Agreements

Community Agreements and Behavioral Expectations 

The Burners Without Borders camp in Black Rock City is an experiment in building our community. We have participants joining us from around the globe, with diverse backgrounds and acculturation experiences in the greater BWB and Burning Man community. 

This document includes the agreements that we are asking our community to make during our time together at BRC. We have the opportunity to create our culture together, and we are grateful that you are here.

We are here to meet one another. Please feel at home at in camp, and know that you are not the only person who doesn’t know very many people! You are here for a reason, and so is everyone else. There is no in-group. This is an event where you can be friendly, introduce yourself, and know that you’re going to welcome exciting connections and unexpected conversations. 

If you see an unfamiliar face, feel empowered to introduce yourself, be a host and make a new friend. They probably don’t know most people either! 

1) Consent! 

This will be a week of consent! If you’re unfamiliar with the topic of consent, you can watch this great video about tea. 

We know about physical consent in sexual encounters, but practicing consent 24/7 is about keeping our community safe, making sure that you are owning your own boundaries, and the boundaries of others. Boundaries can be physical or emotional. We’re asking you to practice holistic consent this weekend:

• Ask before physical touch (including hugging) [‘hey! Are you a hugger?’]

• Check in before lighting a cigarette right next to someone

• Let someone know if they’re behaving in a way that’s making you uncomfortable

• Be mindful of who is being impacted by your behavior 

2) No FOMO 

There are going to be amazing experiences happening all around you. We encourage you to live authentically and know that wherever you end up is the perfect place to be. Know that you’re going to miss out on something cool no matter what. Our schedule is diverse, overlapping, and flowing and we encourage you to branch out and join the conversation or experience that interests you in the moment, not the one you feel you should join. No need to stay in your lane! 

3) Emergence 

As with most BWB projects, our camp is an emergent experience and we’re going to be learning by doing.  It’s a prototype inevitably meant for iteration.  This means you should come with a flexible attitude, an open-mind, and be prepared to help us problem-solve when we discover the edges of what we’ve designed.  This also means you are an active participant in helping us discover the future- and we’re excited to co-create with you and dream about what's next.

….and drink water!