Civil society – NGOs
Civil movements around the world have put the focus on collaborative community conversation and the need for new styles of governance. But how do you move away from more hierarchical ways of working to allow more people to participate and contribute?
At the heart of the Art of Hosting lie participatory processes and building capacity to engage constructively with difference and diversity. Worked with in this way, conversation can be the medium for both transformation and for taking personal responsibility for action and change.
Examples include the Bush Foundation’s drive to build local capacity to host change, by sponsoring Art of Hosting training throughout Minnesota and the Dakotas (USA) through its InCommons initiative.
Practitioners in Nova Scotia, Canada, have been leading innovative community engagement processes like Build Your Center, while massive public conversations have taken place in Israel/Palestine using World Café as a way of meeting together (1000 tables project) (see picture above) . Other initiatives, such as the Protestivals in Slovenia, get active support from Art of Hosting practitioners.
The Art of Hosting training opened my eyes to the possibilities and power that can be harnessed when a space for honest, open dialogue is created.
This beautiful Learning Journey awakened me to leadership from the inside out, rather than the top down.