Brave Spaces
Brave Spaces
Resilient plants, election analysis, and one feminist library nestled in Southeastern Europe
Dear friends,
When I came across Danusha Laméris’ Small Kindnesses poem recently, I was immediately drawn to the line: “We have so little of each other, now. So far from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange.”
Last year, the US Surgeon General declared loneliness to be the new epidemic stating that “it harms both individual and societal health”. Studies indicate that millennials and Gen Z are among the loneliest demographic groups. While one might think social media would be the predicative, research suggests that the existence of in-real-life conversations and the quality of our relationships are the determining factors.
A prevailing narrative today revolves around self-care. What often remains in the marginalia, however, is that self-care cannot thrive in isolation. In this time of endemic loneliness, healing and rejuvenation come from the people who care for us and those we care about.
The mark of a good encounter is that it changes you. It is a kind of collaborative mutual discovery. This month in Bulgaria, I encountered a group of kindred spirits who have prioritized in-life conversations. They’ve built Kopriva – a grassroots sanctuary fostering radical learning and mobilization, embracing individuals of diverse backgrounds and abilities, with a focus on environmentalism and feminism. Despite financial challenges and perhaps the most pernicious obstacle, the social stigma, they’ve created a community space and feminist library. In the Balkans, people believe that resilience is rooted in the wisdom of wild plants. Kopriva (the Bulgarian word for stinging nettle) is a nutritional powerhouse and potent medicine that appears in fables and myths as a symbol of fierceness and resilience.
During our conversation something in my heart shifted. We talked about the very challenging but also intimate experience of helping people settle into a shared experience, and how we shift from fight mode into a mode of invitation. Their work cross-pollinates on ecofeminism, mental health, and social movements. Its soil is the remedy to this epidemic of isolation – a community. And what I found to be the fertilizer is the role of accompaniment – a powerful element in their monthly neurodiversity meet-ups. Accompaniment means that we don’t have to understand everything about each other to be present with one another. It means to witness. Accompaniment requires us to find within ourselves the courage to lean into one another and give into our need for collective care. Kopriva is a space where we embrace, in Micky Scott BeyJones’ words, “better, bolder, and more connected lives”.
You can read the interview here.
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ENAR’S Election Analysis: Ethnic Minorities in the New European Parliament 2019-2025 Democracy flourishes when barriers to diverse participation are dismantled. In the upcoming elections, it's crucial to prioritize voting to address the glaring underrepresentation of people of color, among others, in the European Parliament. The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) conducted an analysis of racial and ethnic representation after the 2019 European Parliament elections showing that racial/ethnic minorities are hugely underrepresented according to proportion of the population.
Join the Brussels Binder initiative and advocate for broader diversity encompassing gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and socio-economic background. You can also volunteer with them.
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Resources
Slow Change Can Be Radical Change: Rebecca Solnit explores the notion that societal transformation often unfolds gradually, illustrating how long-term efforts influence political discourse and policy decisions, emphasizing the importance of recognizing the broader impact of movements beyond immediate outcomes.
“Describing the slowness of change is often confused with acceptance of the status quo. It's really the opposite.”
Women Political Leaders: The Impact of Gender on Democracy: created in partnership with the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, the report reveals that society benefits when women engage in politics. It draws from over 500 research studies on the impact of female political leaders, demonstrating that their involvement yields gains for society beyond just women and girls.
As Equals spotlights what systemic gender inequality looks like today. CNN crafts gender-sensitive newsletters, audio projects, and documentaries amplifying women’s stories that break through stereotypes.
“On As Equals, we want to see the bigger picture, uncover the systemic causes of gender inequality, and tell those stories to a global audience.” - Eliza Anyangwe, managing editor of As Equals.
Right-Sized Belonging: Six Practices For Organizers: In her essay, Sammie Ablaza Wills sets the stage for understanding the profound impact of belonging on individual actions and motivations within social movements. Through six key practices, including anchoring purpose, collective governance, setting boundaries, trauma awareness, conflict resilience, and connection to broader movements, she underscores the significance of intentional culture-building for sustainable and impactful activism.
The Curiosity Conflict: Anne-Laure Le Cunff explores the captivating interplay between curiosity and productivity, shedding light on why we often struggle to transition from exploration to exploitation. Revealing how our innate curiosity fuels both our creativity and indecision, Le Cunff offers five strategic approaches to managing this conflict, including cultivating a curiosity inbox, shielding time for focused execution, practicing metacognition, and embracing the joy of missing out.
PeoplesHub - an online movement school that connects groups and individuals across geographies to build strong, resilient, and transformative movements.
Movements and leaders have seasons – it’s important to know which one you are in
🕵Opportunities
DE Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy (CFFP) Project Manager
BE European Climate Foundation Multiple vacancies
FR 2050NOW Environmental video journalist
FR Les Echos - Le Parisien Group Social Network Video Journalist
DE Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy (CFFP) Student Assistant
UK Womankind Worldwide Programmes and Learning Intern
BE Fair Trade Traineeship (Apr 12)
BE Friends of the Earth Corporate Accountability Campaigner (Apr 19)
/Washington, D.C. Civic Nation When We All Vote Social Media Manager
💻 ECOLISE General Manager (Apr 9)
💻Unicorn Authors Club Strategic Communications and Marketing Assistant
💻Fòs Feminista Social Media Coordinator
AUT Institute for Human Sciences (Junior) Eventmanager:in
New Imaginations - Journalism residency (Apr 14)
Yale Forest Forum Tribal Forestry: Understanding Current Issues and Challenges
Climate Change and You program
National Geographic funds storytelling proposals (Apr 11)
Summer School on Transparency offers scholarships (May 5)
UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education (May 24)
The Iris Prize 2024 for youth-led projects working to protect and restore nature and the rights of those working to defend it (Apr 30)
Earth Journalism Network Newly Green: A Course on the Green Recovery and Just Transition for Journalists online course
💼Fellowships
Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship: the selected journalists will spend six months in a program with access to MIT's Center for International Studies and media outlets like The Boston Globe and The New York Times. (Apr 21)
Vital Voices Global Fellowship (Apr 15)
EU-Canada Young Journalist Fellowship (May 6)
RAY Fellowship Program: focused on increasing opportunities for emerging leaders of color to learn about, engage with, and enter the conservation and clean energy NGO sectors. (Apr 5)
University of San Diego, Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice Women Peacemakers Fellowship (Apr 8)
Generation Next Humanitarian Fellowship Program (rolling basis)
Rotary Peace Fellowship (May 15)
Google Public Policy Fellowship (Apr 12)
Language Revitalization Fellowship
Thank you for being the driving force behind this blossoming journey!
With love,
Iva