[Anarchafeminists] safer space policies?

Mon Jun 14 14:40:41 UTC 2010

Maria, I'd be really interested to find out more about your feminist
educational on the concept & practice of safer space policies. What
social centre are you involved in? Where are you based?

I attended the Sexual Consent workshop at the London Free School this
year and there was discussion about having regular workshops about
consent. This hasn't happened yet, but I'm hoping to help make it
happen. Just need to make the time for it.

Thanks for the zine library link. I would expect Active Distribution,
56a and similar places to have lots of stuff about the things you've
mentioned. 56a is in Elephant & Castle in South London. Active Distro
gets to lots of zine fairs and is also online.

You might be interested in this event (and future ones), coming up at
the start of July, in Hackney, East London.

In solidarity,
LILI

***********

Weekend of workshops on Consensus Decision Making and Facilitation @
195 Mare St E8 3QE.

A two day event:
- Saturday 3rd July, workshop on Consensus Decision Making.
https://london.indymedia.org.uk/events/4971
- Sunday 4th July, workshop on Facilitating Consensus.
https://london.indymedia.org.uk/events/4972

Are you part of a collective?
Organising action, events, running an autonomous space?
We are as well!

It's occurred to some of us that there was room for lots of
improvement in the way our collectives work, be it in daily life,
space organising or during traditional meetings!

We, and people around us, are sometimes not very good at looking after
ourselves, at not letting ourselves burn out, at not sacrificing
ourselves for the "cause", at taking other people's needs into
account, at communicating effectively, at being aware of how what we
are doing/saying can impact on other people, at dealing with
criticism, disagreements, conflicts, anger, feedback, challenges, at
having productive, pleasant and empowering meetings...

We know that this is not the sexiest part of what we do. "Talking
about how I feel rather than organising the next blockade? Naaaaahh!"
But sacrificing ourselves for our goals always sounds like a defeat to
us. We want our groups to look like the sort of society that we're
fighting for.

We want them to be healthy and to run smoothly. We want to feel safe,
and to be inspired, whenever we spend time in them. And we think that
we'll all achieve more that way, as well. Strengthening the way we
work together is a key way of strengthening everything we do.

We'd like to run regular events, but the first weekend will be 3rd/4th
July, with two all-afternoon workshops (1pm-7pm) from the collective
Seeds for Change (http://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/), on Consensus
Decision Making (Saturday 3rd July) and Facilitating Consensus (Sunday
4th July).

--Consensus Decision Making--
Saturday 3rd July, 1-7 pm
Consensus decision making is a creative and dynamic way of reaching
agreement between all members of a group, finding solutions that
everyone actively supports - or at least can live with. Consensus is
neither compromise nor unanimity - it aims to go further by weaving
together everyone's best ideas and most important concerns - a process
that often results in surprising and creative solutions. It's about
everyone working together to meet both the individual's and the
group's needs.

The workshop will be fully participatory, and focus on enabling each
other to develop key skills and qualities for productive, enjoyable,
empowering group work - such as good listening, communicating well,
addressing each other's needs, giving and receiving feedback, common
ground and disagreements.

--Facilitating Consensus--
Sunday 4th July, 1-7 pm
Have you ever sat through a meeting that has dragged on and on, with
tempers running high, people talking over each other and no decisions
being made? Meetings are a necessary part of working in any group -
they give us the chance to share information, to reach decisions and
to get jobs done. But meetings have another important function, which
is often forgotten about - group maintenance.

A good group also involves, supports and empowers the participants,
creating energy and enthusiasm. A sense of community is the basis for
successful group work and social change. Good facilitation will help
you to achieve all of this. This workshop will focus on developing
skills and understanding to help us help our groups work well
together, and make good decisions, using consensus.

Unfortunately numbers are limited (25 people), so please contact us to
reserve your space :
londonfreeschool at riseup.net

There will also be vegan dinner afterwards on both evenings for all the
participants.

Some ideas we've had for future workshops or discussions are:
* drug addiction and its consequences
* giving and receiving feedback
* dealing with burn out
* non violent communication
* sexual consent
* conflict resolution
* safer spaces policies
* open discussions to share what's happening in our collectives,
support each other in making them work better...

If any of those interest you, please do let us know as well, even if you
can't manage the July weekend.

Let's make our spaces and collectives better for all of us to be in!

------------------------------------------------------
at 195 Mare Street, Hackney, E8 3QE
In terms of accessibility, have a look at the Access Codes for the building:
http://londonfreeschool.wordpress.com/access-codes-building-accessibility-for-people-of-various-abilities/
In short there is a ramp at the front for the steps but there are no
wheelchair accessible toilets.

On 13 June 2010 16:34, Maria (News From Nowhere) <nfnmaria at riseup.net> wrote:
> Hi, I'm planning to run a feminist educational on the concept & practice of
> safer space policies soon, and also to propose a safer space policy for the
> social centre I am involved in, and am looking to tap into other people's &
> group's experiences on this.
>
> Is anyone here involved in a space or in events that has/have implemented a
> safer space policy?  How did you devise your policy?  Have you had to invoke
> it? and if so how well has it worked? Do you have any advice on wording & on
> applying a safer space policy? Did you encounter resistance from other
> people in your group towards committing to a safer space policy?
>
> Also, I would really welcome links to further reading & discussion on safer
> spaces. Searching online has turned up some safer space policies, but little
> discussion of the hows & whys of having one, or of experiences in using one.
>
> At the anarcha-feminist weekend in Manchester in April, there someone who
> had brought a load of zines on things like safer space, consent & conflict
> resolution.  I read through them but didn't take any unfortunately.  Anyone
> know who that was & how to contact her? (I found zinelibrary.info online,
> but the safer space zine doesn't seem to be on there)
>
> Many thanks!
>
> Maria
>
>
>
>
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