In most communities, there are dozens of non-profit and other organizations, each working on a discrete set of goals, yet operating in the same place and systems as others. “We need to collaborate to be more effective and have a bigger impact” is the frequent refrain. The question is how and where do we start? In… Read more
Tag: World Cafe
Conversations Connect Across Siloes
One of the biggest challenges is that organizations and larger systems are siloed: people work in the same organization/community/system or on the same issue, yet they don’t talk to each other or understand how their work or issues relate. The World Café conversational method enables people from these “fragmented” parts of a community/system to meet… Read more
Making Large Events Participatory
This blog was originally published in October, 2019, when we couldn’t foresee that most large events would cease. As we anticipate meeting again in person, I hope the approaches here give you ideas. You might like to check out my new meeting design coaching services. It’s possible to make large events participatory and interactive. Here… Read more
Strengthening Community Connections in Meeting Design
“The essential challenge is to transform the isolation and self-interest within our communities into connectedness and caring for the whole.” – Peter Block One promising area for reconnecting people in communities is the Farm to School movement. Communities across the country are implementing initiatives to increase the amount of local food served in school cafeterias,… Read more
The Multi-Dimensional Benefits of a World Café
I recently co-facilitated a “taster” to explore a variety of ways of designing meetings to more fully engage the collective intelligence of the group. One of the techniques we explored was the World Café. About half of this group had participated in it before and here were some of their key concerns: World Café had… Read more
Healthy People, Healthy Planet: Making the Connections between Wellness and Sustainability
New Directions Collaborative facilitated a World Cafe dialogue, in partnership with the Apeiron Institute for Sustainable Living and Integrative Medicine at Brown. This fun and inspiring evening forged new connections among Rhode Island’s wellness and sustainability communities, to discover new ideas and solutions that support wellness of people and the health of our planet. The interactive… Read more
“Catalyzing Networks” Workshop for EPA New England’s Office of Assistance & Pollution Prevention
New Directions Collaborative provided a one-day training and strategic planning session for the staff of EPA New England’s Office of Assistance & Pollution Prevention on how to catalyze networks. The training was designed to build on the strengths of their previous work by viewing it through a network lens. We shared an overview of network… Read more
Where Good Ideas and Solutions Come From
Many aspects of addressing the sustainability challenge are what Ronald Heifetz, who teaches leadership at Harvard, calls “adaptive problems” as contrasted to technical problems: “There are problems that are just technical. I’m delighted when a car mechanic fixes my car, an orthopedic surgeon gives me back a healed bone, or an internist gives me penicillin… Read more
Cross-Fertilizing Conversations
This interview recently appeared in New Hampshire Business for Social Responsibility’s (NHBSR) newsletter: Today we’re talking to Beth Tener, a NHBSR member and Principal of New Directions Collaborative who will be facilitating the interactive dialogue in the afternoon of this year’s conference. Beth has over 20 years of experience in the field of socially-responsible business… Read more