MiniGrant:
Bohynie Academy – development meeting for activists working for the protection of the Carpathian Forest

“We feel close to wilderness and cannot live without it. We see the identity of the violence that power and capitalism commit against nature and women”

About the group

Bohynie are a feminist collective created by women working together, among others, in the Wild Carpathians Initiative. Its members organize themselves, seeing the need to empower environmental activists – although they are more numerous than men, the latter are more likely to be leaders. At the same time, Bohinie see the differences in the nature of actions that persons of different genders initiate in the ecological movement. They grew up hearing that men have serious substantive knowledge, operate with hard facts, and their opposite are “emotional” – implicitly feminine – statements. Bohynie want to protect the Carpathian Forest with full strength, doing it empathically, peacefully, with faith and tenderness.

“We can be the voice of nature. We want to pass on our sensitive and ecofeminist perspective to others”

About the action

The members of the collective will conduct the “Bohynie Academy”, during which they will conduct activities empowering their group and explore the girlish side of ecological activism. Each of them will enrich the course of the meeting with her skills. They planned, among others, a hike along Bohynie Trail, acting improvisation workshops, writing protest songs, and creating films concerning the protection of the Carpathian Forest. Inspired by bohynie from Bieszczady (local goddesses), they will also write fairy tales about members of the group.

Grant amount: PLN 4 900
Photographs from the group’s own materials