Swedish Friends ‘Walk for Future’
Seventeen-week pilgrimage starting from Vadstena in Sweden to converge on COP26
Swedish Quakers have been taking part in a large, international journey across Europe to raise awareness for the climate crisis and the UN Conference of Parties (COP26) in November.
Two Friends, Nicklas Adamsson and Torbjörn Söderquist from Stockholm Meeting, will join the seventeen-week ‘Pilgrim’s Walk for Future’ pilgrimage from Vadstena to Glasgow in Amsterdam at the beginning of October. They will then be on site throughout COP26, where they will participate in various events including the Meeting for Clearness for activists at Glasgow Meeting House with Alastair McIntosh and Vérène Nicolas.
Nicklas Adamsson told the Friend that many Swedish Quakers have taken part in parts of the 2,000-kilometre exodus, which started on 19 July to the sound of monastery church bells chiming in Vadstena.
As groups of up to twelve people take part in different stages of the journey, through Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain, a core group has kept in digital contact with live videos. The same group will complete the journey sailing from Amsterdam to Holy Island, and from there walking to Glasgow.
Nicklas Adamsson said: ‘Activism for me is about standing up for what you deep down believe in and feel is right, even when it is uncomfortable. It is basically about living an ethical life. I feel great admiration for the people, many of them Quakers, who for centuries have peacefully chosen to stand on the right side of history and who have sometimes made significant personal sacrifices for their convictions. It is about a loving and passionate commitment, a desire to create change that extends far beyond self-interest.’
