Walking Forest Online Gathering – 16 November 2020
The invitation: Join an international online gathering for Women Earth defenders and activists to share personal accounts, make connections and inspire courage in us all. This online gathering will be participatory and nourishing inviting participants to share and listen to personal accounts of activism, campaigning, community organising and alternative structures and systems to care for and protect the Earth. There will also be an open dialogue to explore how women from across the world might connect and work together at COP26 in November 2021 in Glasgow. Our gathering takes place in the absent footprint of 2020’s cancelled COP26.
We started with the question: Tell us about when you decided to act with and on behalf of the natural world Farhana Yamin, climate lawyer and activist (@farhanaclimate) and Xandra Gilchrist, activist with Stop HS2 (High Speed Rail) www.stophs2.org began by sharing their personal response to this question followed by break outs into small groups for more intimate exchanges and introductions. Followed by group writing in the chat in response to What Universal laws guide you?
What laws do we need that we don’t have to protect our land, the Earth and the living world? Jojo Mehta (Chair of Stop Ecocide Foundation and co-founder global campaign Stop Ecocide) https://www.stopecocide.earth and Dr Achala Abeysinghe, lawyer and country representative of Papua New Guinea @AchalaC spoke in response to this question drawing on their local and global campaigning and experience.
What is COP26? What can be influenced ? Farhana Yamin gave a brief introduction and overview to the International climate talks and COP26 in Glasgow, UK in 2021
I see, I smell, I hear, I feel…… collective visioning/dreaming in the build up to the COP26 Climate Talks and what collective action we may undertake. Shelley documented the gathering throughout with a series of drawings.