Art of Hosting Northern Shoalhaven
24-26 October 2022
Bundanon
This was the first Art of Hosting training for the Shoalhaven region of NSW, which emerged from local efforts to support grassroots not-for-profits (NFPs) to strengthen their organisations and also to support community-led bushfire recovery efforts.
The training was called by emerging local Art of Hosting practitioners Monique Carson, Alasdair Stratton and Kate Dezarnaulds, after they had attended shared leadership trainings on the South Coast of NSW. Together with 50 people over the three days or experiential learning, we explored the question: HOW DO WE COME TOGETHER TO NOURISH AND INSPIRE OUR COMMUNITIES?Most of us who attended were from the Northern Shoalhaven, particularly Nowra, Kangaroo Valley and the surrounding areas. Others came from as far north as Brisbane to Dubbo in the West and New Zealand to the East.
We gathered on the banks of the Shoalhaven River at Bundanon in the northern Shoalhaven, to explore the questions that we are passionate about, and develop new ways of working together to nourish, inspire and renew. In Dharawal, Bundanon means Deep Valley. Arthur and Yvonne Boyd’s gift of Bundanon has given Australia a unique cultural and environmental asset. It was born out of Boyd’s often stated belief that ‘you can’t own a landscape’ and the wish that others might also draw inspiration from this remarkable place. The hosting team was Mel Geltch, Nick Takavadii, Jane O’Brien, Daryl Cook, Kate Dezarnaulds and Alexa Peggie, with the support of local host Tim Collings. Peter Pigott and Alasdair Stratton were both part of the team in the lead up to the training and needed to step out at the last minute. We acknowledge, and are grateful for the support of the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR), through its Investing in Rural Community Futures program and the St. Vincent de Paul Society of NSW (Vinnies) for making this training possible. We offer this training harvest for participants and others to explore what happened at the training and what emerged from the unique collaboration between people and place. This harvest also offers some clues to questions that surfaced in the small circle process on day three:
A community of practitioners has formed in the Shoalhaven following this and a second training that followed in February 2023. Link to home page for more |
REFLECTIONS
What did we learn from the training as a whole? We start at the close of the training and hear some of the voices from participants and what was carried away from the training experience.
Personal insightsThanks Zanna for the interviews, and Lorraine, Bron, Hugh and Anne for offering their personal insights
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Closing circle: What gift am I taking with me?Here is a selection of the rich responses everyone spoke in our closing circle:
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Meta harvestby Felicie, Anne, Marina and Jo
We arrived with the mist
Our river backdrop obscured by rain Uncle Tom Welcomed us to Country And so, the Art of Hosting journey could begin With our first Check-In; sharing what makes our heart sing. BINGO! The guardian cast an invitation, Our safe, central circle pattern reformed Repeatedly re-gathered into smaller conversations; For Storytelling, World Café, Wicked Questions, and Rope, Each process forged connections, uncovered deep wisdom and hope. BINGO! Day 2 was emergence, for the sunshine and for our living system. Patterns revealed guides for being in complexity, We could choose those that meant something to us To create order and paths to follow; celebrate our difference, And not fear the unknown, as we practiced and dived in and out of chaos. BINGO! Sense of anticipation, purpose and calm converged Day 3, Ready to take back to our home and community the ultimate harvest Collective memories, new images, resources, and tools The rippling of new skills, abilities and collaborations will spread The final, wicked question to echo beyond… What’s next for you? |
Over three days we were immersed in an experience for deepening competency and confidence in hosting participatory group processes, and our own personal leadership. Everyone was invited to step up to practice hosting and harvesting for the training, with the support of the hosting team. Here’s an overview of the ground we covered.
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PRACTICESThe Art of Hosting is more than a suite of processes or methods – it’s also a practice field for hosting conversations that matter and our learning comes from practice. We were introduced and invited into these foundational practices:
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The Four Fold PracticeThe Four Fold Practice forms the basis of all good hosting and you can practice these any time. It is known as the ‘DNA’ of the Art of Hosting and is foundational to all that we do and how we show up in any situation.
Video Circle |
Circle is both a foundational form and practice in Art of Hosting and a key process (see more below). The particular pattern we use is that of the Circle Way - gathering people into a circular shape with participants at the rim and the purpose in the centre. Each person has a voice and can see and hear every other person. Social agreements and practices help the practice of respectful conversation. Circle helps us move from social space into a reverent space of purposeful being and doing together.
HarvestingWhat if we’re not planning for a meeting, but we’re planning for a harvest?
We design our conversations around the ‘harvest’ we want to produce. The results we are seeking help to determine what processes we use and how. This flips the more traditional way we plan events or conversations Harvesting is a deep and conscious practice that begins well before the event, during the event and also continues afterwards.
Invitation |
Invitation is more than just how we invite people into conversations or work that matters. It’s a practice and attitude all of its own. The quality of the outcomes from participatory work is directly related to the quality, intention and active nature of invitation.
We learned the useful mnemonic ‘VALUE’ which represents a set of principles for invitation practice. The VALUE of Invitation |
PATTERNSConversations that begin from worldview exploration are a way to invite people into conversation and deeper understanding. It is also important to understand some of the underlying patterns, or worldviews, that support the Art of Hosting and participatory leadership. It is also important to understand some of the underlying patterns, or worldviews, that support the Art of Hosting and participatory leadership:
Living systemsWe are beginning to understand and treat organisations and communities more like living systems than static machines. We explored this core pattern, also known as complex adaptive systems, and how it intersects with another, mainstream worldview - that of the mechanistic system or top down hierarchy.
The Chaordic PathA pattern that identifies a way to respond to complex issues and wicked challenges, with an adaptive approach, made visible by Dee Hock, founder of Visa International. Hosting is a practice of walking this chaordic path - between chaos and order - holding space and processes to allow emergence and innovation to happen.
Breath PatternEvery group meeting or larger initiative follows a repeating pattern. This pattern was named by Sam Kaner and his colleagues as The Diamond of Participation. It's as natural as breathing, which is why it is known in the Art of Hosting community as "the Breath Pattern". As a host, it pays to know this pattern and how to navigate through it with your group for more meaningful results.
Cynefin frameworkCynefin, developed by Complexity scientist Dave Snowden, is very useful for identifying appropriate decision making and responses to problems. The Art of Hosting practices and processes are used to address challenges in the complex domain.
We looked at these patterns through our own experiences in work and life, and larger systemic responses to the Coronavirus pandemic. Two loops theory of systems changePlacing ourselves where we are in our systems, and exploring how we can have impact and support the dying system or the new one emerging.
Berkana’s Two Loops Theory - Video with Debra Frieze A written summary |
PROCESSES
We learned, experienced and reflected on some of the best known participatory processes that are part of Art of Hosting practice (and a few more).
The Circle WayThe Circle Way is the core process of the Art of Hosting, re-discovered by Anne Linnea and Christina Baldwin. It helps us remember ancient ways of meeting and making wise decisions together. We experienced circles in a number of different ways (and sizes!). We checked in and out of each day in circle, we held smaller circles to practice hosting this way of being in dialogue together. The circle is a deep practice and also shows up in all of the other methodologies. A leader in every chair.
Circle spans the three layers of Art of Hosting — practice, pattern and process. It helps us remember indigenous ways of meeting and making wise decisions together. We were introduced to The Circle Way and its agreements, practices, principles, roles and more, and experienced circles in a number of different ways (and sizes!). We checked in and out of each day in circle, we held smaller circles to practice hosting this way of being in dialogue together. The circle also shows up in all of the other processes. A leader in every chair. The Circle Way website The Circle Way guidelines The Circle Way video Here are some of the powerful questions that we offered as part of our circle experiences:
We reflected on how we might use circles (and circle principles and practices) after the training: What do you see as possible for circles now?
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Appreciative Inquiry: storytelling triosAn introduction to Appreciative Inquiry as an approach to engaging stakeholders in self-determined change, and to trios as a method of storytelling, deepening connection and harvesting insights.
Sharing the roles of storyteller, listener and witness, we all had a chance to share a story of a time when we stepped up with courage. Listeners harvested the elements that supported the courage they heard in others' stories, collectively creating our own recipe for courage. Here is a themed summary: The World CafeWe participated in a World Cafe, a powerful conversation process for digging beneath and move beyond opinion and position and moving to new and shared understanding. We explored the following questions over three rounds:
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Open Space TechnologyWe were introduced to Open Space Technology, a powerful process to support conversations and work to happen, especially when there is diversity and great need. We created our own agenda and self organised to hold conversations that were important to us, covering these topics:
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PROCESS DESIGNChaordic Stepping StonesWe stepped through the Chaordic Stepping Stones, a simple participatory design tool. It helps us walk the chaordic path, creating the minimal structure needed to co-design an initiative or project, large or small, when working in complexity.
Some reflections:
Other design tools and processes useful for working in complex spaces include:
Designing for Wiser ActionThe Designing for Wiser Action process was an opportunity to ask for help and the rest of us an opportunity to practise both design and generosity. Here is a version of the D4WA template we used. These were the project ideas we worked on:
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Our gratitude to all of the following people and organisations who helped make this training happen and enriched it with their support:
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