examination of the legal relationship between humans and animals in Australia and New Zealand. Do existing laws really protect animals, and, where the law does come up short, how could it be improved? The questions raised go beyond animal welfare and are a challenge to think about the nature of legal interests, and practical and ethical contexts for a range of laws.

Vegetarian and Vegan Communities

How do we support people to go and stay vegetarian and vegan when we live in a world that is so strongly non vegetarian? This presentation looks at why developing vegetarian community must be an integral part of all of our work in the animal rights movement, how this is currently being done in New Zealand and how you can help develop your own local veggie community.