Consent

A repository for Consent information for Burning Nest.

Consent at Nest

Ongoing respect of others’ consent and boundaries is fundamental to enjoying a space like Nest. It means allowing everyone, including yourself, the right to feel comfortable and safe whilst we express ourselves in this hedonistic environment. With such a beautiful and infinite variety of personalities out there, we can all have different levels of vulnerability. So, it’s important to take careful consideration of what actions or statements might make someone feel uncomfortable, especially when meeting for the first time!

Check the Code of Conduct to understand your responsibilities towards other Nestlings!

Consent Cafe

The Consent Team will host a drop-in Consent Café in Free Camping, so pop along during our opening hours and meet the team. It’s a relaxed space where you are welcome to discuss consent related topics, and speak to team members (in private if you wish).

Exact location and timings TBC.

Reporting Incidents

Online Consent Reporting Link: https://tinyurl.com/NestConsentReport

If you wish to report an incident related to the Consent Team, you can contact the Consent Team directly in person, via the above online link, or via two physical drop boxes. All reports will be treated with confidentiality and respect by the Consent Team. Requests for anonymity will be respected.

Note: Incidents that require immediate attention should always be raised to a Ranger and escalated to Site Lead as required.

Drop Boxes

There are two drop boxes on site located next to Welfare and Gate. Submit written concerns and incident reports for the team to manage; with investigations and escalations taking place if required.

In person

The Consent Team will be wearing fetching pink hats for easy identification. When on duty, they are happy to take questions and have discrete conversations. Note that the team does not have 24/7 coverage during the event. If no Consent Team member is available, find a Ranger or go to Welfare.

Online

Report an incident using the online form (click the big button above!), or by email at consent@burningnest.co.uk. You can also use these methods to reach out to the team before or after the event to report issues or discuss concerns.

What Next?

What happens when after report a consent-related incident?

The Consent team takes reports very seriously, and follows up each one to the best of their ability.

Possible outcomes include:

  • Education/advice given to theme camps, workshop facilitators, artists, participants, etc.
  • Intervention or mediation
  • Eviction from site
  • Restrictions/agreements established before returning to future events
  • Banning from future events

See the annual Consent Reports (started in 2023) to view the summary information on reports of consent-related incidents each year and the organisation’s response.

Consent Culture

Consent Culture – It’s Important!

At Nest, we agree to engage on the 11 Principles. Underpinning these is the philosophy of consent.

Consent can be transformative as a mindful practice that allows us to have and create opportunities for authentic engagement in our actions and with others.

Every person is an individual, they have their own mind and body, and have the right to decide what they do and have done with both. The way we allow for this is is by creating the opportunities for a yes and a no when we are interacting with them. More than this, we allow for this to be a rolling permission structure with withdrawal allowed at any moment.

At Nest, adherence to this philosophy is non-negotiable. We have this year a Consent Team to help engage with this and mediate/act where there is non-compliance. The team also hope to educate and inform, and help you engage with the philosophy.

Photography

Not everyone wants to have every moment captured and immortalised on the internet… You must get explicit consent from all individuals before photographing or videoing them. You must also confirm their permission to use the photo/video publicly, whether it’s online, print or social media.

No photos or videos may be used for commercial purposes.

The Burning Nest 2024 Consent Team

What we do

We are here to inform and educate the community on a broad range of consent related subjects to help make a safer Burn for all participants.

We will review all reports made to our on-site drop boxes and the online form.
We will escalate where needed especially if there is a time sensitive nature to a report.

Several times a day, we update the Site Lead with any new information and are available to conduct further investigation and/or run mediation sessions.

We can also support participants wishing to run consent related workshops if requested.

What we don't do

We will not be working or on-call 24/7 during Nest – a decision was made early in the planning of Nest 2023 to not risk overstretching a team that had yet to be recruited.

The existing structures for escalation and reporting urgent issues via rangers/welfare/site lead/security already exist but will be complimented by the consent reporting procedure.

We will not be involved if there is a conflict of interest in handling reports. If reports are made against any of us, they will be escalated to be investigated impartially.

Conflicts of Interest

If your report involves a member of the Consent Team (see below) but not the Consent Lead CK then you should instead contact CK directly via consent@burningnest.co.uk – he is the only with access to this email address.

If your report is about CK then should instead contact the on duty Site Lead (via any radio or Ranger).

Consent Team Members

Join The Consent Team! Everybody is a part of creating a safe, consensual event. But only some people are official members of the Consent Team. We’re recruiting for both branches:

Consent Education: creating posters, writing Comms to engage the community, curating and hosting consent workshops

Consent Response: processing incident reports, running meditation sessions, investigations and joining decision making meetings.

Apply to join the team

CK (he/him)
Consent Lead

I have attended and worked at a number of burn-adjacent events prior to joining the burner community in 2021. In addition to being the Consent Lead at MicroBurn 2021 and 2022, I was also the Event Operations Uberlead for London Decompression 2022 and it is my privilege to be the Consent Lead for Nest 2023.

I have experience running investigations, along with mediation and decision making in support of events and individuals.

Safety and Wellbeing

Safety

The Consent Team is not an emergency response team.

If you need urgent help, contact the Rangers on site. They will escalate to Security, Medical, or Site Lead.

If it is a Consent issue, the team will be looped back in for follow-up actions if needed.

Wellbeing

If you need emotional support, head to Welfare Enough. Enjoy a cup of tea, some supportive words and a moment of calm away from it all.

Know your limits! Take care of yourself. The members of Welfare are trained in substance harm reduction if needed.

Take care of each other! Be kind and gentle with yourself and others.