Art of Participatory Leadership Johannesburg 20th-22nd of October 2010

Here you can find some of the harvesting from Art of Participatory Leadership in Johannesburg the 20th- 22nd of October 2010.

Enjoy:

What could the Art of Hosting Community in Southern Africa also be?

Context

We have had several Art of Participatory Leadership workshops in both South Africa and Zimbabwe. Whilst the workshops received very good feedback and we know that people have taken elements home, the
enthusiasm has not resulted in an active community of practitioners. In
South Africa Reos remains the only focal point around these practices –
without any real co-learning opportunities outside of whenever Reos
hosts another workshop. In Zimbabwe the same can be said to be true for
Kufunda Learning Village, with additionally VVOB as a key organization
actively pursuing these methods, with its network of facilitators in the
educational field. It is time to change this picture.

What is the quest?

To enable, stimulate and steward a vibrant community of practitioners that learns, supports each other (it is kind to ask for help), practices and creates together.

Or in other words: To create a field of practice

During the café we realized that to truly learn and to keep this work alive, we need to maintain a place and opportunities to practice and learn together (the dojo). This cannot simply be held by one person or
entity (Marianne or Reos). Thus the intention is to gather a core team
who will develop a simple structure within which we can grow our
community of practitioners. Different people will step in and host
different aspects. A simple rhythm with simple opportunities to join
will hopefully enable it to take on a life of its own.

It needs to be both a place for learning and also a place for work (to help each other work through real issues).

With this may come new projects or initiatives co-hosted by people in the community, as they get to know each other better and keep connecting around burning questions and bright ideas: a conference for
DGs, an AoPL for civil servants, etc.. Important is that this idea is
around the work of hosting the community, knowing that with the right
container, the community itself can then become creative and innovate.

Next steps are to formulate the invitation for a core team to send to everyone who has been to an AoH or AoPL in SA, and to schedule a date for the next AoPL in Zimbabwe. Already two people
from this workshop volunteered to join that hosting team J.

By Marianne Knuth

PICTURES

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55439923@N05/

TAKE IN; TAKE AWAY

→ I take in that the best solutions come from the least expected persons; I take away classification of persons based on their appearances

→ I take in that the learned are always learning; I take away that I can only learn so much

→ I take in that there are solutions; I take away that there are impossible solutions

→ I take in courage; I take away fear

→ I take my wings; I take away mw security

→ I take in hope; I take away dispair

→I take in trust for my self; I take away doubt of self

Poem by Molebogeng Rapetsw:

Replies to This Conversation

Permalink Reply by Ria Baeck on November 16, 2010 at 4:15am

Thanks for posting this! Great to know where you are in that part of the world with AoH. Do you know there is a group called Connecting Local Communities of Practice? Nancy, who started this group, holds a lot of experience about having a local CoP.