These behaviours grew out of conversations, interviews, and reflections with people rooted in local communities and organising spaces. We didn’t set out to define a framework, but patterns emerged. Not as fixed truths, but as principles that seem to support more just, connected and life-affirming ways of working.
They reflect what people notice when change feels possible. They aren’t a checklist or a perfect map. They’re messy, sometimes contradictory, and not always easy to hold onto. But we’ve found that they offer a “good enough” foundation for collective work. They guide how we show up, what we pay attention to, and what we try to grow across our systems.
These behaviours sit in the overlaps of perspective, participation, and power.
PERSPECTIVE
We act as part of an interconnected whole
We are part of something larger, each other, the land, the wider web of life. No single effort sits in isolation. What we do ripples outward, shaped by and shaping those around us.
We move with shared purpose, not uniformity
People come together around a common desire for change. That doesn’t mean we always agree, but we try to hold space for different truths while staying in relationship with one another.
We recognise and build on strengths
People bring skills, insight, culture, care, and lived experience. Strength isn’t individual heroism, it’s how we resource one another, especially when the system doesn’t.
PARTICIPATION
Trusting relationships make space for hard conversations
When people feel safe, they can speak the unspeakable, challenge power, navigate disagreement, and stay in the work. This isn’t always comfortable, but it is vital.
Leadership is shared, not centralised
Leadership looks different depending on context. It’s not a role or a job title, it’s about taking responsibility, making space, and acting with care from wherever we are.
Learning is constant, collective and responsive
We stay open to changing course. We try things out, reflect together, and let our understanding shift based on what emerges. Learning includes failure, grief, insight and surprise.
POWER
Power is named, shared, and challenged
Power shows up in every space. We don’t pretend it’s neutral. Instead, we try to notice where power sits, where it’s hoarded, and how it can be redistributed, especially in the face of structural inequality.
Decisions are made by those closest to the issue
People on the frontlines of a situation carry deep expertise. We try to centre that wisdom, and make space for action without waiting for permission from ‘above’.
Accountability is relational, not punitive
We hold each other close, not to catch each other out, but to stay grounded in shared purpose. Real accountability means being answerable to the people most impacted and being open to change.