Blue Mountains,  Australia

Land of the Dharug, Gundungurra, Wanaruah, Wiradjuri, Darkinjung and Tharawal Nations

November 3-8, 2023

Do you envision leading your community to climate solutions?

Our premise is simple, yet effective: we bring exceptional people together for five days in the Blue Mountains land of the Dharug and Gundungurra people to build meaningful personal connections and develop business plans to bring participants’ climate action projects to life or accelerate their impact. We go for group runs each morning, then spend the afternoons and evenings workshopping participants’ projects through immersive, collaborative sessions.

In April 2023, Footprints Australia brought 12 exceptional participants together for five days in the Central Highlands of Victoria to bond, develop environmental knowledge and leadership skills, and connect with grassroots organisations and localised projects that are active in conserving and protecting wild lands under the Great Forest National Park Proposal.

Each morning was spent running or hiking at your pace under towering eucalyptus and glistening tree ferns, with afternoons and evenings workshopping ideas into tangible projects through immersive, collaborative sessions.

At Footprints you will be challenged, have fun, form a community, advance climate solutions, and eat delicious home-cooked food whilst working closely with world-class mentors and inspirational speakers.

The next Footprints five-day camp will run 3rd-8th November 2023, with applications opening August 1st following our launch.

Videos? Yeah we’ve got heaps

2022 U.S. Camp

2023 Australia Camp

Our Approach

We emphasize creating a space for people to build and strengthen connections. Everyone at Footprints is passionate for running, community, and wild places, and there’s no better way to create action on important issues than sharing your goals with like-minded people and collaborating to find solutions.

As a participant, you will contribute skills, creativity, and energy to create measurable actions that protect the lands we run, dance, and play upon.

We purposefully hold this camp in a location with limited cell phone service and no internet service; all the better to foster deep conversations and real connections. Effective environmental action begins by supporting people, because you can only protect what is around you once you’ve taken care of your own needs.

Each morning, you’ll head out for a wild run with experienced trail running guides, breathing the fresh air and experiencing the forests with the moss under your feet and the tree ferns towering overhead. Each afternoon, we’ll spend several hours building business plans and strategy for participants’ projects through a variety of hands-on workshop sessions. Our wonderful caterer provides meals to savor as much as the conversations you have.

Time and time again, this emphasis on creating the space for people to truly connect is one of the greatest highlights we hear from alumni. Together, we can go far.

Your Projects

We want you to bring your ideas, initiatives, and projects to the campfire circle for development. Dream big and bring your projects to life, to make this world a deeper shade of green!

Scholarships

The team at Wild Allies has made two free places available to people — regardless of financial circumstances — thanks to our partners.

While we need to function as a for-purpose event, we want to ensure that people experience the Footprints camp and the community/action that is created as a result of the camp. We don’t want money to be the reason why someone can't benefit from what we've built. 

If you would like to apply or know someone that would benefit from a scholarship please send 500 words to jess@wildallies.com.au as to what it would mean to take part in Footprints camp. All participants need to be over 18 years of age.

Included in the scholarships would be:

  • Full entry into the camp

  • Running kit provided by Patagonia

  • Food across the event

  • Accommodation

  • Assistance in transport from Sydney to camp and return

Our Partners

We thank our event partners — Patagonia and their grantees — with whom we closely collaborate to be the change we wish to see.

With their help, we provide world-class resources to develop and grow the next leaders in the climate movement.

Let’s be friends

To stay in the loop and hear more from the Footprints Australia family and upcoming camps, register here:

Group running highlight

One morning starting from the township of Warburton, we crossed the Birrarung/Yarra River on our ascent to the summit of Donna Buang at 1,250 metres. As we passed through varied ecosystems, identifiable by the change in tree and fern species, the true beauty and grandeur of the Great Forest unfolded, step by step. As we climbed past mountain ash giants, the temperature cooled and the call of the bulln-bulln/Lyerbird will become ever present. This steep and unique trail took us to the summit observation tower with a view of Melbourne in the distance. But between us and the city lie the endless tracts of native forest, some of which could be protected forever as part of the proposed Great Forest National Park. 

We usually break into a few different groups for these runs, depending on how fast everyone wants to go. There’s a pace for everyone, runners and hikers alike, and no one is ever “dropped”. The emphasis with these runs is spending quality time together out in the outdoors, not setting PRs. We all reconvene at the summit or turnaround point, share some trail food, then head back down to town. Cooling off in the river at the end of the descent is the best way to end a run of this beauty. From the town it’s a short ride back to our accommodation, where we can refuel for the afternoon, resting our legs and working our minds instead.  

Workshop session highlight

One hour-long session we run encourages thinking about how to communicate a project to distinctly different audiences. Here, participants choose a single specific goal in their project. Then, they identify three important stakeholders who feel markedly different from each other but need to be convinced to take some action in service of the goal. The participants develop a message for each stakeholder, using whatever marketing channels they think will be effective.

After presenting and discussing the messaging in small groups, we challenge the participants in the final ten minutes of the session: create a 30-second video for one of the stakeholder groups with a clear goal and message informed by that audience. Lastly, we bring everyone together to compare the videos and discuss how they demonstrate tailoring messages to different audiences as well as any other takeaways the participants felt.

Ready to apply?

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FAQs

  • People from all walks (or shall we say runs) of life are able to apply as long as you have the passion to protect wild places and meet the application criteria.

  • Yes, anyone from around Australia is eligible to apply

  • Once all applications have been assessed, you will be contacted about the outcome of your application via email.

    If you have been successful, you will also be sent an agreement and invoice for the camp to be paid in full.

    We will have the successful applicants notified by Oct 3.

  • We encourage people in need to apply but please keep in mind that these are need-based scholarships. If you think you can afford the camp without a scholarship, we’ll be grateful if you do not apply for one.

  • As there are limited spaces available we will not accept group applications, but encourage you all to apply individually.

  • The accommodation is basic dorm-type lodging with bunk beds, showers and toilet facilities.

    Bedding is not provided; you will need to bring your own pillow, sheet, and sleeping bag.

    There is limited phone reception and no wifi facilities at the camp. We encourage people to disconnect to fully engage in the creative process.

    For the best coverage we recommend you purchase a telstra SIM.

    A suggested packing list will be provided.

  • Absolutely not. This is not a competitive camp. Each day we will go for a run in the mountains and your pace is fine no matter what it is. We tend to break up into two or three groups based on pace: a “running” group, a middle group, and a hiking group.

    Many people move between these groups throughout the week. But the point of these runs is to get outside, get some exercise, and enjoy the natural beauty of the Blue Mountains. There are no expectations of speed or competition.

  • Yes, we will assess all campers’ dietary requirements and be catering all vegetarian meals for the duration of the camp. All you need to bring is your own favourite snacks. As our storage is limited, we request you do not bring perishable foods that require refrigeration.