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Under the umbrella tree of the Berkana Institute, the Art of Hosting is about bringing people together to use their individual talents and leadership capabilities and their collective intelligence and creativity to foster passionate initiatives, solve problems, and dance (well, maybe that last one is a bonus). Techniques (a.k.a. ‘technologies’) for facilitating group discussions are learned through practice: participants learn how the technologies work while self-organising and using them. 60 colourful young change agents, from Kaos Pilots (Denmark), Team Academy (Finland and Basque Country) and the Youth Initiative Program (Sweden), plus a few free radicals, imbued Karlskrona for four days last month and joined my classmates in learning how to host conversations and facilitate the emergence of ideas, with panache. Present for webinar discussions were Peter Senge of the Society for Organizational Learning and Margaret Wheatley, organisational leadership futurist. We were fortunate to have a number of glowing facilitators present to guide the process of learning and practice.
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After taking a week to digest a fruity and abundant harvest, it’s time to recount the 4 delicious days of workshop organized by three students from three rockin' programmes. Kati Thompson, my MSLS classmate from New Zealand who helped to organise the event, does a great job of explaining some of the learning outcomes in her ‘blog, Learning Adventures of Kati.
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With sparks in the air, we collected in the large circular Rotunda, nervous and excited, Thursday morning. The night before had been spent meeting and greeting our out-of-town billets at our favourite Café Nyfiket. The Rotunda, with icicle-adorned views of the frozen Baltic Sea, was cold but welcoming, and our bodies and spirits were grateful and warm.
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I realize as I write this that it's hard after only 10 days to remember the exact order of activities. Instead, much of what I gained from the overall experience has stayed clear in my mind. So I will write about that.
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The vision quest led me over the snow, further than I’ve gone before on the path through the woods behind school. Drifting as pensively as owls, we honoured the dictum to avoid communication. Instead, I thought about my connection to nature. Usually when surrounded by others, I find I am unable to detach my thoughts from those around me. Caught in a state of hyper-awareness, I can’t reach the most interesting inner parts of my thoughts. But on this mini-Vision Quest, I found myself able to meet my need for silence and mental space, while still surrounded by people. It just takes an agreement to respect the boundaries between.
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As always the case when an event is driven by such clear intentions, there were breathtaking moments of synchronicity. After months of nurturing my desire to hike and camp in Lapland when summer arrives (waaaaaay up north, Swedish caribou country); a ripe and juicy opportunity presented itself. A group of people have begun to organise a Vision Quest to said desired location, for precisely desired time.
Another such magical moment: I was feeling tired and overwhelmed by the third morning of the workshop, and felt the familiar need to be away from people. But I balked at the idea of missing out. So I put on the most jubilant song I could think of (the Littlest Birds by the Be Good Tanyas, fantabulous musical mavens from Vancouver). It carried me all the way there. The first discussion of the day’s Open Space session: How to Connect People through Music.
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A note on harvesting: what a beautiful concept. The act of actively collecting connections as they are made.
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This event echoed what I have been feeling for months – the sense of possibility and change that is as natural and uplifting as birds in flight. I think many people today are searching for a pureness, a wholesomeness, and a way to be good. I see more and more people returning to community ways; deeply appreciating food, music and loose art; and taking the time to learn about whatever is interesting.
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A new Art of Hosting facilitation technology, Proaction Cafe, led to exciting trajectories for my thesis project in Ghana (next post will be about that, I promise!!). After introducing my topic, questioning from others helped me realize the gaps. This was followed by suggestions leading to the idea of a “Community Cafe” to find the answers to questions such as: “what are the most important features in a house?” “what do you think about vernacular (traditional) housing styles?” “what is important to you about environmental sustainability?” “what knowledge would be most useful to you in moving your community towards sustainability?” This is to replace the traditional survey format for a number of reasons.
First, it welcomes collaboration from community members, leading (I hope) to a sense of involvement and thereby a stake in the success of the project. Next, it gives us the opportunity to find ways of “repaying” the community, perhaps by offering knowledge transfer in the future. It gives me the opportunity to take part in something I have recently realized I love: organising community events and facilitating constructive dialogue. Yessssss!!!
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The days were long but incredibly rewarding. Every time I reach a plateau in my growth and think I've stopped expanding my understanding of happiness and life, something like this comes along and the world is new again.
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