Resilience Lab
for queer migrant activists, artists and community organisers in Berlin
Resilience Lab is a one-day participatory workshop, which explores how resilience can be built and sustained through the body, using trauma-informed movement, reflection and breathing practices to strengthen awareness and mutual support.
Schedule/
Registration
Together, participants will look at how experiences of oppression, belonging and care are carried and expressed physically — and how body-based practices can contribute to social change and collective wellbeing. Each participant will also receive a printed mini-zine featuring four key tools from the Lab: Centering, Body Poem, Relationship Repair and Embodied Breath Awareness.
Dates
29 November 2025
11:00–17:00 CET
OFFLINE
Resilience Lab
for queer migrant activists,
artists and community organisers
Programme
Morning – Grounding & Connection
Somatic Practices for Social Justice: Centering & Safety
Arrival through body awareness, grounding and simple regulation tools. Establish shared agreements of consent and collective care.
Body Poem
Guided somatic exploration and witnessing in pairs, culminating in short embodied “poems” expressed through movement or words.
Relationship Repair Practice
Working in pairs and small groups, participants explore boundaries, trust, rupture and repair through somatic dialogue and presence practices.
Afternoon – Breath, Integration & Collective Harvest
Embodied Breath & Awareness
A conscious connected breath session inviting emotional release, embodied insight and self-regulation through gentle rhythm and allowing.
Collective Reflection & Resource Sharing
Dialogue and mapping of key practices for resilience in activism and daily life.
Closing Circle
Movement and gratitude ritual. Participants receive a printed micro-zine summarising the four somatic tools experienced during the day.
Take-aways:
Four repeatable somatic tools for resilience and co-regulation
Strengthened cross-community connections
Printed mini-zine featuring four key tools from the Lab: Centering, Body Poem, Relationship Repair and Embodied Breath Awareness
Other events
7 November
12:45 – 17:30 CET
FilmFestival Cottbus: Film Screenings & Discussion (offline)
As part of this year’s FilmFestival Cottbus, we invite you to a special programme of film screenings and a panel discussion, exploring resilience in today’s Russia.
At 12:45 PM, Mr Nobody Against Putin follows a teacher in the Ural Mountains who documents the rapid militarisation of his school following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, offering a glimpse into everyday life under propaganda, accompanied by the Sakha short film Songs of Duolan, about a young man who escapes mobilisation to Georgia but longs for his Yakut homeland. At 3:30 PM, Memorial.Liquidation traces the forced dissolution of the human rights NGO Memorial (Russia) during a 2021 show trial.
The programme continues at 4:30 PM with a panel discussion, Civil Society in Russia: Who’s Left?, held in cooperation with the German Sakharov Society and featuring Sakhamin Trofimov, director of Songs of Duolan.
8 November 2025 18.00 – 21.00 CET
What does freedom mean to human rights defenders who fled war or dictatorship and found refuge in Berlin? How does Berlin, a city long associated with freedom, resonate with those who were forced to leave their homes simply because they stood up for human rights? And what can we together, as Berliners, learn from their stories, their struggles and their resilience? Together with human rights defenders from Syria, Sudan and Russia, now living in exile in Berlin, we will explore these questions and many more. The event will take place at the Reforum Space Berlin (Wiener Straße 31, 10999 Berlin).
26 November 2025 10.00 CET
Media and Journalism under Authoritarian Regimes (online discussion)
We invite you to the online discussion “Journalism and Authoritarian Regimes”, part of the CSF and EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy series on civil society under authoritarian pressure.
The conversation will bring together journalists and media practitioners from regions where authoritarian regimes seek to control information, weaponise propaganda and suppress independent reporting. These regimes often silence critical voices and manipulate media ecosystems to maintain power and shape public perception.
Alongside direct censorship and pressure, independent journalists working in the authoritarian contexts often face great personal risk. Together, we will discuss how we can help keep independent journalism alive in times of repression. Please register.
29 November 2025 11.00–17.00 CET
Resilience Lab for queer migrant activists, artists and community organisers (offline in Berlin)
Resilience Lab is a one-day participatory workshop held on the 29th of November, that brings together queer migrant activists, artists and community organisers in Berlin to explore how resilience lives in and moves through the body. Together, we will explore how oppression, belonging and care are experienced somatically, and how body-based tools can support social change and collective wellbeing. Participants will receive a printed mini-zine featuring soma for social justice tools, such as the four core practices explored in the Lab: Centering, Body Poem, Relationship Repair, and Embodied Breath Awareness. Registration required.
November 2025 (TBC)
“To be fear(less) = To be brave?” Theatre Performance (offline performance)
This interactive theatre production by Zivilcourage explores the fears that paralyse and isolate activists from Eastern Europe and those living in exile in Germany. Drawing on real testimonies from grassroots organisers, NGO workers and community voices, the performance becomes a collective rehearsal of resistance and courage. Hosted by Miron Vitushka and Sofia Verba. More information coming soon.
