Mutual Aid HEAT
During this week-long event, we’ll practice providing mutual aid in stressful situations; we’ll organize ourselves as individuals who want to get actively involved so that we can act effectively together and remain capable of doing so; and we’ll gain our first practical experiences through four hands-on training tracks.
We are planning an event for those who take the threat of collapse and authoritarianism as seriously as we do; who know that we must prepare now—not just in a few years—for climate disasters, authoritarian takeovers, systemic breakdowns, and reduced state support; and who know that preparing for a future marked by increasing disasters means investing time and resources in those preparations now.
September 20–27, 2026, Alte Hölle, Brandenburg
Arrival on Sunday afternoon, starting with a group plenary session; training sessions and scenarios begin on Monday morning; departure on Sunday at noon.
Five days of training + two days of scenario-based exercises
Five days of training with small-scale scenarios set in a fictional world, followed by two days of applying what was learned in a large-scale scenario, and then reflecting on the experience together.
Four practical training tracks
Participants can choose from four different tracks: Communication, Collective Self-Protection, Supply and Logistics, and Medical and Emotional Support.
150–200 participants
We want this event to lead to concrete organizational outcomes, which is why it is not an “open” event. Instead, we will reach out to potential participants in the run-up to the camp and organize a selection process.
Ticket price: €300–€400
Since we will likely have limited access to institutional funding, we will need to charge participation fees. However, we will do everything we can to ensure that no one is prevented from participating due to financial constraints.
WHY
Times of Crisis
It doesn’t take much imagination to realize that disasters are becoming increasingly common around us. From the so-called refugee crisis of 2015 to the COVID-19 pandemic, the floods in the Ahr Valley, the wildfires in Brandenburg, Greece, and Spain, and the catastrophic flooding in Valencia. At the same time, we are witnessing increasing fascist tendencies and militarization in Europe, making it ever more difficult for civil society to remain capable of taking action. What these crises have in common, however, is that more and more people are organizing to become and remain capable of acting in solidarity.
However, solidarity-based structures don’t just mean looking out for one another—that is, building mutual aid groups. They also mean driving political activism, challenging existing structures of power and domination, and organizing. Queer people, people with immigrant backgrounds, and many others are particularly at risk of being actively attacked or neglected by others. We make this interplay tangible and teachable so that we can remain capable of acting in solidarity and as activists in the long term.
Sign up now and learn to act with us
The 4 training tracks
Participants sign up for only one of these training tracks and are on-site for the entire duration—we want to stay focused and go into depth.
The scenario
In this hands-on workshop, set in a fictional world, you’ll have a unique opportunity to step away from your daily routine and experience training and activism in a whole new way! This workshop offers you the chance to try out different actions, process your emotions, and be supported by others—all within a safe space. Don’t we all know the feeling of being in a training session, learning something new, and then, as soon as we’re supposed to apply it, finding that we can’t recall what we learned?
Standard HEAT training sessions always stem from a scene, incorporate short role-playing exercises, and allow you to apply theoretical knowledge in short intervals. We will create a world in which you, as participants, are actively involved from the very beginning. Recurring characters and scenarios that build on one another make it tangible what it means to be an active participant in a storyline. Because your decisions and your behavior—along with those of your group—don’t end after every scene, we foster a sense of community where awareness can grow: to support one another through the crisis in the long term, to organize, and to remain united beyond mere theory.