The strategy team are working in conjunction with other movement and community leaders and researchers, to develop the deep work that is needed to foster greater understanding of climate justice both inside and out of XR. 

A key part of this process involves creating an established practice for the movement, in order for all groups to meaningfully explore this topic. Just before the Rebellion we held an experiment, a meeting online to explore a process focused on relationships and connection, in order to help us collectively learn together, and from one another. Well designed, participatory practices are part of the DNA and foundational make up of our movement. What’s more, the support we give to good process for collective learning matters hugely, as it is the transformative aspect of our 3rd demand.

We were supported by a facilitator from the Global Assembly who has extensive experience in holding complex, dialogic spaces. A Peruvian woman, from outside XR, she is a masterful space holder who works with critical literacy processes and decolonisation thinking.

For this to become an established exercise in XR will mean an ongoing project to combine theory and practice, which involves ongoing learning and exploring ideas. It may also result in the creation of new knowledge through relational processes, focusing on cultural and critical literacy and including attentiveness to emotional literacy. So far we have been learning not only about the topic of climate justice, but also about what type of process helps us to learn well and authentically.

We are aiming to hold space that can help us live up to some of our responsibilities as a social movement that learns and achieves collective growth, especially because we believe those that do not will ultimately collapse. 

We will update more soon on scheduled sessions, where we will aim to build a template for a  process which can be replicated across the movement. We are also working with creative teams to think about outputs which may help to communicate some of the learnings and findings. However, it is important to note that the time spent in relation together is the most important aspect of this work. This relates to, although is not the same as, the Opression, Movement Building and Our Relationships as Activists Workshops (OMBRA). 

More updates and invitations to join what we hope will be iterative and ground breaking spaces coming soon!

Love from the strategy team xxx

Read the XR UK 2022 Strategy here: https://extinctionrebellion.uk/2022/01/23/xr-uk-strategy-2022/