Join Nathaniel White for a workshop on Formal Consensus facilitation on July 26th!
Formal Consensus is a clear formal decision-making structure, simpler than the parliamentary procedure of Robert's Rules of Order, and better for bringing together the group's best creative thinking. (Do adversarial politics and a majority-rule vote capture our best thinking? I don't think so). Want to combine clear agreements and decision-making processes with deep democracy and participatory governance? Want to bring out the best in your team mates and your self? Learn Formal Consensus!
Formal Consensus emerged from the US anti-nuclear movement as a way of quickly making good decisions among a group of hundreds of loosely affiliated individuals, some of whom might be government agents provocateurs (An organizational nightmare...). It has been successfully adopted by businesses, intentional communities, and the global activist group Food Not Bombs. Nathaniel White trained with the author of the Formal Consensus manual, C.T. Butler, in 1997. Nathaniel uses the method in his paid and voluntary work, and contributed to the most recent version of the manual.
The training will go from 11am to 4pm, and focus on the structure of a Formal Consensus meeting and on the facilitation skills useful for generating high-quality collaborative decisions. The training will be downstairs at The Werks, 45 Church Road, Hove BN3 2BE.
The fee is sliding scale (£5 to £40, so extremely affordable).
This training is targeted to serve three groups: Transition Town Brighton and Hove, the Source Village ecovillage development group, and the Pioneers of Change (London) hosting team. First priority will be reserved for members of those groups, but other members of the public are welcome. To reserve a place, contact Nathaniel White (white@magicatechne.com) and put Formal Consensus in the Subject line.
June 30th, 2008 at 07:39 PM Hi I'm very interested in what you do, having met CT Butler at an Alexander Technique conference in New York state many years ago. Do you train groups outside Brighton/Hove? I raised the idea of conducting our Alexander Technique meetings using Formal Consensus many years ago, but this idea was rejected with the usual comments of "you can't do it with large groups" and "it takes too long to learn...." In my view it is even more important than ever to change the way we do things. I would be glad to speak to you. If you want to phone, my number is 01297 678168 otherwise email me. Best wishes Fran Robinson
July 1st, 2008 at 07:19 PM I am willing to do trainings outside Brighton and Hove, although my fees for groups I'm not actively supporting are substantially higher (and usually include travel expenses). I have attempted to reach you through the website you post above. Feel free to email me if you have further questions.