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Building Community & Embracing Diversity The Art of Compassionate Communication Facilitation Skills: Decision Making & Conflict Resolution Personal Empowerment & Leadership Skills Celebrating Life:
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The Power of Building CommunityMost significant human acts are determined by the fact of being part of a group. Family, classmates and workmates, friends, neighbors, and community organization are some groups we are part of, allowing us to meet our basic needs. These groups are not just a simple collection of individuals: they have common goals and objectives, membership rules and a collective identity that, to some extent, determine the behaviour of the individuals. These features might go unnoticed by members of the group, unaware of their existence, but it doesn't mean they don't exist: they influence us in a variety of ways and definitely affect our lives. It takes time for a group to build up, consciously or unconsciously, all these elements. From its inception a group evolves, goes through different phases or stages of growth, and, in some cases, working through the inevitable challenges of conflict, attains maturity, developing into its full potential. In its adulthood, a group discovers itself as a living organism, with each member fulfilling an important and necessary role. The organism is a complex and diverse network of relationships embodying trust, truth and love, as a pure expression of life made visible through its actions. In short, a mature group is a rich and diverse community of life. The mature community group values difference and diversity, appreciates the contribution of all its members, accepts tension and conflict as part of its own being and manifestation, and acknowledges and celebrates the underlying unity from which all Life emanates. Building community is the process by which a group becomes aware of its own existence as a living collective unity - and of the life spirit that sustains it. Building community is to invoke the group spirit through a shared and clear vision. It’s to take care of the group spirit through compassionate communication, empathy and assertiveness, generating trust and a pleasant work atmosphere. It’s to sustain the group spirit through appropriate liberating structures, such as good decision making methods and conflict resolution procedures. And it's to strengthen the group spirit through personal work to let go of our fears and our feelings of powerlessness, moving from reaction to a procreative participation with Life. What can a group, an organization, an intentional or local community do to attain the maturity stage and become a life community, a real sustainable community? What are the steps toward building community? |
Making Bricks in Galga Farm (Hungary)
House
Building in Tamera (Portugal)
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