Rebelling with Care

14 - 17 September at Common Ground, near Narrm/Melbourne

The Extinction Rebellion Movement has challenged us to build a new type of culture for action which is full of "regenerative processes" as we rebel: regeneration not degeneration. 

We are here for the long haul to #Rebel4Life, and it will take every drop of love to sustain the struggle. This 3 day workshop will give you the tools to grow our movements and nurture rebels through all the challenges ahead. Running from 6pm on Saturday 14 September until 5pm on Tuesday 17, we will have the time and space to go deep into the culture of regeneration, with plenty of music, fun and play along the way.

Held in the beautiful cooperative space Common Ground just north of Melbourne, amongst the trees and wild life of regenerated forest, Radical Group Skills is open to all humans with a passion for climate justice.

The workshop will be held on the on the ancestral lands of the Taungurung People. We acknowledge their elders and the love and care they have given to the land. We acknowledge that their sovereignty was never ceded and we are thankful for their continuing presence and involvement with country including at Common Ground.

To apply to join us at Common Ground, head over here

What are Radical Group Skills for a New Society?

Some of the questions we want to explore are: how do we make group environments in justice movements which will cherish people for the long haul? What are the skills for groups that will bring more people on board, help them feel included and help them stay? How do we face our fears with grit and grace in the face of the climate crisis?

We are growing movements fast. We need our relationships to be in good shape. Practices of 'radical care' can hold people who are taking massive risks and learning about the huge challenges we face. We need to be able to grieve strongly and face strong fears.

This workshop will develop the group skills that enable us to care and stay active, even when things get uncomfortable. 

In this workshop we will explore:

• Facilitating groups in different contexts.
• Consent and 'consensus'.
• Power and privilege in group environments
• Assertive communication for conflicts … and repair.
• Deescalating difficulties in relationships. 
• Looking after ourselves, and others under pressure.
• Relationships for movements - processes to help them go well.
• The importance of play
• Recovering connection
• The revolutionary power of joy

Cost and inclusions

We know strong movements include everybody: people from different backgrounds and with different experiences. We are looking to build a group which includes younger folk and people of colour, people from the regional centres and the city, people of diverse genders and differing migrant histories or current cultural perspectives. We will support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander activists to attend. This will be a safe space for everyone to learn.

The workshop will cost around $200 per person to hold. On the application page we ask people to nominate what they are able to contribute towards the costs. We hope that we will be able to cover the costs of the weekend, so that we can do it again. We encourage communities of established folk to donate to this project by supporting people with less resources to attend.

The space is superb, and your accommodation is in lovely cabins with beds, mattresses, pillows all supplied.We will self-cater on site, with all meals included in the workshop cost. Workshop materials are all included. You just need to bring your linen and doona, clothes and personal care stuff.

The space is suitable for wheelchairs and other mobility aids. We do not have any interpreters booked, but if you need language assistance we will do our best to provide that.

Of course you can bring your children. Depending on their size and needs, you may need to cover the cost of their bed, and organize someone to play with them during workshop time. This work can be shared around, too.

Musical instruments, art materials, sports stuff and toys are welcome.

Wildlife roam free around Common Ground, so no dogs or cats can come.

Facilitators

Margaret Pestorius

Margaret has been facilitating groups for social justice campaigns for 30 years. She studied group-work and facilitation with Glen Ochre in the 1990s while living at Common Ground for a few years.

She was a member of the large Melbourne Rainforest Action Group and has organised action camps, small affinity groups and empowerment groups. In 2016, she  entered the Pine Gap perimeter with a small group. She is a collective member of the Wage Peace Project.

Margaret has paid work as a counsellor in Far North Queensland remote communities. After thirty years she is still an enthusiastic member of nonviolent action groups carrying out disruptive actions.

Anisa Rogers

Anisa Rogers has been part of activist and campaigning groups for 5 years, in groups such as Fossil Free divestment campaigns, the Australian Student Environment Network, Frontline Action on Coal, Friends of the Earth and Extinction Rebellion. They love watching and understanding group dynamics, and are constantly working on trying to make activist groups more inviting and inclusive to everyone! 

Anisa has been facilitating meetings and workshops for years, and prefers facilitation that breaks down hierarchies and creates meaningful relationships. After going through a period of burnout a few years ago, they have spent a lot of doing doing self reflection and self work to move away from their productivity driven workaholic tendencies, and practice sustainable thriving activism and community care.

Anisa's paid work is as a disability support worker.

Kaz Uy

Kaz is a community organizer (schools and universities) with the Asylum Seeker Resource Center. She is also a Training Officer for Democracy In Colour.

Prior to moving to Melbourne last year, Kaz has been involved in Climate Justice activism, marine conservation & education, and the establishment of Marine Protected areas in the Philippines. She was a Research Assistant in the Seagrass Lab for the UP Marine Science Institute, in the Humpback Whale project of Balyena.org and worked with non-profits such as the Ocean-action resource center.

Kaz employs an integrated approach to community organizing and activism, fusing best practices in community care from her home culture and insights from mindful self-compassion and nonviolent communication praxis.

Zelda Grimshaw

Zelda has worked in the climate justice space for several years. Her history of non violence began with the Daintree Blockade in 1983. Zelda is a mother, a theatre maker and musician, a media professional and a community organizer.

Getting there

Common Ground is about a 15 minute drive from Seymour, to the north of Narrm/Melbourne. Workshop participants can car pool for the one hour drive, with ample parking on site. There are hourly trains from Melbourne to Seymour, departing from Southern Cross Station roughly on the half hour. If participants take the train, we will organize a shuttle from the train station to Common Ground.

Contact

If you need to get in touch with us directly please email [email protected]

Thanks to Beyond War/Wage Peace for the use of their Nationbuilder platform.

Wage Peace happens on Sovereign Aboriginal Land - mostly Sovereign Yidindji Land - but also on the land of the Bunjalung, and the Ngunnawal people. This project also happens on the lands of the Wurrundjeri people. We acknowledge the Tribal Authority of the people on whose Land we live.