After a full day at the Ecofeminist Fair, the celebration continued with a reception, vegan dinner and party. Before entering the venue, a beautiful interactive new performance called “EARTH” by Stiltlifestreet Theater welcomed attendees and invited them to participate in a dance featuring the natural elements: fire, water, and air (see this short video for a feel of the performance). 

With a festive drink in hand, Marieke van Doorninck and Aniek Moonen – WECF’s Board of Trustees Co-Chairs – took us on a trip down memory lane, passing the torch from WECF’s founding to its future. We needed to start with the wonderful woman who started it all: Marie Kranendonk. She took us back to the founding of WECF, back when it was still called Women in Europe for a Common Future. Jumping ahead 15 years, she passed the torch to Sascha Gabizon, who has continued to build and lead WECF over the years. She reflected on the strength and resilience of partners, in particular in Ukraine. In closing she said “I wish power to the ecofeminist movements and many more successful years to the WECF teams and partners”.

Marie Kranendonk on the podium next to Sascha Gabizon / photo credit: “Josette Oegema / WECF”

Moving onto WECFs current team, WECF Germany Director Annemarie Mohr and WECF The Netherlands Director Christy Aikhorin, gave thanks to all of those who have accompanied us on our ecofeminist journey to bring us to where we are today. But of course, at the heart of WECF is its network, and we are grateful that partners like Trupti Jain joined us to reflect on her connection to WECF. However, the biggest surprise of all was that Priscilla Achakpa, Founder of Women Environmental Programme in Africa, came all the way to The Netherlands to join us in celebrating this special moment. Lastly, the torch was passed to two WECF colleagues: Janna Lenders and Rebecca Heuvelmans who invited everybody present to continue to imagine and work for a world filled with what “ecofeminists want”. 

And of course, it wouldn’t be a WECF celebration if we didn’t end the night with some amazing vegan food and dancing until the late hours!

We want to thank all those who joined us in celebrating this milestone and we invite you all to continue to join us in building the ecofeminist movement!

Representatives from WECF and partner WEP

 

 

This event is funded the European Union. The discussion and content of the event are the sole responsibility of WECF and partner organisers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.