Beyond Justice
In March 2025, I travelled to Zadar, Croatia, to take part in the “European Lab: Social Justice Here and Now”, organised by the Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG). I joined as a prep team member and facilitator, but also as a representative of Ruthless International, carrying with me the voices, strategies, and lived realities of the global communities we serve. What I experienced over those days was not just an event—it was a space of reckoning, reimagining, and relational learning that profoundly affirmed why our work matters.
From the very first evening, it became clear that this Lab was designed to do more than educate. It was a site of experimentation—one that invited participants not just to engage intellectually, but to show up fully, with emotion, vulnerability, and story. We wanted participants to co-create the experience by bringing their own personal histories and lived experiences of the topics, as well as to be active agents in the direction in which the sessions are going. This meant that our approach to planning was to leave plenty of breathing space and adjust the content and activities in real time based on what input we receive from the group. In the sessions I co-designed and facilitated, we dove into themes that are often sidelined in green political spaces: coloniality and epistemic violence, the exploitation embedded in worker migration, the trauma of social injustice, and the critical need for care in activism. My methodology for crafting those was a blend of formal and non-formal education strategies, thoughtfully adapted to fit each topic we explored. This included presentations to introduce key concepts; moderated open discussions driven by participants' reflections, writing prompts, and questions; formal interview-style panel discussions with invited experts; interactive case studies and group work to foster collective analysis; creative poster-making exercises to visually process complex issues; and, for the final sessions on mental health, activist burnout, and community care, a sharing circle, somatic exercises, and collective breathwork to anchor emotional resilience and solidarity in the body. Each method was chosen to honour the nature of the topic, centring engagement, emotional processing, and critical thinking in equal measure.
The opening session, ‘Kultura, Култура’, grounded us in the cultural, political, and historical fabric of the Balkans. It was important to me that we begin from where we stood—that we understand justice not as an abstract European ideal, but as something deeply shaped by place, narrative, and memory. As an individual coming from the Balkans, it was also very personally empowering for me to have a platform to talk about the way our cultural and social landscapes have been shaped by imposed standards and prejudice coming from Western European cultures a long time ago, which still hold such deep significance in our current socio-political development. We spoke about stereotypes, regional identities, and the layered realities of post-Yugoslav societies. In doing so, we built not only context but connection. The impact of stereotyping has been immense, not only influencing external perceptions but profoundly distorting our own self-image. It has fragmented societies across the region: some groups have responded with reactionary attitudes, rejecting anything perceived as "Western"—including values like LGBTQIA+ rights, which are inaccurately framed as exclusively Western despite historical acceptance in many Indigenous cultures. Others have internalised a sense of inferiority, viewing their own cultures as primitive and striving for assimilation into Western behavioural norms. The full spectrum of impact that this has had historically and into the present day is beyond the scope of this writing, as it was even beyond the scope of the Lab, but nevertheless, it was an important discussion to have, and for many, it was also the first time they engaged in the discourse.Through our discussions, participants critically interrogated the concept of Eurocentrism and the illusions that sustain it, a process that was met with enormous appreciation and sparked deep, reflective dialogue.
In the session ‘Debunking Hierarchies’, we moved from the local to the systemic, questioning the dominance of Eurocentric frameworks and exploring alternative cosmologies—from Indigenous knowledge systems to collectivist, spiritual worldviews that offer radically different ways of imagining society. We talked about intersectionality not just as a lens, but as a method for unlearning. The space became one of both reflection and resistance—a rare opportunity to hold complexity without rushing to resolution.
One of the most politically urgent sessions was ‘Gastarbeiters’, which addressed the exploitative underpinnings of worker migration across and beyond Europe. With the participation of a Green Party representative and insights from youth activists across the region, we confronted how deeply class and race inform not only who gets to move, but how they’re treated when they do. These conversations were not easy—but they were necessary, and they revealed just how much work still needs to be done within green and progressive spaces to centre the experiences of those most impacted by economic and environmental injustice.
But the session that perhaps moved me most was our closing, ‘Ciao, Take Care!’ This was where the political met the personal. We talked about burnout, the emotional weight of activism, and how trauma lives in the body. Through somatic practices and collective reflection, we opened space for grief and hope to coexist. It reminded me that activism must be sustainable—not in strategy alone, but in spirit. Without care, even the most radical movements risk replicating the same systems of harm they seek to dismantle. And that care needs to be collective, because no individual can bare the burden of systemic change on their own shoulders – in that way, we busted the myth of isolated ‘self-care’, introducing the practice of community care as the real beacon of light that has the power to keep us going in our fight.
Being part of this Lab was significant for me personally, but also for Ruthless International. We are an organisation rooted in intersectionality and youth empowerment, and this experience gave us a valuable opportunity to build deeper relationships with the Young European Green movement. I believe our presence there helped to shift the tone—away from politeness and performance, and toward boldness, discomfort, and truth. I came not to echo the dominant discourse, but to challenge it, to invigorate it with the urgency and clarity of those on the margins. The feedback from participants affirmed this approach: many shared that they deeply valued engaging in discussions and learning about non-European perspectives, admitting that we often become trapped in Eurocentric bubbles that treat European systems of thought as the default or even as inherently superior—an assumption far removed from the realities of global knowledge traditions. Participants also expressed gratitude for the opportunity to better understand the Balkan context and witness how patterns of exclusion and marginalisation toward migrants are replicated across different social hierarchies, regardless of origin. Importantly, they voiced appreciation for the intentional creation of a safe space focused on care, community building, and mutual aid—an aspect often neglected in activist spaces where burnout and individualism can take hold.
In doing so, I saw just how much hunger there is among young activists for real, grounded, transnational solidarity. Many are tired of surface-level conversations. They want to go deeper—to understand how racism, capitalism, colonialism, and climate breakdown are interwoven. They want to be equipped not just with facts, but with tools for resistance and care. And most of all, they want to feel that their activism matters—not just in outcomes, but in the way it is practiced, lived, and shared.
As a facilitator, I grew immensely through this experience. I learned new ways of holding space, of balancing emotional depth with political clarity. I gained confidence in adapting methodologies in real time, responding not just to the content, but to the energy in the room. And I left with a renewed commitment to embedding these practices into our work at Ruthless International—whether through upcoming workshops, youth projects, or collaborations with activists across Europe and the Global South.
What I carry with me from Zadar is not only insight—it’s a fire. A fire to continue building spaces that are inclusive, intersectional, and grounded in care. A fire to support young people in becoming not just informed activists, but whole ones—attuned to their bodies, communities, and histories. And a fire to ensure that the voices of the marginalised are not invited in for decoration but recognised as essential architects of the world we are trying to build.
If there’s one thing I know after this Lab, it’s that justice cannot be reduced to policy. It must be practiced in how we speak, how we listen, how we hold each other. That is the kind of justice Ruthless International will continue to fight for. And that is the kind of justice that made my time in Zadar unforgettable.
Words by Kalina Petrova