The Constitution of the Russian Federation states:

1st Department, Chapter 1, 'The Basis of the Constitution System', Article 3:

Point 1: 'The multinational people is the sovereign owner and the only source of power in the Russian Federation'

Point 3: 'Referendum and free elections are the highest and the most direct expression of peoples power'.

In Kostroma it is the Regional Law 'About Referenda On The Territory of Kostroma Region' which regulates the referendum protocol and the basis on which a referendum will happen. Once the outcome of a referendum is adopted as a law, it is of course legally binding and can only be changed by a further referendum.

There are also Regional Laws about referenda in different regions in the Russian Federation, e.g. Murmansk, Krasnoyarsk, and during 1998-99 it is expected that similar laws will be adopted in most Regions in Russia. This democratic method provided by the Constitution can be used to cover such vital issues as the construction of environmentally dangerous enterprises, including nuclear power plants and as such provide a powerful tool for the protection of the environment. Also, if a referendum goes against the plan of local and central governments to build a nuclear power plant, the adopted law will not only block the activities in the region, it could also set a legal precedent for other regions to follow.

These referendums can be initiated by a group of citizens who have collected a certain amount of signatures, usually it is 5%-10% of the regional voting population.

ii) Starting A Campaign

A group of people has to be identified which is known as the 'INITIATIVE GROUP'. This group will collect the initial signatures needed to call for the referendum. It must be registered in the Regional Parliament and get approval to begin collecting signatures. Simultaneously a question for the Referendum has to be formulated, which will also be written on the signature collection form.

NOTE!

• Read the Regional Referenda Law carefully. Careful when you formulate the question, make sure that it covers the problem you want to protest. Very useful to involve a reliable lawyer.
• The more people that you have in the initiative group the easier it will be to collect the signatures. But be careful that all the people are reliable, will not expose you plans ahead of schedule and will not forge the signatures. In some cases this means a limited amount of people in the initiative group
• Before you register, estimate your potential to achieve your goal, if you fail, in some cases (depending on the Regional Law) there is no possibility to start the second Referendum process until after a certain period, normally a year.
• Calculate your budget and try to get money from Foundations, as this campaign is quite expensive. - Do not change the referendum question after you've agreed on it, even if the Local Parliament insist or advise you.
• Carefully calculate how many signatures you have to collect, find out the amount of voters and calculate the percentage from that amount you have to collect. Normally 5-10% of the voters.
• Try to collect more then necessary, as there will be some signatures which will not be accepted by the Regional Parliament.

After the Group is registered you have some time to collect the signatures, normally 3 months.

NOTE!

• Do not tell media or public how many signatures you've accumulated, as this can create problems, e.g. on the basis of this leaked information the Regional Parliament could make a decision to stop the construction of a nuclear power plant, just when you have almost collected the necessary amount of signatures, which would mean the referendum is not necessary. After you have cancelled your work, the Parliament could then make a decision to resume construction, meaning you would have to start again from the beginning.
• It is best to collect signatures in post offices and saving banks, places where people come with a passport, as sometimes you have to put their passport details on the form.
• Do not miss the deadline

After the signatures have been collected you have to submit them to the Regional Parliament. Following your submission the MPs must announce the referendum, and subsequently appoint a date for it.

NOTE!

• it can take 3 months or more for a Regional Parliament to announce the date of the referendum. This can depend on how lazy your MPs are. This means that you may have to continuously apply pressure on them and make them feel they are being watched, in order that they dont forget about the signatures you have brought to them. It may be best to speak to the media and write letters to the authorities.
• Normally there is no money available for conducting referenda, that's why very often this can be combined with the local elections. So when you plan your campaign make sure that there will be elections in the area, it is usually best if they are scheduled for roughly up to 9-12 months time, as it will take you some time to collect signatures and submit them, and some time for the Parliament to review them.

When you have completed the above and while you are waiting for the announcement of the date, you can begin the preparation for a public campaign by carrying out media work, searching for money, convincing the voters, and preparing yourself to confront Administration, Ministries of Nuclear Energy. Search for allies. And keep up your spirits. Good luck!

When the date of the Referendum is announced, be careful that you do not start your campaign before you are allowed by the Regional Law, normally a month before the day of the Referendum. But you are not banned from campaigning against nukes in general.

NOTE!

• Also finish your campaign in time, depending on the Law you must finish the campaign 1 day before the day of Referendum. But you still can speak about the danger of the nukes in general.
• IMPORTANT!!! Depending on the Law it's necessary that certain amount of voters turn up to vote, in Kostroma it was 50% of the voters, because only then will the results of the referendum be valid.

3. The Public Campaign in Kostroma

i) Goals for the Campaign

To prevent the construction of the new nuclear power plant with new type reactors

As this was the first regional referendum about nuclear power plant construction in the History of the USSR\Russia it was important to make sure that the public opinion is anti-nuclear and the referendum happens.

As 1996 was the 10th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, it was important to use this to campaign against nuclear power and for the promotion of Energy Efficiency and alternative sources of Energy in the region

To ensure that public opposition to nuclear power was strong enough and publicised across the country.

To use it as an example for campaigning against nuclear power in other regions where the laws about referendums exist.

To encourage other local NGOs to fight for their environment using democratic methods.

There were several organisations which expressed an interest to work on the referendum. Most of them helped with information distribution and were sending letters of support to the NGO in Kostroma, the media and the authorities. Some of them also carried out media work in their own region. Many groups expressed interest in the development of the campaign

NOTE!

• Rely only on your own forces.

ii) Developing the Work Plan

The campaign was run by the Kostroma NGO 'In The Name Of Life' and the Russian NGO 'Greenpeace Russia'. The first plans on how to run the public campaign were developed 7 months in advance of the Referendum day (8th December 1996).

The Work Plan included the following:

1. To produce a video and photos of the plant and general shots of the region for media work

2. To set up an office as the campaign headquarters.

3. To produce a poster calling on the population to vote.

4. To hire a bus to travel in the region to promote the referendum.

5. To produce leaflets to hand to people calling to come and vote.

6. To organise a charity concert to support the referendum.

7. To develop plans to do a non-violent direct action to push the referendum.

8. To organise a telephone poll to monitor the public opinion.

9. To have a public demonstration.

There was a decision made to start active public campaigning in November and to announce it in media.

NOTE!

• Be careful when you announce the public campaign that you really are able to run it on high profile until the end.
• Important Federal media was identified, which was supposed to be prioritised during the active campaign. A search was started to identify Kostroma regional, district, city media. Also we made a list of neighbouring region's media which might be interested in the Kostroma referendum.
• Areas for distributing leaflets were identified, such as: train and bus stations as this would help to spread leaflets and information across the whole region. Also post offices and saving banks are important as many people come there.

NOTE!

• As most NGO resources are limited you have to develop your own tactics on how to efficiently inform the population about the upcoming referendum and to make sure they vote. Obviously the most efficient in this are media and rumours.

iii) Preparing the Briefings

In July preparation work began. It was agreed to prepare some Briefings to distribute to the International, Federal, Regional, District, City media to inform them about the campaign and the precedent:

These Briefings were:

1. History of the 'In The Name Of Life' NGO and their fight against the nuclear power plant

2. Energy situation in Kostroma Region.

NOTE!

• For this work we united with the Regional Energy Efficiency Fund, which is a body not involved in the Green movement and as such were independent experts. They were our science and energy experts throughout the campaign and this co-operation gave us more credibility.
• 3. The problems of the proposed VPBER-600 reactor. This was not done as briefing but article from science magazines were made available.
  4. Energy For The Future (prepared by Greenpeace for a G7 Meeting in Moscow in April 1996, on the question of the nuclear safety)

  5. Radioactive Nuclear Wastes (prepared as above)

  6. World Nuclear Status Report (prepared as above)

  7. Global History of Nuclear Power Referenda Briefing, (prepared by Greenpeace Austria and Greenpeace International). 8. Calendar of the Nuclear Age (list of nuclear accidents)

Most of these briefings were prepared in Russian and English as we felt it was important to be prepared to expose this Referendum not only on the Regional or Federal level, but also on the International one.

NOTE!

• Do not produce to much of papers, as you'll end up carrying around a library and this distracts attention of media and public.
• Send all the prepared papers to:
• district administrations in the region;
• district media in the region;
• district libraries in the region, make sure that public know that they can access this information in the libraries and are aware of this;
• schools, colleges, educational establishments
• As many of the small district media (normally 4-6 pages) do not have enough time, staff, space in their newspaper, or receive the majority of their income from the candidates advertisements during an election campaign, they seem to prefer it when you write an article for their newspaper and sign it by a name, rather than they have to look through all your briefings and select information they need. Also send everything well in advance as the post can be slow and most of them do not have fax machines.
• It is good to have an answering machine at home/the office in order that you know who was calling and you can call back.

iv) Launching the Campaign

We started the public campaign on 11th November, when it was announced at a press conference held in Kostroma. A week later we held press conference in Moscow to inform the Federal media.

To make your life easier and to run an effective media campaign it is important to have a video footage and photographs of the nuclear power plant you are fighting. On most television stations where you want to get coverage they use the Betacam-SP system. It is expensive to hire this camera equipment but worthwhile as this will help you to get coverage on television and therefore get the necessary information to the public.

We produced video and photographs of the construction site and of our campaign and campaigners, and these were used a lot in the region and throughout Russia. But many small district television stations use different TV signal systems, so you need to find out which equipment they use and to provide them with the necessary tapes, because to win the referendum you need to inform public in the region, and the best way for this is to use small district television stations, radios and newspapers. Do not neglect them , supply them with all necessary information and always keep in touch with them.

We also distributed a lot of television advertisements, video clipreels and other various films about nuclear power to be shown on local TV stations. This was not prepared particularly for this referendum but was taken from the Greenpeace Russia archives.

NOTE!

• It is a good idea to produce a TV ad (1 min long) to run on the local TV especially about this particular case, and which is relevant to the campaign.
• Write a 1 page description of the campaign and the problem to fax to the media when you call for the first time so you dont have to answer the same questions over 100 times.

v) The Posters and Leaflets

We produced 5000 copies of A3 format black and white poster.

NOTE!

• When you produce a poster make sure that you mention the date of the referendum, that if you have a drawing of a nuclear power plant then you have to label it as a nuclear power plant as people do not usually understand cryptic symbols. Print it on cheap, low quality paper as it's easier to glue it, make it black and white, but instead of white paper use yellow paper. Do not forget your logo.
• Be careful when you select the glue that it does not freeze in winter and you can cook it quickly in the field conditions.

We also produced 200,000 A5 black and white leaflets for distribution to the public.

NOTE!

• When you produce a leaflet make it small enough to hand to people, but use reasonably big letters when you print it as most of the population wear glasses, but dont wear them on the street, where you will be giving them the leaflet. Dont forget to mention the date of the referendum and a telephone number for contacts and your logo.
• Dont put on telephone number of your headquarters on the leaflet as the line will always be engaged. For the public use a phone number of one of the group who will enjoy talking to the public and will very often be at home. Use the headquarters telephone number only for media.

vi) The Bus Tour

In the Kostroma Region we faced the problem that we could not inform the public from the capital city Kostroma, as the regional newspapers, TV and radio did mostly not cover the whole region. We therefore decided to hire a bus to travel in the region to promote the referendum, meet media, local administrations, drop our papers into the libraries, distribute leaflets and glue the posters

NOTE!

• Remember that this work is a total nightmare.
• Carefully develop the route, and make sure that the bridges exist, the roads have a hard surface etc.
• Start the work from the remotest part of the route. As it's nice psychologically when you travel towards home.
• Make sure that the bus will survive the travel, and it will be warm if it's winter time.
• When you arrive at village or settlement, visit the administration to announce your arrival, so you can assure them that you are being open and honest.
• When you leave the briefings in the libraries, tell the journalists about this so they can invite people to read the information.
• Most of the district newspapers have a radio station which is in the same building.
• Make your bus look nice, colourful and attractive. Never call it environmentally clean as it uses petrol.
• Alert the media on the route in advance and keep calling them, mentioning when you are coming. Send them the schedule of your route in advance.
• Produce an update for the capital town media and Federal media about the development of the adventure. Use your headquarters office as a contact office for you and for distributing the information.
• Distribute your leaflets in hospitals, schools, telephone boxes, bus, train stations, etc., where people come and spend a lot of time.
• You can speak to post offices to ask them to help you to distribute your leaflets, this happened a lot in Kostroma region and we didn't have to pay for it.
• Do not glue your posters on the monuments or on the doors of police stations.

We did not have time and enough people to organise meetings with the public in these small districts, but we were quite lucky as election campaigns for the local authorities were happening at the same time and a lot candidates were also travelling in the region and organising public meetings. We were able to use those gatherings to inform public about the referendum. Most of the time the candidates did not mind about this.

vii) Other Activities

We didn't organise a charity concert due to lack of resources, but a local nightclub offered us support and held a party to support the referendum and against nuclear power which was called 'Environment'. Unexpectedly this turned out very well as all the young people knew it and information about the referendum reached them. Some journalists were also interested and reported the event.

We also did not do an action, as we did not find an enemy to confront. Maybe you will.

We almost did not do any telephone polls as did not have enough resources.

We wanted to erect some billboards in Kostroma city advertising Referendum, but did not have enough money left. We did have enough money to pay a company to glue the posters around the city, and organised a few small billboards on the bus stops in Kostroma with the leaflets and posters.

4. Personal Note from Eduard Gismatullin, the lead Greenpeace campaigner

This was the first Regional Russian Referendum against construction of the nuclear power plant. My special thanks to Kostroma NGO 'In The Name Of Life' for all their work they've done and for their spirit. It's nice to admit that we, anti-nuclear organisations won it. And I hope that this victory sends a message and blast-wave across Russia and the rest of the world to continue the fight against nukes. And, please, remember that people working for the nukes are also human being. In Kostroma we faced a problem that Chistye Bory settlement which was constructed for the personnel of the station which I hope will never be constructed, was facing and is facing now massive unemployment. We do not want public to blame us for their hardships, but we also do not want that dangerous nuclear power plants are run. It's up to the local administration to take care about their voters. And in Kostroma we publicly received assurances from all 3 candidates, who were running for the elections for the top position of the Regional Governor, that those people would take care about the people lived next to the nuclear power plant construction site if the referendum said "NO" to nukes.

The referendum said "NO" to Kostroma nuclear power plant. About 57% of the voters turn up. From which about 87% said "NO" and around 11% said "YES". Kostroma nuclear power plant will not be constructed and one other Governor candidates was elected. We hope he keeps his promises to take care about the voters.

To all the people considering the idea of organising a referendum, I want to warn you - this is a difficult way, when you easily become a target to pass you headaches. When you need a lot of energy, support and funds. You need strong spirit and luck and I wish you luck.