workshops
We offer workshops to support groups and organisations working for social and environmental justice to be more effective and to thrive.
We customise each workshop to the needs and priorities of the group we’re working with. If you don’t see anything here that fits what you need, please get in touch with us and we’ll see if we can tailor something for you. If we can’t help then we’ll be happy to signpost you to other trainers and facilitators. Click on the headings below to find out more.
We customise each workshop to the needs and priorities of the group we’re working with. If you don’t see anything here that fits what you need, please get in touch with us and we’ll see if we can tailor something for you. If we can’t help then we’ll be happy to signpost you to other trainers and facilitators. Click on the headings below to find out more.
Developing Your Capacity to Work Through Conflict
Conflict in a group can be intensely painful, but it can also offer an opportunity for growth and change. Opening up a space to explore conflict can help you learn about each other’s perspectives and find a way through that works for everyone, so the group can get stronger, more resilient and in turn be more effective. We mediate and facilitate conflicts in groups of any size and can support you to engage with conflict in honest and useful ways, train you in mediation, and help your group to develop your own process for handling conflict. Read more.
Exploring Power Dynamics
The term ‘power dynamics’ refers to the ever-changing power relationship between people in a group. It explains how some people have a lot of influence over a group without realising it, and how some people feel they have to adapt their behaviour in order to be accepted by the group. Working on your power dynamics together can help more people feel empowered, it can help the group grow stronger and be more effective, and it can give you a shared language to talk about how power flows between you.
Facilitating Effective Meetings
When meetings are effective, people listen to each other, there’s space for everyone to participate, and the group moves forward with decisions and plans. Facilitation is about making it easy for everyone to participate, and helping the group move forward with its task. In this workshop you’ll learn to facilitate effective and fun meetings, and you’ll build your own tool-box of skills. We can also help you feel better equipped to facilitate difficult meetings, or when tensions are running high. You’ll leave the workshop feeling more confident to step into the role of facilitator.
Making Collaborative Decisions
When a group of individuals takes the time to listen to each other’s ideas and preferences, and work out a way forward that everyone can live with, the group grows stronger, makes high-quality decisions, and becomes more effective. Our workshops emphasise the values, attitudes and behaviours that are needed to support effective collaborative decision making. One decision making model that we know a lot about is consensus decision making. And if consensus isn't the best method for your group, we can help you learn about other collaborative decision-making tools.
Sustaining Ourselves / Sustaining Our Groups
To sustain your work for social change it’s important to feel empowered, nourished and creative. This workshop is an opportunity to take stock, learn from your experiences, and build resilience. We will help you reflect on the viability and sustainability of the ways that you work personally and in your group. Our workshop will help you develop strategies and practices that will support your wellbeing and help your groups and communities thrive and become resilient for the long haul.
Strategic and Campaign Planning
Developing a strategy can help you get to grips with the issues you’re facing, and get clear how you can win your campaign or run a great project. We aim to help you narrow down bigger picture problems into more manageable parts, as well as use creative tools to help you learn skills for strategy and develop a birds-eye view on the future of your group.
Running Great Workshops
If you or your group want to run your own workshop, we can help you develop the skills and confidence to design and facilitate engaging, experiential and fun workshops. We’ll share ideas about how people learn, and some tips of the trade that we’ve picked up over the years. You’ll apply all this to design your own workshop session, practice facilitating, and receive feedback from peers.
Open Workshops
We offer occasional open workshops. Information about our upcoming open workshops will appear here. For information about workshops we have run in the past see our archives.