We were very lucky to be approached by Black Mountains College as they were providing us with 2 bursary places for our members to attend their 5-day Ecological Futures Camp.
After sharing the opportunity with our members we received a number of applicants, but it was Brad and Robbie who were lucky enough to spend a glorious 5 days in Wales!
Here is what Robbie had to say about his experience:
“A few weeks ago, I jumped on the train at Leeds and settled into my seat, ready to watch the landscape change and the place names get less familiar. 5 hours later, I hopped off at Abergavenny (Y Fenni). I was there to attend a residential camp at the Black Mountain College in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog), along with about 25 other young folk between 16 and 24. The aim of the camp was to explore the (meaty?) question 'how do we make our food systems more just?'.
The college was just a short ride in a minibus from the station, but it was a friendly crowd and so by the time we arrived, people were well on their way to getting to know each other. To this was added some excellent food served by Two Trees Catering eaten outside amongst the stone buildings of Troed Y Harn (the college farm/campus), a campfire and the clearest night sky I’ve ever seen, so good Em-Gen style vibes.
There was a real mix of people; sixth form and university students, a few young landworkers, cafe workers and a lawyer, and a significant range in the breadth and depth of people’s knowledge. Over the next few days, the facilitators provided an overview of the history of land, food and farming in the UK, and some of the modern day issues. Afterwards, there was solo and group work to do, as well as a visit to nearby CSA Primrose Farm, exploring how we might go about addressing these. I think I can say that mostly, the ideas from the camp were focused on people and society’s relationship to food, farming and the land, and how we might go about changing these.
The obvious but difficult conclusion is that to create a just food system a lot needs to change, and there are lots of issues we need to work on. The general public needs to think more about where the food they’re eating comes from, land workers need to know that alternative methods are available and be able to put them into practice, governments need to regulate to support a transition to regenerative farming, and so on.
The beauty of groups like Em-Gen and the Ecological Futures camp is that they include people trying all sorts of different things - often at once. Personally, I’d like people who aren’t at all involved in land work to see the value it can add to your life, and be more interested in it, as something that can address lots of problems but doesn’t need to be a chore. I decided a while ago that I wanted to show my non-land-worker, non-environmentalist mates, and the folk from school and uni who follow me on social media, that land-work is a cool thing to do, with myself as a poster boy for its coolness. I’m not sure how this is going, but there you go. What I can say is that the Ecological Futures camp, as well as Em-Gen events, have convinced me that I can live my values and work at changing the world, while existing and supporting myself in a messy world.
I’m excited to see how everyone from the camp, and everyone in Em Gen, get on with their own journeys, but I’m also keen to see, and be part of, how they develop as groups - are there specific goals we can work towards? The Ecological Futures camp and EmGen have nailed what they were set up to do - so what next?”
Here is what Brad thought of the time spent there:
“The BMC Ecological Futures Camp was a transformative experience. Beyond all, I learned that I can manifest ideas into tangible projects; that I can turn my passion into a blazing fire. A highlight was working in a team to create a solution to problems in the food system. We chose to explore how we could convey 'the living spirit of the soil', after co-writing Haikus, brain dumping and intense conversation. A beautiful morning of nature meditation and singing Zulu songs inspired us to focus on how the soil sings... how all parts of nature - both the visible and invisible - are all singing, dancing and growing together! In just a few hours, we created songs, melodies, and dance moves and enveloped them into a short three minute drama performance! For me, this was transformative growth and healing. I realised that I could create. That I can work as a team. That I can both lead and be held in a team. Performing felt electric. To be part of a team that was both nervous and pushing the comfort zone but also so confident in our vision and in each other was an honour.
Another transformative element of the course was the openness, nuance and delicacy that infected the space. Thank you to all of the coursemates, facilitators and everyone involved in the course. The space felt diverse, with people from many different backgrounds, who wanted to build bridges - to build bridges and save the world! Although many of us had different contexts, there was a comradery in that traditional society wasn't serving us. In one way or another, we were all outsiders. For instance, many of us, like myself, had decided to leave university, to say no, and to instead yes to so much, to say yes to courses like EFC. Often I have been unsure if I belong in alternative and visionary spaces - in one set of terms and type of discourse I could be labelled as a white, heterosexual male. I felt that the space made room for both our common humanity, the necessary critical social theory, and the importance of bridge-building.
Feeling emboldened by our group performance and the support we received, I shared a poem in the closing ceremony to try and capture the magic I experienced at BMC.
Hazels, Birch, Oaks, Willows,
we travel from all over this land,
but, together, we form a forest,
hand in hand.
With our beautiful laughs,
we create new paths,
to guide and guard new travellers.
And if these new voyagers feel a little lost,
they can look up, and see our branches
curving,
touching,
bridging,
- shimmering in the wind.
I am deeply grateful to Emergent Generation for granting me a place on BMC's EFC.”
We are so happy these two EmGen’rs managed to benefit from the amazing offer of Black Mountains College Bursary for this amazing event. Emergent Generation wants to enable more young people to take advantage of these knowledge-sharing events, so make sure you read our monthly newsletters to see what offers we have for our members.
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