What to Expect

EcoGatherings are regular, ongoing opportunities to gather across experience, distance, and generations to reckon with and respond to the unprecedented times in which we find ourselves, as individuals, communities, and cultures. We create safe spaces to ask hard questions and to sit in uncertainty without judgment. To some extent or another, we are all confused, questioning, and curious about finding meaning in modernity. In our EcoGatherings, we help each other untangle the knotted threads of reality together.

Our attendees find relief in the general understanding of the current world that fellow participants share. We do not have to re-explain or justify how or why we got to our worldviews and philosophies based on our criticisms of the dominant economy and culture. This allows us an expansive and supportive space to hold difficult questions. Rather than assuming the “doomer” role whose job is always to draw attention, again and again, to all that is wrong, in EcoGatherings we get right to the interesting, clear-eyed, emotional, and even exciting topics of how to respond and build more liberating and survivable futures.

EcoGatherings are an opportunity to practice hard conversations with others outside the community. We meet each other where we are. Some folks are better at discussing different aspects of our predicament (or polycrisis, or metacrisis, or collapse), and we can learn from each other how to engage those in our place-based networks in similar conversations.

We encourage each other to live into the change that we wish to see in the world. We remind each other of our values and keep them consistently front of mind.

Finally, EcoGatherings offer a cozy, laidback, friendly, welcoming place to hang out and discuss interesting topics and gain inspiration and hope from a growing network of aligned thinkers and actors.

So how will these EcoGatherings work, you ask? We’ll usually have some suggested (but not required!) reading or listening that you can do beforehand. We’ll start with check-ins, a grounding, an introduction to this session’s topic, and a variety of breakout room conversations before reconvening for a large group discussion.

We alternate days and times to accommodate as many friends as possible. Check the calendar for the next EcoGathering or scroll our Events page to see what topics we’ll be gathering around in the coming months. All listed times are in ET.

EcoGatherings are free to participate in – the only requirement is to agree to uphold our community guidelines for sharing an online space. Of course, if you would like to support the continuation of EcoGather, you can make a tax deductible donation.

Hope to see you at the next EcoGathering!