Hiking Together - Building Collective Feminist Power

The Feminist Hiking Collective, formed in January 2020, is a feminist non-profit organization and a transnational hub for feminist hikers.    

Our aim is to build collective feminist leadership and collective feminist power through hiking in nature and mountaineering. We also work to contribute building a hiking culture free of any form of oppression and discrimination, inclusive and accessible, centred on collaboration, humility and collective power, and to create opportunities for marginalized women* to get involved in feminist hiking and mountaineering. Our work is also focused on building the collective feminist power of mountain women, and more broadly of all those identities (not only gender) oppressed by the patriarchal system.

We also work on transnational collaborative projects, and we foreground the collective knowledge and experience of mountain communities in protecting mountains. We are grounded in collective feminist transformative power and we developing a reflection project called Unpacking Collective Feminist Leadership, to keep informing our practice and to include tools for system transformation, from the inner to the wider society levels. In the works, we have a second reflection project on a feminist approach to collective mountain protection.

Upcoming event: Mountain Women Collectively Defending the Earth - Webinar for Earth Day , 22 April 13:00 - 15:00 UTC 

We deeply believe that hiking is a feminist act! It is connected with taking care of ourselves collectively and radical healing, it's about focusing on the present moment, the trail and what's around us, on our essence and resilience, beyond any oppressive and discriminatory patriarchal standard, stereotype and influence, it is a grounding activity that builds our collective feminist power. 

Stories of how hiking builds collective power  
Learn about the stories of the the Empowering Women in Nepal non-profit organization, Cholita Escaladoras de Bolivia, and of Mujeres a la Cumbre in Argentina. Their experiences are powerful examples of how hiking can develop and sustain collective power. 

You can find our t-shirts to support our work on worth wearing.

Our partners

We are part of the transnational feminist space Feministas Transfronterizas.

Our priorities include: 

- organize feminist hiking experiences, both open to people of any gender and for women only, focusing on the participation of marginalized and disadvantaged women, exploring the concept, elements and principles of intersectional feminism & feminist leadership through a wide range of activities during the hikes based on feminist popular education, power analysis and feminist consciousness-raising tools, including by creating the space and opportunity to support self-awareness and collective care, our connection with each other, our reciprocity with nature, our belonging and gratitude to Mother Earth, being in the moment, developing togetherness, resilience and perseverance, building power within and collective shared power for positive change; 

- Write and disseminate research products including through a reflection project to unpack collective feminist leadership; 

- co-organize together with our partners transnational projects;

- provide a transnational platform as a space to share tools, experiences, tips and trails and to connect feminist hikers and hiking groups, facilitate collaboration and support; 

- share and gather collective stories through a blog section. 

Download our information leaflet that sums up our aim & goals here.

Upcoming feminist hikes 

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic all our planned feminist hikes are delayed.

We are planning together with wonderful local groups and  organizations two sets of feminist hikes for 2021:

- Summer 2021 in the Dolomites of Trentino, Italy

- Automn/Winter 2021 TBC
Updates upcoming! You can contact us to register your interest.

Feminist hikes aim to be collective transformative space where everyone feels equal and included. Here you can find our safer space guide. NB: participants to our feminist hikes take their own responsibility for health & safety. 

Past feminist hikes:

- 8th February 2020 in Victoria Park (UK) women-only walk

- 8th March 2020 in Chiltern Hills (UK) hike to celebrate International Women's Day! All genders are welcome! 

*those self-identifying with this gender

For us feminism is a collective commitment and practice to dismantle the racist, capitalist, colonial, neoliberal patriarchy which encompasses all systems of oppression, violence, domination and discrimination, and to build an inclusive society as a community that sees every being as having the same worth and importance and feel part of a whole with Mother Earth, where there is no marginalisation or privilege, where media tells about collective stories of change and does not seek to create idols, where humility and solidarity are practiced in every way. In this feminist community there is collective feminist leadership, where leadership is intended as a collective commitment to support a community, to build shared positive power and help others be feminist leaders with dedication, and not as a way to seek self-recognition or fame, as 'likes' don’t matter in our feminist vision. Smiles and collective care do, grounding ourselves in our feminist collective power.   

We have gathered here some wonderful resources on intersectional feminism, feminist leadership, collective care and power.

Feminist hiking exercises, activities & tools

During feminist hikes we include activities to build feminist leadership. Here (work in progress) you can find some examples of what the activities look like, and a gathering of suggested hiking trails and routes. 

Hiking tips

Here are a few useful tips and guides from external sources on what to bring on a hike, health & safety, how to prepare for a hike and hiking equipment/clothing.

If what you're finding here sounds interesting, whether you or your group are passionate hikers or have never been on a mountain before, sign up here to participate! If you'd like to know more, just say hello or share something with us, you can contact us here. 

The Feminist Hiking Collective is a non-profit organization, registered in Italy as ONLUS and Ente del Terzo Settore with fiscal code 90067600446. 

We are a trans-inclusive organization with a non-binary understanding of gender. Our hikes and collaborative projects aim to include people of any gender, but also to focus on the inclusion of those identities (not only gender) most marginalised and discriminated by the patriarchal system, with an intersectional approach.