About this Event
Pop along to CoLab Dudley on Dudley High Street between 10am ands 2pm to visit exhibition of action and learning undertaken in 2025 by local people in the woodlands, waterways, neighbourhoods and towns of Dudley borough.
Active Hope: community-led responses to the mess we’re in honours and calls into relationship the writing and practical work of Joanna Macy with the creativity, care, capabilities and action of our local communities.
What to expect - this exhibition features:
Pockets of Hope ~ an exhibition of 145 pockets created by 114 local people of all ages, symbolising and/or containing their hopes for a sustainable world and flourishing futures. You can add a pocket and hope for the future to the exhibition on the night.
The Council of All Beings ~ an installation of biodegradable masks and audio recordings from a gathering held in Hawbush co-created by 12 local people giving voice to the plights and gifts of Fox, Owl, Ocean, Moth, Nettle, Ash, Sparrow, Hedgerow, Beetle, Tree, River and Limpet. The Council of All Beings is a practice created by Joanna Macy.
Seeing with New/Ancient Eyes ~ a large scale, evolving, multi-layered installation sharing many kinds of unusual data collected through Dudley People’s School for Climate Justice work in 2025 inviting us to “sense how intimately and completely we are related to all that is” - as Joanna Macy’s Spiral journey in The Work That Reconnects invites.
The Cupboard of Herbal Curiosities ~ artefacts and medicinal makings of Reclaim our Roots, a hands-on community herbalism group who meet in Hawbush Community Gardens, Brierley Hill and explore wild edges all around Dudley borough.
Village Dreams ~ conversations and installations exploring the hopes of local people of all generations, including those who have been taking part in an outdoor Village Kitchen Experiment with Ekho Collective CIC and Black Country Foodbank, transforming food bank staples by foraging, growing food and forming friendships.
Getting into Hot Water: Sonic Counter Map ~ this map re-presents places both real and imagined which humans involved in Getting Into Hot Water, led by Workshop 24, have been to.
Good to know
🎟️ Free admission
☕️ Warming winter drinks (donate as you feel)
🧑🧒🧒 All welcome, children must bring a grown up 😊
👩🏽🦽➡️Step-free access is available to the full exhibition. We’re sorry that due to the constraints of the building we rent, the toilets are sited upstairs so we there are no toilet facilities at street level.
💬 Access resources include large print guides (please request in advance) and in-person guides offering audio descriptions and conversation.
🗓️ Opening times Jan-Feb 2026:
- Wed 14 Jan, 10am-2pm
- Sat 17 Jan, 10am-2pm
- Wed 21 Jan, 10am-2pm
- Wed 4 Feb, 10am-2pm
Joanna Macy and The Work That Reconnects
Joanna Macy, PhD, was a scholar of Buddhism, General Systems Theory, and Deep Ecology. She is the root teacher of the Work That Reconnects. Joanna passed away on 19 July 2025 at the age of 96.
is meant for anyone who longs to serve the healing of our world in a more powerful and effective way. It was developed over several decades by Joanna Macy in cooperation with many colleagues. Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in without Going Crazy is a book written by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstome. “Active Hope is about finding, and offering, our best response when facing concerns about our world situation.” See more at http://www.activehope.info/
Our aspiration is to introduce and honour Joanna Macy’s work and life by sharing and celebrating practices, action and learning rooted in our local communities, and illuminating common themes and threads of connection between them. We’ve drawn on wording used by Joanna Macy, and one of our installations celebrates a practice created by Joanna Macy which we introduced to people in Dudley this year (The Council of All Beings).
Exhibition curation
Our exhibition curator is Deb McDonald ~ a local creative, member of the CoLab Dudley team and partner in Dudley People’s School for Climate Justice with Ekho Collective CIC.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
CoLab Dudley, 201A High Street, Dudley, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00
