Annual Gathering 2023 – Weaving Dreams of Community
Edge of the Wild is a yearly gathering for those involved with or interested in ecopsychology. It has been happening every year (bar 2020 and 2021) since 2012, at Green and Away, a tented conference centre near Worcester.
At Edge of the Wild, we live together for four days in a canvas village, in the midst of trees, bushes and flowers, a short walk from a river. We eat together, dream together, talk together, work and play and dance together, in shifting combinations – sometimes we also cry together or argue together. Each year is different, but what stays the same is our commitment to a world of which humans are a part, alongside other species, rather than being apart, separate from the rest of existence and believing ourselves to be superior. Rather than a conference in the usual sense, the event is therefore a gathering, in which we challenge the Western consumer model. It is a place where we engage with the work of ecopsychology as it emerges spontaneously, not necessarily in accordance with pre-determined outcomes or objectives.
This year’s theme encourages us to attend to the diversity of the web of life and death on Earth. By finding opportunities to explore, grieve, and celebrate the difference that makes this animal, human, fungal, plant, and elemental web meaningful, we can cultivate a more robust sense of unity and help bring reparative justice to all.
Edge of the Wild gathering is an opportunity to engage with this challenge and open ourselves to move and be moved, whether this means spilling over and making a mess or reaching the sky and inspiring visions. Your unique experiences of difference have provided wisdoms that need to be heard. Authentically sharing and attentively listening to the stories of people and beings unlike ourselves can bring us more tightly together.
This gathering is a held space for emergent processes, where workshops and activities evolve in response to the group’s unfolding needs. Come along to nurture the socio-ecological community you long for and weave your dreams, feelings, and voices into a complex cloth of many textures and colours.
For those who have never attended Edge of the Wild before, our focus is very much on process,
rather than ‘event’. In recent gatherings, as in this one the theme is explored with at least these five tools –
How Edge of the Wild works
There is also space for a range of activities including an open mic session round the bonfire, dancing, swimming in the river, and chatting round the tea tent and bar. There will also be an introductory ‘what is ecopsychology?’ session for those who want it. There will be a Ceilidh dance on Saturday night.
As in previous years, we have invited individuals who attend as guests of the gathering, who we feel will nourish our process, and hopefully will also themselves be nourished by it. We are not asking for anything in particular from them other than their presence, though they may be moved to offer workshops or other contributions. Our invited guests are Yasmin Kapadia, Alyson Hallett and Matthew Henson – you can read their bios here Edge of the Wild 2023 – Invited Guests. We will be honouring other than human guests including the river Teme, and the wild geese. We will also have artists in residence.
You can look at / download at our programme here – 2023 programme.
The organising committee would particularly like to welcome people from low income backgrounds and from black, asian, or global majority ethnic backgrounds. Please get in touch at edgeofthewild2012@gmail.com to find out about bursaries.
We look forward to greeting you at the fireside.
Love,
Edge of the Wild organising group
To get your ticket, book here https://www.eventbrite.com/…/edge-of-the-wild-gathering…