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Welcome !

Here is some information on the ZAD of the Carnet. ZAD is a french neologism for Zone à Defendre which means Zone to Defend.

The ZAD is a place of resistance against the ruining of a 110ha natural area under concrete in order to create an industrial activity area carried by the Nantes and Saint-Nazaire ports. The occupants rise up against this project and more generally against capitalism and everything it implies. Least but not last the ZAD is also a place for experimenting collective self-management.

Feel free to live there as much as any of us.

Self-management means that we are individually and collectively responsible for what happens here. The values we defend are resolutely anti-capitalist, anti-sexist and anti-racist.

Defending the area means :

• Getting informed about the ins and outs of the project. You will find brochures and information meetings are organised on a regular basis.
• Preparing for eviction. Find out about legal issues (find out more on the Legal Team). If you have any questions, there is a duty office every week (scroll down this page for hours). Discuss with your friends about defence strategies in the event of an eviction. In this struggle, all good will is useful in and around the area, whether it is about defending barricades, passively resisting or managing media, logistics or food.
• Keeping watch at night (Guitoune, Saule – from midnight to 9am, in 3-hour shifts in pairs)
• don’t hesitate to go for a walk to learn more about the specificities of the island (there is a self-managed orienteering race, with 24 beacons to find, that you can start whenever you want; find out more in the Vortex kitchen…).

Important information to remember and disseminate: if the Nantes and Saint-Nazaire ports regain possession of the island, a reoccupation demonstration is planned on the 3rd Sunday following the eviction.

Your identity

Why choose a pseudonym ?

To hide one’s identity, because some of us are not to be recognised and the fact that everyone uses a pseudonym protects those people (and eventually yourself too). For more information on the importance of anonymity, read this article.

Because from one action to another, it is interesting to be able to change your identity.

Because making the identification of people more complex avoids the risks of denunciation. It is an individual and collective safety feature.

More generally, the ZAD is a place with many militant codes that can be complicated to apprehend when one disembarks. Don’t hesitate to report that you are new or new to this environment and people will be understanding and help you integrate.

Life in the ZAD

Self-management

If you think something should be done: do it on your own or find friends to assist you.

Let’s try to keep our living spaces as clean and tidy as possible, it’s nicer for everyone. This includes for example, self-dishwashing, but also regular cleaning and tidying sessions.

Water and food

There is no running water, we fetch water every day. We are supplied by local support, but also by the recuperation of food waste (need of vehicles and arms). Just ask around.

Showers, laundry, electricity, clothes…

Some local supporters leave a place to live on a fields 3km away, where there is electricity. You can go there on foot, by bike or by car (round trips are made regularly). You will also find a collective caravan to work on a PC and a place to sleep if you wish. Other local supporters have come forward so that you can take showers, do your laundry or sleep in a warm place. Ask around.

There is also a free store to pick up clothes.

Workcamps

There are building sites permanently in the living areas for the improvement of the existing.

There are plans of recovery for the construction material, we always need vehicles to go and get them.

Do we need more material? Don’t hesitate to go and get some.

Selectively-mixed place

On site, you will find a selectively-mixed hut, i.e. without cisgender men. Meetings take place there regularly.

A cisgender man is a person who is considered a man from birth and who does not question the fact of feeling like a man.

Oppressions

Here, we try to pay attention to what we call systemic oppressions (classism, ageism, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc.). For example, we try to avoid jokes or comments that may offend groups of people. If you’ve never heard of this, ask someone around.

Money

Money is a tool, but you don’t need it to live here if you don’t have it.

There are collective funds separately managed in each place of living. Participate if you want, if you can.

A fundraising campaign is open on the internet. A part is dedicated to anti-repression (to pay lawyers’ and court fees), the rest is used to reimburse the expenses made for the ZAD. If you need to be reimbursed (gasoline, specific purchases of objects or equipment that could not be found without money), a weekly meeting is held (in which you are welcome to participate).

Automedia

Do you want to write texts, take pictures, make radio? Automedia sessions take place every week to reread and validate the publications together, to reflect on the texts, actions in progress, how to welcome journalists, etc. See at the bottom of the page for the schedule of the permanence. A group has been created around the ZAD radio. You can also help to manage emails, the website or social networks. If you’re interested, please come to the automedia permanence.

Sensitive information and cell phones

Some information should not be shared with the outside world and should not be communicated. Certain places of living for example. If you are in doubt about what information should not be shared, ask people around.

We don’t take pictures of anybody, we don’t record sounds without consent. We don’t publish photos of the ZAD or places we live in on the internet if we are not 100% sure that it is safe (faces, sensitive information). Not sure? Ask the automedia permanence. It is about the safety of all of us.

Phones are bugs, they permanently inform your mobile operator (and probably the police) of who is present in the area. The intelligence services have tools to use the phones as they see fit. Pay attention to what you say on the phone and what is said around you when phones are nearby. Limit its use, don’t carry it with you all the time. Some occupants know how to make it more complex to get information over the phone. Knowledge sharing sessions can be organised, ask around.

Information between us / with the outside world

Trix is a ZAD newsgroup on Signal, an encrypted messaging system on the phone that is equivalent to Whatsapp. To join the group, ask someone on the ZAD who is a member to be added to the group.

This group is open, we don’t talk about sensitive subjects and we avoid giving personal information (first names in particular)!

Facebook page of the ZAD du Carnet
ZAD du Carnet Twitter account
Zad du Carnet Mastodon account

There is also an Instagram account, but it is updated less regularly. If you would like to help us maintain and update these accounts on a regular basis, please let us know!

Want to share the fundraiser campaign: https://www.cotizup.com/zadducarnet

Regular meetings, meetings and workshops

(except changes, see the program of the week at the Vortex or in the living areas)

• Tuesday 2pm: General Assembly (AG)
• Wednesday 15h-17h: Legal Permanence
• Wednesday 17-18h: Treasury Permanence
• Wednesday 6pm: Choir
• Thursday 15h-17h : Automedia Permanence
• Friday 6pm: Choir
• Sunday 2pm: Radio workshop

If you want to improve this text or change things, let us know on Trix, send us an email or tell the automedia office!