While other Australians celebrated Valentine’s Day in a more 'traditional' way, perhaps with chocolate and flowers, FoEM’s Act on Climate collective members celebrated a much deeper sense of connection at our first ever Collective Retreat. The retreat was held at Commonground, on the ancestral lands of the Taungurung People in Hilldene, Victoria. Nestled amongst the gum trees stand a collection of mudbrick dwellings dating back generations, in constant expansion and development. Yet Commonground’s vision, which is shared with Act on Climate, is timeless: a just, nonviolent and sustainable world.
Some members of the Act on Climate Collective, outside the Octagon at Commonground.
On Friday evening, members met at the Octagon for a potluck dinner and were able to connect with the land and with each other. Under a sky full of stars, people slept in tents or the tiny huts and awaited a full day of sharing and strategising. Saturday began with a simple activity that enabled members to identify their values, interests and skills. Act on Climate feels that every member brings a gift to collective activism, and these gifts were organised into categories: gifts of the head, hands, heart, ancestry, connection and daily life.
After lunch, a relaxing swim and a few rounds of hacky sack, the afternoon led into more strategic work focused around the collective’s direction for the year ahead. This included the participatory timeline activity, a look back at Act on Climate’s past actions, and the strategic web exercise.
Collective members tangled in a web of work (trust the process).
In the web, members formulated ideas about the various strands of work and decided where to focus energy. Campaigner Vicky shared one possible vision that included continued work towards obtaining the Victorian Community Climate Adaptation Fund, ongoing liaising and momentum-building with the Frontline Climate Adaptation Victoria (FCAV), and opportunities for community education and engagement around climate adaptation.
Late afternoon strategizing in the cool shade.
With community-strengthening at its core, Act on Climate believes “revolution is relational”. Sunday morning began with a masterclass on consensus decision making, an important element of FoE’s non-hierarchical organisation. Working groups met to focus on specific areas, such as the adaptation pilot project with the Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre and the broader political strategy for the year. Additionally, Act on Climate continues to develop the plan, as well as the community engagement, with the upcoming Adaptation Fair scheduled for September.
Retreat check-out in the dam, a highly recommended activity.
“It was a beautiful opportunity for us as a collective to connect with each other and to our climate justice work. At Commonground, we were able to gather energy and motivation to continue and grow our work. We left with a clear vision, strategies and tactics. A highlight was discussing our key take aways from the weekend while swimming in the dam and diving of the jetty.” Kimmi
AoC acknowledges that we gathered on Taungurung land, and pay our respect to elders, past present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded, and AoC is committed to solidarity with First Nations people.
We would also like to thank Commonground for their generosity in hosting our collective and supporting our work.
Together we can help prepare communities for now unavoidable climate impacts!
Get in touch if you'd like to get involved or hear more about what we're doing:
- Kimmi Bebendorf: [email protected], or
- Kim Croxford: [email protected]
Remember, you're always welcome to join Act on Climate's weekly meetings. Our organising and action meetings will take place on the alternative fortnight to the Organising Training Workshops.
All weeks include dinner. Register here for an upcoming Tuesday.
Support the Act on Climate collective!
Want to help ensure we can continue doing the vital work of preparing Vic communities for climate impacts? Please help us continue our work preparing communities for locked-in climate impacts by making a once-off donation or signing up for monthly donations and becoming a member of AoC.
Act on Climate is actively bringing together people around Vic preparing their communities, generating impactful adaptation from the grassroots, while pressuring the Vic Gov to adequately fund community-led climate adaptation.
Donations will go towards a 2026 Climate Adaptation Fair and enable us to continue free Community Resilience Mapping and other events.