Led by Jane Hope, Samara Pitt and Shannon Ormiston from Gembrook Retreat

Would you like to engage more in the Quaker Climate Action Plan? Do you want some dedicated time with others to understand it and discover what might be yours to do? Or do you want some inspiration to keep going with the climate action work you are already involved in? If so, then this course is just right for you.

Gembrook Retreat has used the Active Hope work of Joanna Macy as a way to be encouraged, to engage with others and discover what is ours to do as we face climate change. We see that it could also empower Quakers as we enact the Quaker Climate Action Plan.

The Active Hope course unfolds as a Spiral journey through four stages: Coming from Gratitude, Honouring our Pain for the world, Seeing with New/Ancient Eyes, and Going Forth. The journey helps us experience first hand that we are larger, stronger, more creative - and more deeply interconnected - than we knew.

We will spend time experiencing nature connection, sharing in deep reflection in both large and small groups, singing and eating together, and learning some frameworks and tools for responding with Quaker depth and wisdom to the climate emergency and extinction crisis. We will look closely at how this body of work connects to Quaker practices and concerns, and how Quakers collectively can use its insights to respond to the confronting situation we face.

With this intention, for the final ‘Going Forth’ section of the Spiral where we reflect on our work for change in the world, we will focus on the proposed actions in the Quaker Climate Action Plan.

Gembrook Retreat is a 22 acre property on the border of Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung/Bunurong country on the outskirts of Narrm/Melbourne. It is a trust property set up by Maggie Dunkle, a Quaker woman, in 2000. Maggie believed that the property should be made available for all to experience spiritual renewal through connection with the land. In this time of climate crisis, we believe that by practising simplicity, community, land-based contemplation and engaging in the work of decolonisation, we can equip and encourage each other to live a soulful life. Jane, Samara and Shannon have been running Active Hope workshops for 3 years.