Advanced Learning Initiative
From Notes
ALI is Sue, Adrian and Sophie's (and Mike who was 'there for the ride') project for how to develop another 'level' of practice.
Contents |
Objectives
Bullet points that came out of an 'objectives' discussion.
- Use NVC in real life situations/charitable ways to help people in need
- Contribute in a meaningful way
- Vision of creating situations where people can be authentic - say what they want, be heard, without demand, criticism
- Help people connect with themselves - their childlike nature, work with children
- Develop NVC skills and develop confidence ("Enjoying others pain")
- Create NVC community
- Retreats/sharing facilitation
- NVC "University"
- Projects (like PHD)
- Seminars
- Papers
- Discussions
- Research
- Reason - Extended epistomology
Possibilities
Possible activities, projects, directions
- Networking
- Care homes - visiting
- Hospital /medical centre visiting
- Seminars
- Circles of support and accountability (ref. sex offenders project)
- Schools
Project Ideas
Project ideas that arise, developed a little more fully
Seminar Series (Sue)
A series of day seminars on various topics.
- papers (found, or 'ours') on NVC in social change.
- An NVC residential, somewhere nice, with seminars and practice work.
- Call for papers about work in progress, or aspired to - 'NVC in the world' (other than training). The purpose would be to figure out ways forward.
- Research topics (for us to present) e.g. working in prisons. Present with a view to working out how we would act on it here.
- Combine learning about theory, and practical outcomes.
Conference - Non violence and social change (Sue)
- A weekend conference
- UK-wide (vs north of england)
- possibly residential.
- invite inspiring speakers
- poster session
- open space?
- workshops on NVC and other approaches to non violence and social change.
- practical outcome - networking for interesting projects to come out of it.
- fund raising for it
- marketing
- people from all kinds of movements to come together - Quakers, Buddhists, Peace studies people, green activists, social forum people etc.
Here's some text about the idea from Sue.
I envisage a two day event with some speakers and some use of "open space technology" where people decide themselves how they want to use the time, but with some pre=planned ideas and people on hand to make things happen. My hope is that the event will take in a beautiful place, so there will be some outdoor time, walking, connecting with nature, networking etc. Ideas for workshops are many and varied, some I've thought of are:
- Abolishing war
- Changing our communities
- Refugees and asylum seekers
- Young people
- Gun crime
- Dealing with bullying - schools and workplaces etc
- Racism
- Violence against women
- The arms trade
- Prisoners of conscience
- Action and contemplation - getting the balance
- planning our cities for nonviolence
- Islam and nonviolence
- The Good Friday agreement, future of nonviolence in N Ireland
Possible speakers - it would be a coup if we could get Marshall of course, you yourself might be interested?, people from a range of organisations, Peace News, Amnesty International, Liberty, Quakers, Anti Gun crime people, Arundhati Roy, FWBO, an Archbishop, Islamic speaker, Unitarians, one of the Development NGOs, humanists, people from community development/inner city regeneration organisations, environmental organisations etc.
People I have thought of contacting would be drawn from many of these arenas. I noticed someone on the social change list talked of a conference they had organised, so thought I would contact them to see how they went about it, . I think I will contact whoever I can think of in these areas and ask them would they be interested in such an event and if so, what would they want to get out of it, what content would they like to see etc.
I definitely would need at least one partner to work with me, preferably, as you suggest, one who has systems in place for things like admin/booking/marketing - and a bank account that could be used.
I am waiting fot the Carlisle diocese to send me the brochure for Rydal Hall in Cumbria to see if that would be a suitable venue. Their email was very encouraging. It is a lovely place, i've walked past it several times, and not too difficult to get to being close to Ambleside and bus services from Windermere.
The conference would need from my perspective to focus on practical things - what's already happening, what could happen - I would really like people to come with projects they would like to link up with others on, partnerships people want to create to make ideas come to fruition, etc. so that it adds value to what people are already doing and creates opportunities for new things to happen. NVC would be close to the heart of it, but I am not wanting that by any means to be the only show in town in terms of non violence and social change.
That seems enough for now, any thoughts you have will be extremely welcome.
Love Sue
Website/Forum (Sue)
A need for a locus for people using nvc, but not intending to make a living from it. Need to make a 'purpose statement' for this to help us clarify what it's about. I think this is about people sharing their practice of NVC in the world, asking for feedback, finding potential partners to work up ideas for NVC interventions in the world, networking, building practical and theoretical expertise, linking with others who are not in the nVC movement but share some of the values and objectives - a range of things really. My sense is that NVC websites are mostly the brainchildren of a movement largely made up of trainers and people making some of their livelihood from NVC training. This forum would not exclude those people by any means, but is an attempt to broaden out from that to encourage NVC practice development in a range of settings, not just training. We need to build up our own stories, case studies, successes, reports.
