Beyond Horizontalism and Hierarchy

How can we design decision-making frameworks and share power in more nuanced and effective ways in our movements? In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in agile and decentralised approaches to self-organising structures, drawing on systems thinking, information theory, and notions of agility. In the Organisations Revisioned training at Ulex we explore how […]

Building beyond burnout in Sweden

In Sweden, four activists who attended a training at Ulex launched a Resilient Movements project on their return. They speak about the negative impact of productivity standards on activist culture, and how social movements can become more resilient through daring to break silence around burnout. By Valdemar Möller   Two days before this interview, Lanja Rashid and Olivia Linander […]

Narrative is fractal : Why we need more than words to truly face racism

In the first of a series of profile pieces on Ulex project partners, we’re highlighting the excellent work of the Public Interest Research Centre (PIRC) in Wales. PIRC is an independent charity which works to help movements – for equality, anti-oppression, and environmental justice – to tell better stories for a different world. PIRC believe our society […]

Reclaiming power with women's self-defence in Belarus and Poland

It’s been a year of uprisings. Some of the boldest have been the women-led social movements in Eastern Europe. Tens of thousands rallied against abortion laws in Poland, while in Belarus women led the way to challenge the falsified presidential election. Ahead of Ulex’s first Self-Defence, Empowerment and Anti-Discrimination Training for women and trans activists, […]

Resilience as Resistance: LGBTQI+ Movement Building in the Balkans

With a ‘stunning democratic breakdown’ occurring across much of the Balkans, LGBTQI+ people are living within an increasingly overt hostile environment. We interviewed 5 activists from across the region to learn first-hand how resilience and resistance are being woven together within queer organizing circles. By Lindsay Alderton Nine years ago, when Eweryst Zaremba, a young […]

Tools & Practices for Navigating Uncertainty : 2020 Regenerative Activism Series

When navigating through stress and uncertainty what are some of the ways we might develop resilience and collective care in a time of Deep Change? By Lindsay Alderton Seven months into 2020 and the principle of uncertainty is increasingly becoming the new normal amidst multiple colliding crises across ecological, socio-political and spiritual spheres.  The arrival of […]

Somatic Spaces for Healing Activist Trauma

An interview with Ulex trainer Lou Hemmerman about the importance of trauma-informed sustainable activism and how body-based practices can support healing at both an individual and movement level.  “Somatics is a freedom-inducing framework. The central idea is that the natural living body–with its sensations, memories and emotions, triggers and pleasures–is a complex system that carries our whole lives, […]

The Landworkers Alliance - Building resilience into our organisational structures.

In November 2019, the Ulex Project worked with the Landworkers Alliance to design a bespoke training in ‘Facilitation, sustainable organising and movement building’ to support their staff to better build skills and strategies for organising effective projects and campaigns. Roz Corbett, who participated in the training, shares a little of her experience. I’ve been a […]

Regenerative Activism online series May 2020

For the third year running the Ulex Project is collaborating with Advaya to offer the Regenerative Activism series, this time in the online space. The times are calling for renewed energy and adaptive capacities. To meet this crisis, we need strategies for deep change on multiple levels. To answer this call we’re inviting you to be a […]

Ulex Team Update: we're growing!

Since we launched in 2016 the Ulex coordination team has grown, with the original crew of Gee, Ella, Lindsay and Carol joined by five new members – Eweryst, Lou, Neus, Kat and Sheila. Our logistics and hosting team have also grown with Sana now joined by Sergi and Frida. As people from a diverse range […]