Hello again.
Sorry for the pause – we’ve been keeping busy here at XR Oxford…
Resting and recharging from the biggest Rebellion yet.
Planning and discussing on ways forward together.
Bringing new rebels into the fold.
Admiring new groups springing up in Abingdon, Wallingford, Wantage, and West Oxon (including Charlbury and Witney).
Read on for more about what we’ve been up to, and how you can get involved.
Coming up
Our next meetings:
Other Events
Sunday 9 June, 10.00 am – ‘Supporting children in the face of climate change’. Florence Park Community Centre, Oxford
Sunday 9 June, 12pm – XR Oxford at Green Week’s Eid Extravaganza. Cheney School, Oxford.
Wednesday 12 June, 8 pm – Restorative evening. Jericho Community Association, Oxford. Email derekelliott@icloud.com for a place.
Monday 17 June, 7.30 pm. ‘Heading for Extinction and What to Do About It’. Kings Head, Wantage.
Monday 17 June, 7:30 pm Public debate about Ox-Cam Expressway, Oxford Town Hall (£7)
Wednesday 19 June, 7 pm. XR Oxford new members induction. Tbc – East Oxford
Keep an eye on our Events list or subscribe to it
News from our Working Groups and Projects
Admin and Outreach
xroxfordcoordinator@gmail.com
Lots of outreach is going on all around Oxfordshire – Wood Festival, Oddball Festival, and the Eid Extravaganza at Oxford Green Week. See our Roles document for admin/outreach opportunities (and all sorts of other jobs) you can get involved with.
Actions
- A Framework for XR Actions has been drafted – for review and inspiration!
- We’re piloting a decision-making tool around debating and voting for actions.
Specific non-violent direct actions – get in touch if you’re interested in any!
- We want a few larger actions in the next 8 weeks, with an accessible non-violent direct action (NVDA) component for new members
- Another disruptive Barclays street party is being planned!
- Disrupting the Oxford Encaenia to push for divestment is being discussed – possibly with an alternative procession
Arts
xroxfordarts@gmail.com
We had a great time at Wood Festival printing up clothing with beautiful woodblocks loaned by XR Central. We’re in the process of making our own, so that we can support actions and hold printing events in Oxford. Masses of flag and badge printing has been going on. Badges are now in several shops around Oxford, collecting donations.
We’ve been invited to join the Cowley Road Carnival on July 7th. Get in touch to join our Carnival group!
We’re compiling a directory of creative people, so we can create events & actions that include all kinds of artists – dancers, singers, designers, crafters and more. If any one has a skill to contribute, please let us know…
The Citizens’ Assembly Project Team
Our own Zuhura Plummer will be representing Oxford XR on the Advisory Group for Oxford City Council’s fantastic new Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change! The Group will be independent of the Council, tasked with governance and oversight for the creation, structure and operation of the Assembly. Unfamiliar with how Citizens’ Assemblies work? Here’s an excellent XR podcast.
Oxford City Councillor Tom Hayes will meet Oxford XR on Monday 24th June at 7:30 pm – watch out for further details. Everyone welcome. The meeting will be an opportunity for us to influence the Council’s plans to reach carbon zero.
Communications
We’re recruiting! Interested in helping Oxford rebels have good access to information they need? Are you (maybe) a bit techie? We have lots of ways to help: promoting events, maintaining the website, keeping on top of Google Drive, online security, and more! Remote participation is very welcome, so if you find it difficult to get to meetings, this group could be for you.
We’ve been busy creating a plan for discussion channels, and generic emails for all of our Working Groups (listed on our website).
Need help getting to grips with any of our tools? Whether it’s Google Drive, mailing lists, email accounts, or anything else, please let us know.
Diversity and Inclusion
A new working group focusing on diversity and inclusion has been formed! Watch this space for more details – and please get involved.
Museum Relations Project Team
A few weeks ago we met with the Natural History Museum, to discuss collaborating to raise awareness around climate and ecological breakdown. We’ll be meeting them again on 11 June to suggest a “Heading for extinction” talk, and a die-in at the Museum to include public outreach and an art piece. Interested in giving the talk or joining the team?
Regenerative Culture (Regen)
xroxfordregen@gmail.com
We help fellow rebels do our activism in a way that respects ourselves and each other, and brings about the culture we’d like to see. Upcoming work includes:
- helping Affinity Groups promote healthy group culture and prevent burnout
- arrestee support
- workshops and sessions to help deal with the emotional impact of climate change
Upcoming restorative events
FREE restorative evenings to help ground and settle the body and mind.
Structure/Process Project Team
The structure/process project team used their first meeting to review and discuss the feedback gathered in the rebel assembly and online consultation process. They’ve also begun learning about the XR Self Organising System (SOS), defining the questions to address in their proposal for the structure of XR Oxford, and engaging with the UK SOS working group.
Training
xroxfordtraining@gmail.com
About 220 people have attended inductions so far! The next sessions will be 19 June and 15 July.
Non-Violent Direct Action (NVDA) Training
We hope to deliver more NVDA training soon, pending training for trainers from XR Central, following the revision of the NVDA training manual. Meanwhile we’ll carry on with the earlier version, beginning with a session in Wantage in July.
Other Trainings
We’re investigating how and when more Legal Observer training will be possible. Two of the team are soon to be trained as Meeting Facilitation trainers, and we hope will be teaching this hugely valuable skill very soon!
We’d love to have more people in the team so please get in touch.
Where can I find more information?
- Our website
- Make sure you’re subscribed to any mailing lists you want to be on
- Explore our internal resources (join our Discussion Group to access some materials)
- XR UK also have an Internal Newsletter