Stockholm - Globalization, labour, women's rights and curtailing corporate power were among issues being discussed at a meeting of civil society groups that opens Wednesday in the southern Swedish city of Malmo.

Organizers anticipated some 20,000 would take part in the gathering organized by the European Social Forum under the slogan "Making another Europe possible! East and West together."

"Economic alternatives to neoliberalism," blocking foreign military bases as well as how to tackle global food price hikes and climate change will be covered at the five-day conference, along with cultural activities, including films, concerts and poetry readings.

"The forum is a natural part of building alliances over national borders and organizational divides," said Niklas Olin of the Swedish branch of Attac, one of the participating groups.

Attac, formed 1998, is the acronym for the Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens.

Speakers at the opening ceremony Wednesday evening include former Swedish archbishop KG Hammar and Indian environmental activist Vandana Shiva.

The European Social Forum is a spinoff of the World Social Forum set up in 2001 as an alternative to the World Economic Forum that is hosted annually in Davos, Switzerland.

Police have met organizers to ensure demonstrations planned during the event do not spin out of control. Liaison officers from Denmark, Germany and Norway were also reported to be in Malmo to assist the Swedish police.

At the 2007 European Social Forum in Athens, scores of anarchist youths clashed with riot police. dpa