Basic Facilitation Skills

17 to 25 May 2025

An introduction to a holistic and transformative approach to activist training and facilitation

This training aims to support activists and organisers who want to step into facilitation roles and use holistic methods of education and facilitation for activists and change makers. This course is an introduction to facilitation and training skills.


Ulex Project courses and events use an Integral Activist Training approach. Recognising the interconnected nature of the personal, the interpersonal and the political, our trainings empower integrated transformation in all three spheres. This training for trainers will be rooted in the Integral Activist Training approach but will focus on basic skills, aiming to support those with little or no facilitation experience to feel more empowered and skilled to step into facilitation and training roles. 

More on the Integral Activist Training approach here

 

What are the aims of the course?

  • Explore various aspects of transformative and holistic activist education
  • Empower activists to step into facilitation roles and equip participants with basic facilitation skills to practise in their own contexts
  • To offer tools which support more skilful inter-personal work in our groups and networks, and enable ways of organising which exemplify the values we want to realise in the world

So, the workshop will help participants to:

  • Assess their existing skills and knowledge and identify areas of growth in relation to social movements facilitation and training
  • Understand key, basic principles of transformative and holistic approaches to education
  • Think strategically about what kind of education and facilitation skills are needed in their local organising context
  • Develop basic and initial skills in:
    creating learning spaces that embody solidarity and restore a sense of empowerment
    navigating power dynamics skillfully in groups and in learning spaces
    – supporting groups to embody the values they strive for
  • Learn ways of growing as individuals, developing talents and creativity, deepening self-awareness and learning to bring deep inner resources to support our struggles

Who is it aimed at?

Anyone involved 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 main spoken language on the course will be English.

Suggested Contribution
In the solidarity economy: €300/€700/€1200
(see the details of our approach to Solidarity Economics for details)

The Team

Our Name

Ulex: Latin (argelaga Catalan, gorse English) noun:

1. A thorny-evergreen flowering shrub, with a high capacity for regeneration and resilience. Its seedpods open in contact with fire and it reshoots from charred stumps. A successionary plant that grows well under challenging conditions. It improves soil fertility through nitrogen fixing, preparing the way for renewed biodiversity.

2. A traditional choice for igniting fires. Burns hot and bright.

3. A networked project adding nutrition and fertility to European social movements through training and capacity building. It kindles the realisation of social justice, ecological intelligence, and cognitive vitality.

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