We believe that practicing the art of facilitation creates equitable, productive, joyful, and connecting spaces, so that people can fully participate, contribute, and collaborate. 

If “facilitation” is, at its root, the invisible process of making things easier, how can we equip ourselves as facilitators to create ease and openness? How can we practice a form of facilitation that is in alignment with our values and in service to creating a more democratic and just world?

In this workshop, GWI workers will share their go-to facilitation practices, including how to prepare a facilitation plan, how to hold space during a gathering, and how to guide and organize a group towards a shared goal over time. We will go over tools and concepts that have been helpful to us in our work, whether as workshop leaders, cohort facilitators, or community builders. Our goal is to provide clarity and grounding for those stepping into the ongoing practice of being a participatory facilitator. We come to this work with curiosity and humility, and as co-learners on this journey with you!

This workshop is for seasoned facilitators and beginners alike. 

We invite you to join us if any of the following apply:

• You yearn for more productive, collaborative meetings
• You hold the responsibility in leading or co-leading a class, working group, or team
• You sense there might be better ways for you all to collaborate in meetings but are not sure how to shift things
• You seek a more democratic process when making group decisions or gathering people’s input
• You are hesitant to call yourself a “facilitator” but find yourself in that role a lot, and you’d like support!

We know that collaboration is not an automatic result of a desire to work together well, but flows from intentional, ongoing practices that develop the awareness and capacities of the members of the working group over time. Enter the facilitator.

For more on our approach to facilitation and some of the resources that inspire us, you can explore our Good Work in Groups collection. In particular, check out the post: How to be a Participatory Facilitator. 

The workshop will include formal instruction and will conclude with an informal Happy Hour for participants to further connect and share their experiences.

Let’s come together to align understanding and action in support of effective, collective responses to the moment we are living in.

Soaring prices for living expenses make it increasingly difficult to secure our basic needs. Natural disasters are on the rise. Our entrenched political divides are laced with conflict and create a sense of insecurity. How do we make sense of these realities? Where can we glimpse the kind of possibility worth coming together to work for? This workshop provides an opportunity to connect, explore a shared vision of Just Transition, and consider the question: What will it take to build systems centered on care for each other and our shared home? What would it mean for many of us in the Mahicantuck (Hudson) Valley to be focused on social and ecological well-being? Join us, in community, to deepen your understanding of the Just Transition framework, principles and practices. Through video, reflection, story sharing, and small group discussion, you will:

• See people from across the country describing aspects of Just Transition
• Hear how other participants respond to the framework
• Connect your own experience to extractive and regenerative economic paradigms
• Gain a sense of the framework, principles and practices, and where they come from
• Discuss ways you are drawn toward weaving one or more Just Transition principles and practices into your Good Work

** This workshop will be held in-person at The GWI Greenhouse

**This workshop is full. We have added another date in September to meet the growing demand for this offering. If you are interested, please register for our September 26th workshop.

We believe that practicing the art of facilitation creates equitable, productive, joyful, and connecting spaces, so that people can fully participate, contribute, and collaborate. 

If “facilitation” is, at its root, the invisible process of making things easier, how can we equip ourselves as facilitators to create ease and openness? How can we practice a form of facilitation that is in alignment with our values and in service to creating a more democratic and just world?

In this workshop, GWI workers will share their go-to facilitation practices, including how to prepare a facilitation plan, how to hold space during a gathering, and how to guide and organize a group towards a shared goal over time. We will go over tools and concepts that have been helpful to us in our work, whether as workshop leaders, cohort facilitators, or community builders. Our goal is to provide clarity and grounding for those stepping into the ongoing practice of being a participatory facilitator. We come to this work with curiosity and humility, and as co-learners on this journey with you!

This workshop is for seasoned facilitators and beginners alike. 

We invite you to join us if any of the following apply:

• You yearn for more productive, collaborative meetings
• You hold the responsibility in leading or co-leading a class, working group, or team
• You sense there might be better ways for you all to collaborate in meetings but are not sure how to shift things
• You seek a more democratic process when making group decisions or gathering people’s input
• You are hesitant to call yourself a “facilitator” but find yourself in that role a lot, and you’d like support!

We know that collaboration is not an automatic result of a desire to work together well, but flows from intentional, ongoing practices that develop the awareness and capacities of the members of the working group over time. Enter the facilitator.

For more on our approach to facilitation and some of the resources that inspire us, you can explore our Good Work in Groups collection. In particular, check out the post: How to be a Participatory Facilitator. 

The workshop will include formal instruction and will conclude with an informal Happy Hour for participants to further connect and share their experiences.