Common Roots Rising is
sharing co-creative culture, regeneration, and commUNITY.
What is Common Roots Rising?
Common Roots Rising is a community collective committed to unifying for the common good through collaboration, cooperation and co-creation.
Why Common Roots Rising?
We started Common Roots Rising to cultivate more connection and relationship and stories for the Common Good.
Our Core Focus
Common Roots Rising is …
co-creating a culture of kindness, belonging, creative expression, and engagement — a culture that is committed to cultivating and nurturing healthy connections with each other and the amazing natural world that surrounds us and sustains us.
Common Roots Rising is building a community connection network for sharing our co-creative culture, regenerative sustainability consciousness and commUNITY. Through stories, interviews and conversations we share our voices, ideas and initiatives supporting our common relationships.
Common Roots Rising is about encouraging regeneration on all levels — growing healthy, sustainable vibrancy back into all that makes our community thrive.
Learn more about our Connecting, Grounding and Elevating vision. We are imagining and interweaving new stories into Being.
Our Roots
Common Roots Rising began with a spark of an idea that Mark Gehrke shared with a few friends about developing a community conversation networking group to bring us together through sharing common stories and growing common good.
Our first group meeting was held at the end of October 2020. Our initial core group included Mark Gehrke, Savi Ma, Rachel Bouressa, Kari Esbensen, Jane Haasch, and Kayla Van Dyke-Griena. After coming together for a few weekly meetings we decided to create a community survey to learn more about what other people love most about our community and what we could do together to co-create a more beautiful and thriving place to live. That survey from 2020 is here
The website launched in November 2020. The first podcast interview was launched January 2021.
In 2021 our group partnered with the Fox-Wolf Watershed Cleanup, creating new cleanup spots along the Waupaca River.
Kayla led our group to Adopt a Trail in Waupaca along the Waupaca River near Brainard’s Bridge Park.
Common Roots Rising and Mark is continuing to support the Greater Waupaca Parks and Trails group with website hosting and support.
In 2026 we are shifting our local community networking to focus on in person activities to the Fox Cities.
Our Initiatives
We are developing ideas for collective community activities and actions. If you have ideas and would like to get involved please contact us.
Community Singing – Raise Your Voice! Join Us in Community Singing
Community WellBeing – Activate Collective CommUNITY WellBEing!
True wellbeing isn’t only a solo activity; it’s a collective collaboration. Embracing community-centric co-creative approaches ensures that everyone is allowed to have opportunities to flourish, grow connections and engage in shared experiences toward a healthier, happier life for all beings.
Practice Peace – What we practice, we become
Practice Peace in an invitation, a loving reminder, that our collective focus is a powerful force. When we practice peace (and love…), we actively shift our world for the greater good and grow our community wellbeing. We are currently collaborating with Being Collective and World Peace Festival Fox Cities.
Our Collaborators
Would you like to join us in co-creating a more beautiful world? Connect with us and let us know how we can help each other.