Community - Conversation Starters & Special Guests

PETER BLOCK

Peter Block, Author of Community: The Structure of Belonging, and The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods, with John McKnight. Peter's work is in the restoration of communities and creating systems that restore our humanity. Peter will be supported n this conversation by colleagues Charles Holmes and Louise van Rhyn.

More on Peter:
Peter Block is an author and citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a partner in Designed Learning, a training company that offers workshops designed to build the skills outlined in his books. He is also the author of Flawless Consulting, Stewardship, and The Answer to How Is Yes. The third edition of Flawless Consulting was just released. Peter serves on the boards of Elementz, a hip hop center for urban youth, Cincinnati Public Radio, and LivePerson, a provider of online engagement solutions.

NANCY WHITE

More on Nancy
Nancy brings over 30 years of communications, technology and leadership skills in her work supporting collaboration, learning and communications in the NGO, non profit and business sectors. Grounded in community leadership and recognized expertise in online communities and networks, Nancy works with people to lever their strengths and assets towards tangible goals and meaningful process. Nancy’s blog and Twitter stream are regularly recognized as leading sources on online communities and networks, knowledge management and knowledge sharing. Nancy is a respected speaker and workshop leader. She is a chocoholic and lives with her family in Seattle, Washington, USA.

NANCY'S "CALL TO ACTION" RESOURCES:

Healthy and Resilient Communities: Living the Future Now, in particular a post on "Stepping into New Possibilities in Japan" (read the comments)

Emergent Cities

An article in the Seattle Times: Japan disaster sparks social media innovation

SARAH WHITELEY & MARIA SCORDIALOS

Sarah Whiteley and Maria Scordialos are stewards of the land-based community Axladitsa Avatakia in Greece. They are also Directors of Hara Practice Limited (UK) and co-founders of the Living Wholeness Institute with Vanessa Reid.

More on Sarah and Maria
Sarah is a writer, field-weaver and translator of subtle intelligences of people and place, within systemic transformation processes. She offers a combination of skills gained from her diverse experience working as an outdoor educator, higher education lecturer, Royal Naval Officer and process host. Her inspiration for designing and hosting is rooted in her love of nature and the inner field, teaching the art of self-organising. Sarah has co-created and co-hosted learning opportunities and strategic conversations in Europe, North America and the Middle East.

Maria enjoys living life by offering her natural ability to see patterns, create structure and design processes so that humans can be more of themselves and offer more to life. She works at both co-creating and responding to invitations where the Mystery can go to work in practical ways. This includes systemic transformation processes over longer periods, hosting conversations between people in conflict areas, and strategic development within organizations.

SARAH & MARIA'S "CALL TO ACTION" RESOURCES:

Immersion 2011 (May 6-15) and Apprenticing to the Earth (May 25 - June 1st)
Both are embodied learning opportunities at Axladitsa, working with the pattern of living Wholeness. See the Axladitsa calendar for details

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The following groups were specially invited to join our conversation because their missions are all concerned with community building in some fundamental way. We asked them to share their favorite community resources with us.

HEARTLAND CIRCLE

Heartland brings thought leadership to convene authentic engagements for the sake of a world that works for all. Convening principles and practices guide our programs, trainings & communities of engagement, increasing the capacity of intentional leaders to transform their communities, organizations and the world.

Heartland Circle "Call to Action" Resources:

Heartland Circle offers a member-based community of practice for leaders in both the San Francisco bay area and Minnesota twin city regions, called Thought Leader Gatherings. They also convene an online community as part of a larger Heartland Network.

Craig and Patricia Neal have also just released their new book, The Art of Convening- Authentic Engagement in Meeting, Gatherings, and Conversations. Become an Ambassador for convening. Special offer until April 7th.

POWERS of PLACE INITIATIVE
The Powers of Place is a network of people with diverse perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds brought together by the Fetzer Institute to catalyze a new field of study and practice based on the premise that right relationship between people and the places where they gather and inhabit offers the potential for transformative action toward what is needed at this moment in history.

BERKANA INSTITUTE

Berkana and our partners share the clarity that whatever the problem, community is the answer. We prepare for an unknown future by creating strong and sustainable relationships, by wisely stewarding the earth’s resources, and by building resilient communities. We rely on the belief that human beings are caring, generous and want to be together.

Berkana Institute "Call to Action" Resources:

WalkOut, Walk On: A Learning Journey into Communities Daring to Live the Future Now, a new book by Berkana founder Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze. Join them in a "bestseller campaign", launching a movement of people everywhere creating the world we wish for.

TAMARACK INSTITUTE
Tamarack is an Institute dedicated to the art and science of community engagement and collaborative leadership. Tamarack's growing learning community of practitioners from different sectors are working together to change the world one community at a time.