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Date: 01/01/2014
  • Practices
  • Going Forth
  • Emerging Facilitators
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Networking

from chapter 10 of Coming Back to Life by Joanna Macy and Molly Brown; second edition, published 2014. Please acknowledge the source when you use any of these practices.

 

For lasting benefit to workshop participants, be sure to give them opportunities to network with each other — sharing interests, ideas, and hopes about actions they are engaged in or would like to engage in for the Great Turning. It is good to allow time for this early on in the workshop, but if you haven’t, do it now. 

 

Method

This is a freewheeling process, often good before a meal when people can continue to talk informally. Begin it by inviting people to stand at random (popcorn style) to name the issues and activities that they are called to. Then everyone can mingle and gather around particular themes.

As an alternative, use sheets of newsprint on the wall. Ask people to post their areas of concern — say, Schools, Factory Farms, Climate Change, Nuclear Waste, GMOs, Homelessness. The posting process itself may result in some groupings. Then people can gather around common concerns, and share ideas and information.

Contributor/Author: Joanna Macy & Molly Brown