The 2019 London-based Flourishing Diversity Series encapsulated an opening ceremony, a Summit at University College London, and multiple Listening Sessions. The five-day series provided a collaborative space where representatives of 17 different Indigenous communities came together to share their wisdom, ideas, and strategies for addressing contemporary environmental challenges.

Incorporating powerful speeches, workshops, ancestral songs, stories, and ceremonies, participants were invited to deepen their awareness and understanding of their role and responsibility in sustaining and creating places where diversity can flourish.

Watch recordings from the event

A message from a young Indigenous activist

17yr old climate justice activist Xiye Bastida saw her home town in Mexico devastated by drought and floods. She has ex... Watch

Listening Session with the Bishnoi

In this Listening Session, Mahesh Sufi, a Bishnoi documentary filmmaker, explains how by following these simple princip... Watch

Listening Session with the Idu Mishmi

The ancestral homeland of the Idu Mishmi community of Northeast India is the rugged and densely forested Dibang Valley,... Watch

Listening Session with Ashaninka & Guarani

Despite horrific violence, invasion, and destruction of their ancestral homeland by multiple industries, the Ashaninka ... Watch

Listening Session - Wisdom of Mother Earth

Featuring Indigenous Women and Wisdom Keepers from all four corners of the globe, this Listening Session celebrates the... Watch

Listening Session with the Juǀ'hoan Khoisan

Meet Mr.ǂOma Tsamkxao, affectionately known as Chief Bobo, of the Juǀ’hoan San (Khoisan) in Namibia. During a Liste... Watch

Listening Session with the Arhuaco Mamos

The Mamos are spiritual leaders from the Arhuaco nation of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Indigenous people... Watch

Summit impact & outcomes

  • Over 1000 people attended over the 3 days including members of various Extinction Rebellion groups, students, conservation non-profits, conservation funders, school teachers, academics, media, religious leaders and renowned activists including Vandana Shiva, Bruce Parry and Kofi Klu.
  • Seven major broadcast and online outlets covered the event with a combined reach of over 7.63 million. We facilitated interviews with a number of the Indigenous representatives for the BBC, TIMES magazine, Forbes, Metro and Le Monde.
  • The idea for the Mother Earth Delegation of United Indigenous Nations was seeded on day 3 of the summit and has now become its own initiative.
  • Three Indigenous communities were directly connected to funders, bringing support to their projects.
  • An opportunity for collaboration to strengthen work in the Amazon rainforest was identified at the event and has now become its own initiative.
  • Art duo Alexandrov Klum created Voices, a film capturing wisdoms from six of the traditions represented.
  • Indigenous representatives reported great value and learning from listening to and conversing with other communities facing very similar challenges. A number of new project ideas were sparked during the summit.