Building facilitation capacity through participatory practices.
Working in social movements, we can often find our collective processes painful, unsatisfactory and poorly fulfilling of our values of inclusivity, care and collaboration. How can we stay creative, responsive, effective, and most importantly – in relationship – amidst the inevitable tensions of working with others? The Participatory Facilitation course will be a space to engage with these questions, opening opportunities for exchange and exploration of a range of facilitation tools and methodologies, deepening facilitation skills and sensibilities, for those who already hold facilitation roles in their groups and organisations.
Working in social movements, we can often find our collective processes painful, unsatisfactory and poorly fulfilling of our values of inclusivity, care and collaboration. The (important!) tensions that arise between exclusion – inclusion, tasks – processes – relationships, diversity – commonality, autonomy – cooperation, innovation – conservation and so on, are often present in our groups as we are trying to create collaborative visions and projects. The interlocking systems of oppression in which our organising takes place do not make this task easier! Being able to navigate and facilitate collective spaces for discussion and decision making requires skills, tools and thoughtful processes that can remain responsive and adaptive to different organising contexts and situations.
How can we stay creative, responsive, effective, and most importantly – in relationship – amidst the inevitable tensions of working with others?
The Participatory Facilitation course will be a space to engage with this challenge, opening opportunities for exchange and exploration of a range of facilitation tools and methodologies, deepening facilitation skills and sensibilities, for those who already hold facilitation roles in their groups and organisations.
Aims of the course:
This course is aimed at trainers and facilitators who want to deepen their skills in facilitating participatory processes and collective spaces – including addressing challenging topics and situations. This course won’t be focusing on basic, entry-level facilitation skills.
The course aims to:
We will explore methodologies such as Radical Popular Education, Participatory Action Research, Appreciative Inquiry, Theatre of the Oppressed, Theory U, Improvisation, Process work, art of hosting, generative dialogue, observation and mindfulness amongst others.
Who is it aimed at?
Anyone with experience in facilitation and in socially engaged action addressing ecological, political and social justice issues. We embrace a broad definition of activism, including: Resistance – action preventing further damage to ecosystems and social justice; Renewal – action focused on developing and creating alternatives for healthier societies and communities; and Building Resilience – action supporting increased resilience in communities to weather the uncertain times ahead.
The course will be delivered in accessible, international English.
This course might NOT be for you if you are looking for a basic, entry-level course on facilitation skills.
In the solidarity economy:
(See details of our approach to radical economics here)
Contact us
to apply
Location:
Ari’s activism began in 2002, at age 16, as a Bosnian refugee in Canada, where they founded and coordinated a group for LGBTIQ high school students and allies. They were a co-founder and leader at kolekTIRV in Croatia and Trans Network Balkan, involved in community organizing, advocacy, program management, team coordination, capacity building, education, media work, campaigns, events, fundraising, etc. In 2024, they joined the Supervisory Board of the Croatian Trade Union Collective of United Precarious Workers and Activists (SKUPA).
Beyond the Balkan region, Ari served as a Board member at Transgender Europe (TGEU), where they held roles as Secretary, Treasurer, and later Co-chair. They have also been a trainer with the Center for Artistic Activism and served on the Advisory Committee and since 2022 as a Community Care Facilitator at FRIDA — The Young Feminist Fund. Since 2024 they are the Operations Manager at Global Philanthropy Project.
Location:
Sergio (all pronouns) was born in Romania and migrated to Germany in the early 2010s. In the past, he was a social worker with homeless people and a social consultant for Eastern European migrants for various organisations. Trained as a filmmaker, he spent two years making a documentary about the ‘civic reawakening’ in Romania and the waves of protest it brought with it. In connection to this, Sergio is currently co-steering the development of an online open-source participative knowledge production platform on activism in Romania. Over the past nine years, Sergiu has offered his skills to various journalists, grassroots collectives and campaigns, mostly working within the labour rights, climate justice, international solidarity and anti-authoritarian movements in Germany and Romania. Nonetheless, his biggest focus since 2020 has been his work as an organiser with the anarcho-syndicalist Free Workers Union, where he focuses mostly on organising Romanian migrant workers on construction sites, in factories and in the agricultural field.
a space to think critically, to ask challenging and transformative questions, and find deeper inspiration and understanding to empower social change.
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building and strengthening regenerative praxis for BIPOC organisers.
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a Ulex Project Webinar with members of the Frente Amplio.
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strategies for weathering, surviving, and recovering from repressive actions by state and non-state forces.
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new stories for a different world.
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a holistic approach to activist training and education.
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exploring the deeper dynamics of collaboration, for transformation.
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strengthening and connecting transformative social movements.
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tools for effective and sustainable activism.
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Basic tools, methods and approaches for dealing with group and relational conflicts.
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Ulex: del Llatí, (argelaga en català) nom:
1. Arbust espinós de fulla perenne i floració, amb gran capacitat de regeneració i resistència. Les seves pues s’obren en entrar en contacte amb el foc i torna a brollar dels tocones carbonitzats. Planta successional que creix bé en condicions difícils. Millora la fertilitat del sòl mitjançant la fixació de nitrogen, preparant el terreny per a una renovada biodiversitat.
2. Una opció tradicional per a encendre focs. Crema amb intensitat i lluentor.
3. Un projecte en xarxa que aporta nutrició i fertilitat als moviments socials europeus a través de la formació
