This update announces some significant changes in All for Climate. Answering new opportunities and aspirations in life, Leen Schelfhout is transitioning out of All for Climate in the next few months after four years. Babette De fauw and the rest of the team will take over her role.

- We hold a General Assembly on October 24th - at 19:30 CEST; all collectives are invited.

- The statutes of the non-profit will be changed in November-December. 

- If you are interested in officially joining the board of All for Climate, please contact [email protected] (or comment below). We hope to welcome some of our most active collectives to the board so All for Climate can continue running as a commons. 🙏🏽

Four years ago, in early 2019, I joined the local chapters of Extinction Rebellion, first in Antwerp, where we kicked off the first meetings, and later in the national group, where I filled the role of locomotive of the Regenerative Culture Circle. I was amazed by the energy, drive, and community building happening at an incredibly fast pace, not only in Belgium but all around the world. The global movement ringing the alarm bells for more climate and social justice, a movement that had been around for decades, caught momentum and became so loud and present that it finally accelerated the global awareness around the topic.

Local chapters of various initiatives popped up everywhere: Fridays for Future, XR, Youth and Students for Climate, Rise for Climate, … all with their own colours and methods but all for the same cause: system change, not climate change. They were All for Climate (Justice).

Workshop March 2020 with Fridays for Future, Brussels

They also shared an issue. They needed a bank account to receive some funds for collectives of active citizens getting organised. Since doing that in someone’s name is hard, you need a non-profit. But because of the nature of these collectives, 100% volunteer-driven citizen initiatives, creating a non-profit and keeping the finances tidy is not so evident.

This is why we - my partner Xavier and myself (and Nele and Jean-François who were crazy enough to join the board 🌸) - started one nonprofit that we could share with all those movements and manage as a commons: All for Climate, a safe back office that would provide an easy way for collectives to raise funds and to do easy and transparent bookkeeping. We started with a handful of collectives and have grown over four years into a back office for 230 collectives all over Europe. We have helped them get started, raise funds, spend the money, and keep their bookkeeping tidy. Thanks to this shared infrastructure for climate movements, activists can spend their time doing actions, not on paperwork.

Climate March Brussels 2020

Although running this back office might not be the most exciting part of helping the climate and social justice movement, we can feel the impact of our work on activists on the ground every day. I  onboarded all collectives currently hosted by All for Climate, and building that personal relationship with motivated local activists was my main driver to keep levelling up the support for their important work. Activists are a public good and deserve all the help they can get to be as successful as possible. Experiencing their passion and drive to make a change was a true honour.

Yet, after four years, I'm being pulled towards other dreams and aspirations I'm eager to explore. Secondly, I need time to regenerate and realign with who I have become. I need rest and spaciousness. And thirdly, rotation in responsibilities and roles is key in healthy, regenerative projects. We bring our wisdom as well as our limitations. It is time for a new cycle to begin. This is why, with this writing, I am announcing that I will leave All for Climate. 

A lovely team of incredible people will take over my role as a source, driver, first contact person for all collectives, executive director when paperwork needs to be signed, operational lead and all-around problem solver. I will surely miss the team. The levels of well-being, mutual support, and growing together are exceptional in this team. All my gratitude for what A4C has become in the past years goes to them and how they not only deeply understand the mission of A4C but to how they were able to hold up questions and processes with a calmness and trust that is exceptional for the times we live in. 🙏🏽💚

In August 2023, Babette De fauw joined the team, and since then, we have been working together closely to teach her everything the back office requires. I have documented all the work needed to run All for Climate, and the team can start conversations about responsibilities and accountabilities.

At the end of October, we will have a public General Assembly. All collectives are invited to this. From there, we will choose new members for the non-profit and change the statutes with the new representatives and executive director of All for Climate. This is a warm call and invitation to carry on the work of creating and holding a back office for a decentralised climate and social justice movement in Europe. Feel welcome to join the team.

I will be part of the core team until the end of the year, but I will progressively reduce my presence starting in November to ensure a smooth transition. Although I will no longer be part of the core team, I will remain a supporter and absolute superfan of all collectives and the All for Climate team. We owe you and your fights so much. 💚

With love and (cou)rage
Leen

With Nele, Xavier and Leen - original sparks of All for Climate