Workshop on Consensus Decision Making

July 03, 2010 13:00

Date Published: June 08, 2010 17:00 by s |

Published by group: Group

London Free School
Tagged as: 195 collectives free_spaces

195 Mare Street, Hackney, E8 3QE

In terms of accessibility, have a look at the Access Codes for the building. in short there is a ramp at the front for the steps but there is no wheelchair accessible toilets.

This is part of a two days event. Saturday 3rd July (workshop on Consensus Decision Making) and Sunday 4th July (workshop on Facilitating Consensus)

Places: 195 hackney

Are you part of a collective?
Organising action, events, running an autonomous space?
We are as well!

It's occurred to some of us that there was room for lots of improvement in the way our collectives work, be it in daily life, space organising or during traditional meetings!
We, and people around us, are sometimes not very good at looking after ourselves, at not letting ourselves burn out, at not sacrificing ourselves for the "cause", at taking other people's needs into account, at communicating effectively, at being aware of how what we are doing/saying can impact on other people, at dealing with criticism, disagreements, conflicts, anger, feedback, challenges, at having productive, pleasant and empowering meetings...

We know that this is not the sexiest part of what we do. "Talking about how I feel rather than organising the next blockade? Naaaaahh!" But sacrificing ourselves for our goals always sounds like a defeat to us. We want our groups to look like the sort of society that we're fighting for.
We want them to be healthy and to run smoothly. We want to feel safe, and to be inspired, whenever we spend time in them. And we think that we'll all achieve more that way, as well. Strengthening the way we work together is a key way of strengthening everything we do.

We'd like to run regular events, but the first weekend will be 3rd/4th July, with two all-afternoon workshops (1pm-7pm) from the collective Seeds for Change, on Consensus Decision Making (Saturday 3rd July) and Facilitating Consensus (Sunday 4th July).

--Consensus Decision Making--
Saturday 3rd July, 1-7 pm
Consensus decision making is a creative and dynamic way of reaching agreement between all members of a group, finding solutions that everyone actively supports - or at least can live with. Consensus is neither compromise nor unanimity - it aims to go further by weaving together everyone's best ideas and most important concerns - a process that often results in surprising and creative solutions. It's about everyone working together to meet both the individual's and the group's needs.
The workshop will be fully participatory, and focus on enabling each other to develop key skills and qualities for productive, enjoyable, empowering group work - such as good listening, communicating well, addressing each other's needs, giving and receiving feedback, common ground and disagreements.

Unfortunately numbers are limited (25 people), so please contact us to reserve your space : londonfreeschool at riseup.net

Donation will be asked only to cover the travel costs of the facilitators.

There will also be vegan dinner afterwards on both evenings for all the participants.

Some ideas we've had for future workshops or discussions are:
* drug addiction and its consequences
* giving and receiving feedback
* dealing with burn out
* non violent communication
* sexual consent
* conflict resolution
* open discussions to share what's happening in our collectives, support each other in making them work better...

If any of those interest you, please do let us know as well, even if you can't manage the July weekend.

Let's make our spaces and collectives better for all of us to be in!