On a cold, breezy fall weekend in December, a group of passionate, dedicated, like-minded individuals gathered for a weekend to strategize, hang out, and connect with each other around the CCN. We started off the weekend with a fun game night filled with deep questions, tea, and blankets. It was a very fun night connecting with each other and finding out things we didn’t know before.

The next day was a fun full day of CCN discussion and planning with student activists from many various different schools in the area. We even had a chance to skype in to people who were unable to attend for part of the day.

One of my favorite activities came at the start of the day. Our visioning session was very inspirational and motivating for me. We read the Declafesto aloud and discussed what we spoke to us. The Declafesto is an all-encompassing document that was created at the start of CCN to state the mission of the CCN and to empower people to action with principles to “guide our rapid transition to a sustainable, just, and prosperous future for all”. With this document in mind, we pulled out the main focuses that resonated with us.

One small piece that I found very compelling was focusing on educating others and inspiring the younger generation to action. The children in school now are the ones who will carry on the actions and steps of today so we need to empower them as well and lay a strong, sustainably focused, and just foundation for them.
Other takeaways, or “gold nuggets”, we saw were valuing community based solutions, involving a wide range of people and casting a broad net, and creating new systems. As we went through our day and discussed the direction CCN would go, we kept these founding ideas in mind.

Another piece of the day that was enlightening was community updates where we heard what each campus was doing and how the communities were engaging in making their area a more sustainable place. This was a great time to get ideas of what projects to do as well as to see ways to build coalitions and expand campaigns. Some of the projects and campaigns that are being worked on are divestments, Washington carbon tax, stopping coal exports, compost and recycling campaigns, solar arrays, bike initiatives, Take Back the Tap, Earth Week, reducing paper waste, and food action collectives, among many other projects.

It was really exciting to hear what everyone else was doing and how we each could plug in to something. Sharing our ideas helped me feel more connected to the people and campuses in the area. I felt very inspired by everyone’s dedication and spirit. Everyone was making a positive change in their own way and in their own communities. I hope we have more time in our next gatherings to share how those projects are moving forward and evolving.

Overall, Fall Flurry was an inspirational, rejuvenating, and reviving experience and I am so happy I had the opportunity to talk with such amazing people. I hope you will say yes if you are able to attend any gathering of the CCN or to get involved.

I now want to do a quick call to Winter Fermentation which is our next CCN gathering and is taking place in February. It will be a time where we can keep our region’s youth climate organizing strong! We will be focusing on regional and community campaigns, as well as offering workshops, presentations, and spaces for dialogue.

Winter Fermentation will be the weekend of February 22nd-24th at Millersylvania State Park in Olympia, Washington. Cost is $20 but we do not want that to be a barrier to anyone attending so if it is, please let us know. If you need help with transportation, we can help as well. We really hope you will say yes to this opportunity and come for a great weekend. If you have questions, please email us at [email protected] Here is the link to the registration form: http://bit.ly/Fermentation2013