Co-Creating the Emerging World Summit 2025: One Month On

A month on from Sacred Earth Activism’s 2025 online summit, we are still reflecting on the powerful weekend we shared together. The energy, wisdom, and vision that emerged from this event continue to inspire us, and we are excited to share the teachings, messages, and, starting next month, the recordings with everyone.

This year’s theme, Answering the Call to Sacred Action, invited us to explore what it means to take responsibility for the future, to become ancestors who leave behind a world worth inheriting. Throughout the weekend, speakers and participants engaged deeply in conversations about how to rewrite the dominant cultural narratives and take meaningful action in alignment with the Earth.

One of our keynote speakers, award-winning author and shamanic teacher Manda Scott, spoke about the urgent need to reimagine our cultural story in order to step into new, more sustainable ways of living. Manda’s talk set the stage for a powerful weekend, where we heard from changemakers, activists, and visionaries across four key areas:

Manda Scott- Award-winning novelist; host of the international chart-topping Accidental Gods podcast; activist

Spiritual Activism

Annie Spencer - UK Elder, ceremonialist, shamanic teacher, Rites of Passage facilitator, story teller and wisdom keeper

A good friend of Sacred Earth Activism, Annie Spencer, returned to share her wisdom and teachings with us once again. She spoke of the importance of holding a stronger Dream, reminding us that if we collectively dream a new world into being, the old structures will fall away.

“The purpose is to connect with the Earth, to listen to the Earth… If we hold a stronger Dream together, the other dream will collapse.”
— Annie Spencer, ceremonialist, shamanic teacher, Rites of Passage and Wilderness facilitator, storyteller, wisdom-keeper, and sacred activist.

Our co-founder, Christa Mackinnon, expanded on this theme, emphasising the role of visioning as a key pillar of the work we do at Sacred Earth Activism. She spoke about the power of dreaming and the need to ask the Earth directly what is ours to do.

“In your Dreaming, ask: ‘What can I do? What is mine to do?’ Ask the Earth: ‘What do you want me to do?’ Give gratitude, give an offering.”
— Christa Mackinnon, co-founder of Sacred Earth Activism, psychologist, therapist, shamanic teacher, best-selling author, and activist.

On-the-Ground Activism

Sacred Earth Activism’s conferences continue to support grassroots, on-the-ground initiatives and campaigners, helping to amplify their efforts. We invite speakers from the UK and around the world who are on the front lines of taking action to protect our planet.

Jack Mazingira Omondi, who returned to speak with us, shared about environmental initiatives in Kenya, highlighting the urgency of climate action:

“This is the time to answer the question your grandchildren will ask: ‘What did you do about climate change?’… Climate change wasn’t an issue made by God, but an issue made by people.”
— Jack Mazingira Omondi, environmental and ecological activist in Kenya.

Vey Straker, who has joined us in sacred actions that we have held before, shared her personal journey and stories about how these actions deepen our love and connection to the Earth:

“When I poured the water back [into the River Wye], I told the River how much I loved her. I also felt loved by her and so felt gratitude and wanted to do more for her.”
— Vey Straker, environmental activist and ceremonialist, key player in the ‘Save the Wye’ movement in the UK.

Vey Straker - Artist, water activist, ceremonialist and a key player in the ‘Save the Wye’ movement.

Ethical Business

John Perkins - Founder and Board of Pachamama Alliance & Dream Change; Author of 10 bestselling books, Shamanic Teacher, Activist, Economist

We were honoured to be joined once again by John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman among other influential works, who spoke about ways to shift our current system to support life.

“To turn a death economy into a life economy, you need to change the Dream of your people.”
— John Perkins, founder of the Pachamama Alliance, author, and activist.

We were also honoured to welcome back Chay Godfree, the visionary founder of the Crops not Shops movement, who shared updates and success stories from this important initiative.

“It’s all about sharing… We support sociocracy as the governing system.”
— Chay Godfree, founder of the ‘Crops not Shops’ movement.

4. Finding our Humanity

While we are in transformational times, and it is easy for divisions to arise, many speakers shared stories of hope and messages of remembering our common humanity.

We heard from John Lockley, a Sangoma, author, and international shamanic teacher, who spoke about the power of deep introspection through Ubuntu:

“We are born humans, but we have to make the decision to become human… The process of Ubuntu, deep introspection, is our first responsibility.”
— John Lockley, Sangoma, author, and international shamanic teacher.

We also heard from Todd Smith, founder of aviation pressure group Safe Landing, who shared his experience and stories about navigating transformation, emphasising personal change as a vital step toward collective action:

“If I want to change the world, I have to change myself… We need to find Unity to navigate this effectively… We have to find the magic in the mundane.”
— Todd Smith, founder of aviation pressure group, Safe Landing.

Todd Smith - Founder of the aviation pressure group Safe Landing; pilot; XR and spiritual activist

Looking Ahead

The 2025 Sacred Earth Activism Summit was a deeply inspiring and transformative experience. We are profoundly grateful to all our speakers and participants for their wisdom, passion, and dedication to sacred action. The conversations sparked during this gathering will continue to ripple outward, shaping the work we do in the months ahead.

Starting next month, we will begin to release the talks onto our YouTube channel, allowing everyone to relive and reconnect with the wisdom of that weekend. This will be an opportunity to hear the messages, teachings, stories, and insights shared by all those who were a part of it.