Community building is about the people who show up
Events organising is hard. But reciprocity makes it easier.
You’re invited! Brussels Climate Drinks
🗓️ 29 April from 18h CEST
📍Mazette, Brussels
Join us on the 29th April for another round of Brussels Climate Drinks! Anyone interested in climate justice is welcome. Networking optional. Fossil fuel lobbyists not invited. Info and free RSVP here.
Last week we held the second edition of Speed Dating for Activists 💘
I love organising events. I have to, otherwise I wouldn’t put myself and the team through the weeks of stress, venue hunting, graphic designs and promotion and jumping through hoops to keep the events free.
But even with years of practise, each event provides a strong reminder of two things:
1. People want human connection. I mean really want it.
Particularly in progressive movements, where the work can be relentless, isolating and overwhelming. Particularly now, where geopolitics throws our futures into precarity and uncertainty and we are confronted by the horrors of US imperialism, Israeli genocidal aggression and a disintegrating ecosystem.
It’s exhausting, by design. It’s so easy to decide we can’t be bothered to join that event, meet up with that friend, go to the neighbourhood meeting, in the urge to take a break from the onslaught of the outside world. But persistent isolation is the tool of authoritarianism and neoliberalism - a driver for our burnout and despair being presented as the cure.
Informal spaces to meet people, like normal people, not personalities on LinkedIn, are a tonic and we need to protect them.
2. Free events in the Brussels activist scene are providing that antidote to isolation - but creating these events for free is increasingly challenging & tiring too.
I and other grassroots event organisers in my network talk often about the struggle to manage the organisation alone or with a handful of volunteers, with little to no budget, around full-time jobs and other commitments.
Venues that were free begin to charge hundreds just for the space (one place started charging 500 EUR, not including drinks), collaborators pull out with no warning, volunteers wake up ill on the day of, people who swore they would be there then cancel at the last minute because they’re not feeling it, or because their managers are demanding a deadline by the end of the day and they’re swamped, but could we organise another?
I don’t say that to be petty. I know life happens. It happens to me too. We do this unpaid labour regardless, because we want to and because we believe it’s important and valued.
But building community is inherently reciprocal, and I have a never-ending appreciation and awe for the people who consistently show up. Even better, those who show up and say - how can I help? We have a venue you could use for the next one. I have invited all my friends tonight. I had an idea for an event I’d like to organise together with you, if you’re interested. You are the ones making this sustainable - financially, logistically, emotionally. See you at the next one.
What’s Going On?
‘Raise our heads and resist’: how Europe’s civil society is fighting back against the far right.
Related: ‘Assault on justice’: how far-right attacks are threatening rule of law in Europe.How the meat industry is quietly keeping its emissions off the climate agenda.
London police resume arrests of Palestine Action supporters despite High Court ruling.
If you’d like to support The Green Fix, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to receive extra essays on climate justice in everyday life. You can also tip us a virtual coffee.
In case you missed it…
EU Fundraising Academy: ‘Fundraising in a time of disruption’
🗓️ June 12, 2026, Brussels
Register now for the EU Fundraising Academy and learn what effective fundraising looks like for public interest organisations amid shrinking civic space and volatile funding landscapes. Find out more.
Book your sponsored slot by emailing wearethegreenfix@gmail.com.
So Now What Do I Do?
LEARN SOMETHING
Applications for the Introduction to Degrowth online course close on 10th April. Lowered fees of 150 EUR available for low-income applicants.
Barcelona: Join the Tech for Palestine Conference on the 11th April! Tickets are $75 (free for volunteers & refugees from Gaza).
Join this online training program on Disarming the Climate Crisis, on the intersection of militarism and climate justice. Starts 21st April.
Join this free online webinar on ‘How to meet the times’ by advaya on the 22nd April.
DO SOMETHING
The EU is offering funding for projects that tackle disinformation around climate change. Apply by the 15th April.
The Rhizome Fellowship is looking for narrative practitioners interested in systems change. Apply by 16th April.
Brussels: Young feminists are invited to apply for a 5-day summer camp on tackling violence against women. Deadline to apply is 17th April.
Stay in the loop
You can follow us on Instagram, Bluesky and LinkedIn. Connect with Cass on Instagram and LinkedIn.
So well put and not talked about enough ✊️
Strength to you ! What you are doing is amazing ! Happy to help if you need workforce for the next events