The Amazons Took Over Kraków – Final Conference and Mobility for girls “Amazons Come Together”

Five working days, four countries and a group of young women with plans for the planet

From 25 to 31 October, with the first and last days spent travelling, young women and mentors from Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal & Brazil gathered in Kraków to crown the Amazons project. The goals were simple to state and ambitious to deliver: spread the project’s mission among more women, give them room to speak up, and connect future environmental leaders with each other. Before anything else, the group agreed on a Safe Space policy, because people take risks, ask real questions and say unpolished things only when the room allows it.

The first thing the Amazons did in Kraków was introduce each other as animal hybrids. It is hard to stay formal when you are explaining why your new friend is half one creature and half another, and that was the idea. By the end of the first session, strangers from four countries were laughing at the same joke.

The mobility days moved from the personal to the political. In “Womanhood in the Identity Matrix”, participants looked at how gender shapes their endeavours and which of their own identities carry weight. A Fishbowl Debate asked who is privileged in environmental questions, where the barriers are and how both women and men help build them. The Leadership Tree asked what a perfect leader is made of, and what each participant would have to practise to become one.

Then came the NGO Fair, where leaders of environmental organisations sat down for open conversations on topics such as working in developing countries, a fairy tale that protects biodiversity, what we lose when a landscape changes, activism behind the scenes and managing renewable energy projects. In “Our Capacity”, participants began designing initiatives of their own, learning to size an idea to the people and resources a group really has. This is a lesson many professionals take years to learn.

Some of the work was also tactile. One group made handcrafts from waste while learning about the fashion industry, overconsumption and the export-import routes that clothing travels. The results turned out beautiful, and the campaigns that came with them were put together quickly. Others designed a logo and slogan for an environmental issue, and practised advocacy for a cause in their own countries, including the obstacles they are likely to meet there.

Then the conference opened, and the stage went to the women. Everyone who wanted to speak was given space. Presentations covered the Amazons research, the Green Modern Forest, Emission Impossible, sustainable fashion, women’s creativity in a man’s world, women’s health and COP31. One presentation followed the mobilisation of women affected by the largest socio-environmental disaster in Brazil. A keynote on leading through failure reminded the room that leadership includes the days when things go wrong. An expert panel made the case for empathetic leadership.

Evenings belonged to the group. The Intercultural Night brought Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal into one room, with fun facts about women and nature. Speed dating built connections faster than any conference lobby could. At the end, the community voted for the Young Amazons Award. You will hear about our winners soon!

The participants say it better than we can. One wrote that she learned “that resilience is a gift that must be built in union with other women.” Another learned “how to speak up even though I thought it was a bit scary.” A third noted that it “wasn’t just a sit still and listen week, but it was very collaborative,” and that people from different backgrounds “can still be very passionate about the same goal.” Of the 22 respondents to our evaluation, 21 rated their contribution to a safe and open atmosphere 4 or 5 out of 5, and 20 gave the same rating to the meaningful connections they made.

The Amazons went home with new contacts, sparked initiatives and a clearer sense of what they can do. We hope those initiatives are finished and live soon. When they are, we will be the first to share them, and probably the loudest to cheer.