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Re-storying our relations with the natural world

An arts-based workshop to re-imagine our connection with nature

Re-imagining is a practice of hope that can help sustain our planet. A first step is to reflect on the ways we have “storied” our belonging and connections to the natural world. Some stories privilege humans over other beings or treat lands and waters as resources to be exploited by people. Re-storying transforms narratives so we can re-imagine our relationships and inspire responsible ways of relating with the natural world.

In this six-session workshop, participants will engage with the practice of “re-storying” through writing and illustration exercises. In each session, participants will re-imagine narratives that encourage reciprocal relationships with the natural world and those who inhabit it. At the end of the workshop, participants’ creative work will be showcased in a collective online publication.

This workshop is for YOU if you’re interested in:

  • exploring connection with the natural world through a creative lens 
  • storytelling and story sharing  
  • creative-making-thinking  
  • playful community-making  

These sessions will be led by Andrea Vela Alarcón, from the Abya Yala rainforest territory, currently known as the Peruvian Amazon. Andrea is an artist and community educator interested in facilitating spaces of critical conversations on ecological survival.

What to expect: All six sessions of the workshop will be conducted online. The sessions will involve embodied exercises, short readings, conversations and creative writing and illustration exercises. Each session will conclude with collective sharing. 

Dates: 6 sessions every Friday from June 9 to July 14
Time:12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. PT (3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET)
Capacity: 12 participants
Format: Online via Zoom

Applications will close on May 15 at midnight. Preference will be given to folks based in B.C. If you want more information on the application process contact davidq@sierraclub.bc.ca, for information on the content of the workshop, contact andreavla@gmail.com

Spaces will be limited so if you are interested, please apply soon!

About the workshop facilitator, Andrea Vela Alarcón

Andrea Vela Alarcón (she/her/ella) is a brown settler in Tkaronto. She is from the Abya Yala rainforest territory, currently known as the Peruvian Amazon. Andrea is a community educator interested in facilitating spaces of critical conversations on ecological survival. She has been working with communities for over ten years, using popular education and cultural production, particularly visual media and storytelling. Through her work, Andrea collaborates with communities in the crafting of stories that center refusal and resistance to the logics of extractive capitalism. Recognizing the often emotional and physical tax of environmental justice work, her creative encounters and workshops prioritize moments of joy, play and care.