This week we sat down with Victor Vorski, re:build co-founder and founder of the Gathering of Tribes. We asked a bit about himself, his involvement in the regenerative movement, and his inspiration for the Gathering of tribes.
A MULTIDIRECTIONAL LIFE
“How to build villages for people like me?”
This is the question Victor had been asking himself for a long time.
Web startup enterpreneur, remote work advocate, community builder and architect, student of nature and passionate about new ways of learning, Victor does not fit in one box. He says it himself, “I have always been allergic to stiff systems” and “labels are dangerous”. That diversity, Victor makes it a strength and uses as a compass in his professional and personal life.
So when he first heard Jenny Anderson’s definition of regeneration: “it is about healing the story of separation between people and people, and people and nature”, he had an epiphany and the answer to his question: how to bring together creativity, entrepreneurship, new leadership, life-work balance, nature and community, which he believes are all interconnected anyway.
“it has helped me finally feel complete and full, not scattered everywhere anymore” he adds.
FROM RE:BUILD TO GATHERING OF TRIBES
Back at the start of the pandemic, Victor and four friends from across Europe came together online to discuss their own dreams of more regenerative futures and their need for community. That was the birth of the re:build movement which started with a 400 people online event in May 2020 and has now had three 100 people physical gatherings in Portugal in 2021, Costa Rica and the Netherlands in 2022.
By bringing together all of their networks, re:build became a way to build a community of communities or as Victor puts it: “ it is like in the forest. Re:build and the Gathering of Tribes contribute to growing the mycelium of the ecosystem”. There to support, inspire and share knowledge between existing organizations.
THE POWER OF FESTIVALS
Victor was inspired by his Burning man experiences as well as his time living in Japan and attending 100 years old cultural festivals.
From this he takes two main learnings:
- The power is not all in the massive structure or even the mind altering substances but in the consistency, the sense of continuity, showing up year after year giving people a sense of hope and that life goes on.
- Rather than top down programming, it is about creating a space for emergence, to allow for the little things, the serendipitous the joy that happens when people take ownership of something and co create together
For Victor there is something special about these “in between moments” that always happen, on the side of the big event. In a world where you can watch and download masterclasses from any world famous speakers and specialists, he believes the power and value now lies in the conversations. “You don’t learn by being told, dialogue and conversation is how we learn and make ideas our own” that is why for the Gathering of the Tribes, his focus is to create a space where the magic can happen in the “in between ‘.
Victor’s dream is to co-create an event that will foster the attitude we hope to take into the world and not simply a feeling that will last for the duration of the festival and vanish on Monday. He wants to turn the energy, hope and inspiration festivals give us and turn them into actions and commitments, encouraging us to show up into the world and contribute in the best way possible. That is why he committed himself to organize the Gathering every two years. “Festivals are powerful” he says, “but they don’t have to just be hedonistic, we can harness that power to do good”.
THE CO CREATION HAS STARTED
The Gathering of Tribes took time to get off the ground because such projects always demand a lot of work behind the scenes. But he is very grateful to see that many people are resonating with his vision and already bringing energy, ideas and skills together to co-create the camps.
Finding the land was also a project on its own and the Tribes are very happy to have found the Skanking Farmers. A project which shares a lot of the same vision and values as Victor and the re;builders: Creating a world where nature and its beings thrive, expressing the fulness of their potential. Contributing to the arising of global consciousness through regenerative actions.
The festival will be a wonderful opportunity to learn from the stewarts of the land and the visiting tribes as well as strengthen collaboration with surrounding projects in the area.
When we asked Victor what he was most looking forward to, it was no surprise that he answered “ the surprises!”, September 14th will after all be his 50’s birthday.
The Gathering of Tribes – 14th – 18th September 2022 https://gatheringoftribes.earth/
Skanking farmers: https://skankingfarmers.com/the-project/