Values

Courage

We want to encourage ourselves and others to have discussions and to face changes. Courage to us means expressing ourselves even in difficult social contexts. It means showing our vulnerability, and being creative. It’s courageous to appreciate someone else’s self-expression, even when they disagree with you. Courage means being curious on many levels and in different contexts. 

Wellbeing

We want to increase wellbeing in ourselves and in our sphere of influence. In our work this means for instance that we keep the work meaningful and make sure that our volunteers only do what they have the time and resources to do. Focusing on wellbeing doesn’t mean shying away from difficult topics or from highlighting conflicts. Our goal is, however, that over time wellbeing should always increase.

Openness to realities

We want to create actions which have a real effect in a globalised world facing a climate catastrophe. This means that our actions need to be developed methodically and carefully on a local level, as well as expanding from smaller communities onto a societal level. Although the idea isn’t easy to internalise, it isn’t in fact detrimental to our wellbeing – after the initial anxiety – to face the temporal scale and the scope of the climate catastrophe. Facing up to the situation adds to our wellbeing if we allow our thoughts to go beyond the initial reaction. It takes several deep conversations in an inspiring group – but it’s possible. If we walk with our backs to the future we can’t be prepared for the effects of the climate catastrophe or have a say on its direction. If your kitchen is on fire, there’s no time for blame and hopelessness. However, in the catastrophe we’re facing now we paradoxically need time for dialogues. In order to ensure a future for ourselves and our loved ones, we need to face the facts and act accordingly. One example are the temporal realities of the climate catastrophe: what we achieve by 2030 will have a huge impact. Other, interconnected realities include: the way the economy works needs to change; governments need more control over the destructive behaviour of individuals and companies; the consumption of natural resources needs to decrease.

Diversity

We value diversity in people, and want to make it visible. We’d also like non-mainstream viewpoints to be taken into consideration. Conflicts between different countries and cultures should be resolved in an equal way, not as a result of historical divisions of power.

Equality

To us, equality doesn’t mean reducing everyone to the same standard, or reversing traditional structures of power. To us, equality means parity. For this reason, we want to take accessibility into consideration, and to create spaces for all kinds of people to get their voices heard and take part in decision-making. We want to put an end to all kinds of discrimination, be it on the basis of sex, gender, skin colour, creed, sexual orientation, age, ability, language, or any other quality.