Summer Newsletter 2025
June 30, 2025
Read the newsletter in its original format here.
As we move deeper into BWB’s 20th anniversary year, something’s shifting. Across the globe, chapters are gathering, projects are launching, and communities are asking: What Future Now?
This summer, we’re not just talking about change, we’re making it. The narrative we’re exploring—response, resilience, and regeneration—isn’t a timeline, but a living practice. At the heart of it is a commitment to working with and through communities, not for them—and an understanding that if it’s not fun, it’s not sustainable. Joy is essential for this work to carry forward.
And through it all, it’s been you, this community, making the magic real in every project and every act of inspired service. Thank you!
Help Us Tell Our Story
In honor of 20 years, we’re collecting the moments that matter. Have a BWB memory that sticks with you? Share your stories, photos, or videos with us at bwb@burningman.org. Help us capture what we’ve built together.
As always, we invite you to join us for upcoming events, stay connected with our community, and consider supporting BWB with a donation. Let’s continue to inspire and support one another in building a more beautiful world together.
BWB Spring Summit 2025: What Future Now?
In May, we returned to Fly Ranch for the 9th BWB Summit. Guided by the theme, “What Future Now?”, we weren’t there to predict the future—but to practice noticing it unfold. The gathering is grounded in three principles:
Serve: We expanded on previous work by tending garden beds, turning compost, and producing biochar from fire-salvaged trees—feeding a closed-loop system that links Fly Ranch to BRC and beyond.
Learn: We skill-shared and taught one another storytelling, hide tanning, medicinal plants identification, sustainable infrastructure design, and appropriate tech—from robotics to renewable energy.
Celebrate: We gathered together around two effigy burns, a solar-powered dance party, healing spaces, communal meals, and a closing labyrinth walk.
Read the Full Report and subscribe to the Community Activation Calendar to join us for what’s next.
Civic Ignition Grant Winners Announced (BoNZA, MALC, and Chicago)
Three regions have run Civic Ignition Grants this year, igniting community ideas. Through the process, 22 grant applications totaling $50k+ in funding requests were reviewed, and hundreds of people engaged in collective decision making. Thanks to a generous donor and a matching gift through FirePony Creative Society, MALC doubled its grant pool to $3,000. Meanwhile, BWB Chicago successfully self-funded its program through an annual community fundraiser.
Meet the winners:
Co-Creating Community 📍Philadelphia, PA
A series of hands-on, collaborative events at the Open Kitchen Sculpture Garden to activate space, build skills, and foster community through art and food.
Equity Concourse 📍Chicago, CA
An interactive, carnival-style experience that gamifies antiracism to spark reflection on equity and belonging. Participants explore inequality, imagining new possibilities.
Nebula Health 📍Mid-Atlantic Region Providing free, confidential STI/HIV testing and consent education in underserved communities to promote health, dignity, and empowerment.
Dover Days Tapestry and Fabric Swap 📍Dover, DE
A creative community event pairing art-making coupled with information on how to access critical social support resources.
Feed My Neighbors 📍Elk Park, NC
Constructing a chicken coop to supply fresh eggs to neighbors affected by Hurricane Helene, while fostering local food security and community resilience.
Hanging Gardens 📍Brooklyn, NY A traveling installation that transforms NYC parks into hubs of public art, wellbeing, and community-led programming.
Burner RLoT
📍Paradise, Victoria – Australia
A solar generator will incubate a shared-use Regional Library of Things, providing year-round access to tools and offering replicable models for regional burn communities.
Iris’ Postal Portal 📍Northeast, USA
A whimsical, 9-foot mailbox that invites youth to fall in love with letter writing through immersive education and play.
The Civic Ignition Grant Program started in 2013 inspired by the BWB Chicago Community Grant Salon.
To learn about open opportunities, and read about past Civic Ignition cycles, visit the Grant News & Updates on our website.
Interested in running a self-funded Civic Ignition Grant in your community? Send us a message to learn more: bwb@burningman.org
Join BWB in Black Rock City: Esplanade & 6:45
Our camp in Black Rock City (BWB-BRC) returns to the dust—a home base for our community. The camp brings our mission to life with a daily speaker series, maker space, screen printing, and late night conversations around the fire. We also support participant-facing sustainability efforts across the city: BLAST, RAT, The Green Corridor, and a new solar lending library.
Each year, we open our stage. Do you want to lead a workshop, offer a talk, or share a project? Fill out the 2025 programming form and be part of the story.
BWB Speaker Series on Tracking Emergence Tuesday – Thursday 1 – 4pm
Tue: Crisis as Catalyst (response)
Wed: Cultures That Carry Us (resilience)
Thur: Futures That Feel Alive (regeneration)
BWB Worldwide Call: Celebrating 20 Years of Response, Resilience, and Regeneration
Yes! I want to attend this call
Join us on Wednesday August 6th at 5p PT / 8p ET / 12 a UTC for our upcoming online gathering as we celebrate BWB’s 20th anniversary! We’re bringing together inspiring projects from across our network that embody the evolving lenses of our work: Response, Resilience, and Regeneration.
Featuring:
The filmmakers of Comparsa tell the story of Peronia Adolescente—a vivid youth response effort that confronts systemic violence through art, transforming their community with courage and creativity.
The team behind CHIditarod, Chicago’s legendary costumed shopping cart race, will share how they tackle food insecurity with a public spectacle, channeling resources to build community resilience in the process.
The founders of Replant the Forest will demonstrate their model of regeneration through festivals, restoring degraded land through music, art, and action.
On May 4, BWB Colombia gathered 20 brave eco-burners for the first edition of Burning Clean, our carbon-offset ritual disguised as a community cleanup and tree-planting party. Learn how our first 20-person cohort neutralized their Burning Man footprint.
Join us for our Summer Beach Clean-Up. After the 4th of July crowds clear out, we’re hitting the sand to clean our coastline July 11–13 for three days of sun, service, and salty good vibes. Can’t make it? Donate to our fundraiser. Every dollar makes a difference!
Learn more about the project here.
In collaboration with our local Rotary club and Connected by Our Humanity we continue to support Re4Win / Kyivwood, a small business in Kyiv recovering from a recent fire and drone attacks. Together, we helped deliver handmade puzzles to orphans and children of the fallen for International Children’s Day to remind each child they’re not alone.
Our final Christmas Isn’t Over of the season was a heartwarming success, filled with shared meals and joyful connection. We’re a group of compassionate independents that come together to serve with love in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where Oppenheimer Park remains a hub of care and community.
We’ll see you again when we return in October!
Tend, Learn, Connect: Volunteer in Nixon
The medicinal garden at the Pyramid Lake Spiritual Healing Center is coming alive. Now they need a few more people to help keep it all moving forward. If you’ve ever wanted to learn from Dean, spend time in Nixon, or simply show up in a good way, this is a beautiful opportunity. No experience is necessary; just care, consistency, and a willingness to help. Contact us today
Free Online Course
As we deepen our relationship with the land and people of Northern Nevada, we’re excited to share a new learning opportunity on Burning Man Hive: Paiute Insights: Past & Present. Through stories, history, and present-day perspectives, you’ll learn how to engage respectfully and support Indigenous-led initiatives. Created by Northern Paiute cultural leader Donna Cossette and longtime Burner Steve “Cherub” Cabrera, the course invites deeper understanding and relationship. Start Learning on Hive
Inside Disaster Relief: ShelterBox’s Immersive Weekend
Ever wondered what it’s like on the front lines of disaster relief? In one weekend, experience a mock deployment, learn how ShelterBox delivers aid, and gain insight into our strategy, decisions, and global impact. SAFE is an immersive deployment experience. This unforgettable weekend will challenge, connect, and empower you to deepen your advocacy. To learn more: email Libby Faus at lfaus@shelterboxusa.org
The 2024 BWB BRC Speaker Series recorded in Black Rock City
The BWB 2024 Speaker Series is now live! These talks bring together global visionaries to explore the evolving edges of community, ecology, and creative action. Across daily programming on Global Community & Future Storytelling, Bioregionalism, and Tactical Sustainability, speakers shared insights on mutual aid, climate adaptation, and regenerative food systems.
From the Archives: The Music Box Project (2009)
In the wake of crisis, what if our first responders carried guitars, paintbrushes, and open hearts? In 2009, BWB’s Tom LaPorte launched The Music Box Project—an effort to demonstrate what “Cultural First Response” could look like. By creating spaces for music, art, and storytelling in disaster-impacted communities, artists became agents of healing and connection. This short video captures how creativity can meet crisis. 👉 Burners Without Borders: Music Box
Never miss a video by subscribing to the BWB YouTube Channel
BWB exists because of YOU
Over the years, your participation and generous support have enabled this creative community to accomplish so much around the world.
BWB is known for helping real people solve real problems. The unique gifts this community brings to the international stage are quickly transforming what people think is possible.
To continue doing this important work, we need your help. Consider donating to the continued success of BWB. Any amount that you can give will go a long way in helping us to reach our goals.
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