3. Convening: listening and gathering

Including birds of all feathers

In this course, we are preparing for work that values relatedness between people as a key source of creative possibility, and a key outcome on its own. As a key principle, we bring the voice and participation of the whole system or community into the foreground.

Convening — gathering people around an intention to engage in their own situation, their own community — is an act of leadership, and very often the first step in any effort to shift a situation. What representation of diversity and power is necessary for the effort to matter, to have legitimacy? How do we go about answering that question?

Lecture and activities

• Warm-ups: experiencing yet another way for groups of people to quickly get into conversation or get into creative flow
• Lecture: immersing and listening to the system, learning from what you hear, staying open to the voice of the community
• Project work session: planning to listen to your chosen slice of life

Key concepts

• What it means to work systemically
• Convening or gathering as an essential activity
• Listening across the system, allowing priorities and meaning to come from the community