A regenerative space to support long term engagement.
Working towards social transformation is complex and challenging. What we encounter in the world can feel relentlessly painful and demoralising – the levels of degradation and violence overwhelming. The ongoing sense of urgency, the incremental squeeze on our sense of agency, and the feeling that we are simply not winning, can become heavy and undermining, leading to conflict in our groups and fall out from our movements. We lose momentum, movement experience, and the capability of having real strategic impact.
Building an effective resilience practice is a strategic and powerful act. Strengthening our capacities to not only keep going against all the entrenched resistance, but to connect to a deeper sense of purpose, energy and care, is highly radical, and also necessary. We can find ways to engage with our work and the world that are sustainable, effective, and move us and our collectives in the direction of flourishing and connection, rather than depletion, burnout, fragmentation and cynicism.
This retreat will focus on creating a regenerative space for those involved in the work of social transformation, who are in need of strengthening their practice of resilience. It will be a space to recover, reflect, gather nourishment, gain new practices and perspectives, and be supported by others, in a replenishing landscape.
At Ulex we understand resilience as an interconnected phenomenon. Resilient individuals arise within a matrix of relationships – relationship to ourselves, to others, and to the world around us. We cannot be resilient alone. The environment I exist within, the relational and group cultures I am surrounded by, my sense of embeddedness and supportedness in the wider human and more-than-human context (or lack of that), shape who I am, how I feel and what I am capable of.
The Resilience Retreat is based on, and grows out of, the same methodology as our Regenerative Activism course (insert link), understanding resilience as dependent upon personal, interpersonal and organisational elements – we cannot be resilient on our own. However, this week will emphasise some of the more ‘personal’ dimensions of resilience practice (acknowledging that the personal is always nested within relationship and context).
It will be a regenerative space, designed specifically for those needing to step back from their work for a time – recover, reflect, gather nourishment, and attend to some of their personal needs and tendencies, in the context of their social and political work, and within a community of other activists.
We will support the creation of a temporary community of practice and mutual support. We will offer practices and frameworks for supporting deeper reflection, somatic connection, meditative awareness and emotional integration, nervous system regulation, creative processing, working with our views, and looking deeper into our shaping/tendencies around resilience. There will be space for silence, space for connection with others, and a surrounding context of beautiful, wild nature. We will follow a daily schedule of structured sessions, balanced with unstructured time for rest.
Aims of the course:
So, the workshop will help participants to:
Who is it aimed at?
Anyone with experience in socially engaged action addressing ecological, political and social justice issues. We embrace a broad definition of activism that includes any form of contribution to change and social and ecological justice. That might include: Resistance – action preventing further damage to ecosystems and social justice; Renewal – action focused on developing and creating alternatives for healthier societies and communities; and Building Resilience – action supporting increased resilience in communities to weather the uncertain times ahead.
The main spoken language on the course will be English.
For accessibility and venue information see <here>.
In the solidarity economy:
(See details of our approach to radical economics here)
Contact us
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Location:
An Maeyens (she/her) is a facilitator and trainer with over two decades of experience in grassroots movements. She specialises in creative, inclusive agenda design and brings deep expertise on group culture, power dynamics, and transformative learning. Starting of in the anti-globalisation movement she has trained thousands in civil disobedience, supported international coalitions, and developed multilingual training programmes and toolkits. Her work spans movements, cultures, and countries, guided by a commitment to care, accessibility, and leaderful organising.
Location:
Ari’s activism began in 2002, at age 16, as a Bosnian refugee in Canada, where they founded and coordinated a group for LGBTIQ high school students and allies. They were a co-founder and leader at kolekTIRV in Croatia and Trans Network Balkan, involved in community organizing, advocacy, program management, team coordination, capacity building, education, media work, campaigns, events, fundraising, etc. In 2024, they joined the Supervisory Board of the Croatian Trade Union Collective of United Precarious Workers and Activists (SKUPA).
Beyond the Balkan region, Ari served as a Board member at Transgender Europe (TGEU), where they held roles as Secretary, Treasurer, and later Co-chair. They have also been a trainer with the Center for Artistic Activism and served on the Advisory Committee and since 2022 as a Community Care Facilitator at FRIDA — The Young Feminist Fund. Since 2024 they are the Operations Manager at Global Philanthropy Project.
Location:
Sergio (all pronouns) was born in Romania and migrated to Germany in the early 2010s. In the past, he was a social worker with homeless people and a social consultant for Eastern European migrants for various organisations. Trained as a filmmaker, he spent two years making a documentary about the ‘civic reawakening’ in Romania and the waves of protest it brought with it. In connection to this, Sergio is currently co-steering the development of an online open-source participative knowledge production platform on activism in Romania. Over the past nine years, Sergiu has offered his skills to various journalists, grassroots collectives and campaigns, mostly working within the labour rights, climate justice, international solidarity and anti-authoritarian movements in Germany and Romania. Nonetheless, his biggest focus since 2020 has been his work as an organiser with the anarcho-syndicalist Free Workers Union, where he focuses mostly on organising Romanian migrant workers on construction sites, in factories and in the agricultural field.
Ulex: del Llatí, (argelaga en català) nom:
1. Arbust espinós de fulla perenne i floració, amb gran capacitat de regeneració i resistència. Les seves pues s’obren en entrar en contacte amb el foc i torna a brollar dels tocones carbonitzats. Planta successional que creix bé en condicions difícils. Millora la fertilitat del sòl mitjançant la fixació de nitrogen, preparant el terreny per a una renovada biodiversitat.
2. Una opció tradicional per a encendre focs. Crema amb intensitat i lluentor.
3. Un projecte en xarxa que aporta nutrició i fertilitat als moviments socials europeus a través de la formació
