HappyJMA?

HappyJMA?

 HappyJMA Wageningen organises very happy local activities and small friendly environmental actions. The group also organises Food not Bombs once a month in Wageningen (look under 'Street activities' in the menu) and regularly organises Free Hugs activities.

HappyJMA Wageningen is connected to two national organisations: JMA and the Happy Company or Blijbedrijf. JMA is short for Jongeren Milieu Actief (=youth environment active), which is the youth organisation of Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie). Read more about JMA, FoE Netherlands, FoE Europe and FoE International.  The Happy Company or Blijbedrijf simply does things to make people happy :-) Check their website (in Ducth though).

We think this is a perfect match: Sustainably Happy ;-)

 Brief history

JMA was founded in Wageningen in the beginning of the nineties. It grew and grew and became a national organisation. After about ten years, it became 'part of' Mileudefensie: Friends of the Earth Netherlands. In all these years, there has almost always been a local group of JMA in Wageningen.

 In 2006, all of the core members of JMA Wageningen were not only interested in saving the environment, but also in spreading some more positiveness in our society. They decided to give 'Free Hugs' during Buy Nothing Day in 2006, and when they heard about an organisation called Blijbedrijf (Happy Company), they immediately joined it. This was the beginning of HappyJMA Wageningen!

 Organisation

 HappyJMA Wageningen normally has two coordinators. At the moment these are Sandra Scheepens and Kim van Groningen. The organisation has an e-mailing list of about 300 people - mostly WUR students - who receive a newsletter about six times a year. There is no membership fee and everyone is free to decide if she or he wants to join an activity or not. During most activities, between four and fifteen people join. Meetings take place about once a month.

 Because most HappyJMA activities are very low-bugdet, we do not need a lot of funding. We get some money from the national JMA, and sometimes the municipality or a local company sponsors an activity.

Ideology

 HappyJMA Wageningen believes that it is very important to care for the world, and for each other. With many activities we try to remind/educate people about the consequences that many of our actions have on the environment. We also want to remind them which things in life Really matter. A major goal is to spread positive energy. We believe that by doing so, we can make people feel better. We also believe that happy people make other people feel better, and that they are nicer for the environment. (Sustainability is a mind-set!) This is a snowball effect!

Although most active members of HappyJMA are students, we do not specifically focus on the university. Why would we limit ourselves? ;-) You can often find us on the market square of Wageningen on Saturdays, or Free Hugging in a big city.

During a philosophical evening in January 2010, we discussed our ideals and core points. This is the result:

Important points about the environment: We would like to see every person in the world contributing to a greener world in small ways every day. We would also like to see that people with a bigger ecological footprint than is fair reducing it, that they consume less and that people will be eating less meat and more organic, local food as well. We want people to understand the ecological impact they have on the planet with their actions. We want more animal welfare, and more people loving nature and spending time in it.

Important points about happiness: We want to see a world full of happy people, enjoying the small, nice things in life, helping each other and being nice and friendly to each other. We think that by a simpler way of life, with less work, people will have more time to spend on things they like doing: reading, walking, playing with the kids, chatting with friends, cooking, hugging etc. They will become more happy when they do the things they like. And last: we would like to see more beauty in the world.

 Frequently Asked Question: what is the difference between HappyJMA Wageningen and WEP (Wageningen Environmental Platform, another 'green' group in Wageningen)?

 WEP is focused on the University, wants to make the WUR more sustainable, while HappyJMA wants to reach everyone. We do our actions mostly in Wageningen, but sometimes in other cities as well. We want to change the whole world.

  Interested?

Join our e-mailing list :-) Just send an e-mail to HappyJMA -at- gmail -dot- com stating 'newsletter'. You will receive a newsletter with action reports and an agenda about six times a year. If you read about an activity that interests you, just send us an e-mail and join! :-) You do not have to be a paying member.

 Everyone is welcome to join! You do not have to be a student, you do not have to live in Wageningen. But if you do not live in Wageningen, you can also check if there is a local group of JMA or the Happy Company near you! Of course you can also always start your own HappyJMA group :-) If you decide to do so, we promise we will support you with everything!