A little late, I spent two days at the „Ban fossil ads gathering“ in Barcelona. At this conference, a wide variety of people presented and discussed their work and strategies. The different strategies and tactics got me thinking. Where is the appropriate starting point? Local? Or national?
Success through lobbying
Organizations or NGOs such as Fossievrij NL or Cittadini Sostenibili are distinguished by their local political work, which seeks to adjust the legal framework of the political system. In his presentation on Saturday, Andrea from Cittadini Sostenibili reported on his organization’s successes and the following approach: Presenting small, bite-sized legislative amendments to local politicians, making them palatable through pressure through press work and personal meetings with tailored arguments explaining why less fossil fuel advertising is good. It is precisely this local approach that creates bans on fossil fuel advertising without attracting the attention of the oil lobby. This way, successes and pressure can be built up in a gradual manner. (See here for successes: https://www.worldwithoutfossilads.org/)
Successful campaign
The Hague, for example, was the first city to ban advertising for fossil fuel products by law. Similar to tobacco advertising in Germany, this is thanks to the „Fossievrij“ campaign. They say that one of their successful concepts was working at the local level. This would have the advantage, among other things, that the large lobby groups wouldn’t become aware of it and therefore wouldn’t work against them. They also hope for a domino effect, so that other cities would follow suit and, little by little, fossil fuel advertising would be banned everywhere.
Consider the Local Level
The question that stuck in my mind: Is it better to work at the local level and not always try to change the whole world at once, since that doesn’t trigger as many large lobby groups? So, start small and ban advertising in municipalities and not even address the broader federal level? Sounds like a clever trick and not at all like our previous strategy.
Where is the House of Representatives?
But in Berlin, most people don’t even know where the Berlin House of Representatives is or what it looks like. Almost all of us, however, have seen the Paul Löbe House and the Bundestag building. And even though the Open Day was canceled this year, many of us have already been inside. In 2023, members of the VVP were even invited to a member of parliament:
https://vernetzungpartizipation.noblogs.org/post/2023/10/16/a-belarusian-perspective-on-the-action-and-bundestag-day/
Sexist advertising prohibited
After the conference, it occurred to me: Yes, there are people in Berlin who work at the local municipal level, for example, in Kreuzberg. Sexist advertising was banned there:
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/geplantes-verbot-gilt-in-friedrichshain-kreuzberg-langst-4879381.html
Furthermore, the Berlin House of Representatives is not strictly speaking a municipal level. The equivalent to the municipal level in Berlin would be the district offices.
Looking ahead to the youth exchange
I particularly enjoyed meeting people who are working on similar issues and learning about their successes. I also enjoyed meeting someone from the organization RAP (Résistance à l’Agression Publicitaire) with whom we are organizing a youth exchange in Berlin in March. They work in France and want to abolish advertising altogether. Our joint project is called: Whose streets? Our streets! Questioning Advertising and Access to Public Space And during the youth exchange, we will also visit the House of Representatives!
More info:
Our trip to Barcelona for the Fossil Ad Ban Conference:
https://vernetzungpartizipation.noblogs.org/post/2025/10/09/our-trip-to-barcelona-for-the-ban-fossil-ads-gathering/
Report on the lecture by Geraldine Deade Tanakula of Scientist Rebellion DRC:
https://vernetzungpartizipation.noblogs.org/post/2025/10/10/greenwashing-also-in-congo-a-report-on-the-lecture-by-geraldine-deade-tanakula-from-scientist-rebellion-drc/
Our youth meeting „Whose streets? Our streets?“ in March 2026:
https://vernetzungpartizipation.noblogs.org/post/2025/06/21/whose-streets-our-streets-youth-participation-project-with-visitors-from-paris/