Stories from the Field is a space for us to share our experiences of facilitation through storytelling. Through reflection we harvest and share the implications for us and our practice.

Held online. Bring your lunch and munch while you listen.

Format:

Each Stories From the Field focuses on a particular topic or aspect of our facilitation practice.

We invite in experienced practitioners from the field to share their stories - and others are invited to contribute and reflect as well. Held online

Stories from the Field are held online via zoom.

Topic of the month:

Each month we focus on a particular theme or topic within the arena of facilitation and/or collaborative leadership.

Who is this for?

Stories from the Field is open to anyone with an interest in facilitation and collaborative leadership - or the particular topic of the month.

Free event

Stories from the Field is a free online event.

Simply register to receive the zoom link.

How do we make high-stakes decisions when there is no “right” answer?

Environmental and Climate Justice work involves messy systems and deep emotional stakes. Facilitation is the essential skill that turns a group of individuals into a high-functioning, resilient team.

Conservation SA invites you to Facilitation Essentials—the first in our new series of one-off skills trainings. This isn’t just about “chairing a meeting”; it’s about getting a taste for key skills in mastering the art of holding space for complex change.

Led by specialist Groupwork facilitator Che Biggs, we’re diving into:

The Iceberg: Navigating those "under-the-surface" dynamics.
The Whole Person: Integrating Head, Heart, and Gut into our strategy.
Rank & Power: Naming the invisible dynamics of authority.

Join us to build a movement as regenerative as the ecosystems we’re protecting.

Learn to organise defensive contingents with interstate comrades to defend against the Fascist threat.

Training is open to all anti-fascist activists and requires only moderate fitness. Exercises will equip comrades to build and coordinate defensive formations, such as line teams, speaker defence, and block contingents.

Participants should bring shoes or boots, water, sun protection and face masks.

About the trainers: Community Defense Marshalling System (CDMS) is a collective of experienced and emerging activists providing front-line defense and training for events in Naarm/Melbourne. Their training and approach has been developed through hundreds of deployments at weekly Palestine rallies, pickets, and anti-fascist actions.

Learn to support urban nature and meet like-minded community members.

Join us and become an Urban Nature Steward by learning how to support and care for nature at home, and across your urban environment.

Our cities and urban places have become important habitat for many of our Australian native species. There are things we can all do to live more harmoniously with local species and enrich our lives at the same time.

Supported by The City of Adelaide, this four-week course will connect you with people in your local area and communities, share environmental concepts and techniques that are relevant to our urban context, inspire and empower you with environmental knowledge, and motivate you to try new things and set goals with urban nature in mind.

Course topics include:

Making wilder urban places 

Steps to being an urban nature steward

Promoting urban biodiversity with local native species

Cooling our urban spaces and why it's important

How plants and gardens can be used to cool your home

Gardening for wildlife and for food

Ways to get involved in community efforts

How to plan for nature at your place

Course details: When: Tuesday evenings Duration: Five sessions across four weeks (There will be a field trip on the Saturday of week 3- details to be confirmed in Week 1) Time: 6-8pm Where: Minor Works Building Community Centre (Adelaide CBD) Cost: $30 per person

Please email any questions to Rebecca.Rowe3@sa.gov.au

Conservation Council SA is organising a series of one off skills trainings for members, supporters and friends of the climate and environment justice movement in SA.

Why Facilitation?

In the face of the climate and biodiversity emergencies, we don’t just need more activists; we need activists who can work effectively together. Environmental justice work is inherently complex, involving messy systems, high-pressure decision-making, and deep emotional stakes.

Facilitation is the “secret sauce” of healthy and effective movements and organisations. It’s about creating spaces where people feel heard, valued, and energized so they can move forward together.

Led by a specialist Groupwork facilitator Che Biggs, we dive into a practice based training incorporating:

Some of the hardest facilitation involves working with strong emotions and pop-up conflict, but if we can navigate the heat wisely, these experiences are where we can often help individuals and groups make the biggest breakthroughs.

In this facilitation taster session we will explore some fundamental elements for facilitating ‘hot spots’ and difficult conversations. Starting from a recognition that our own relationship with conflict and strong emotions will shape how we respond as facilitators, we will:

Normalise conflict in groups and explore how ‘hot spots' are a source of significant insight and potential gateways for change.

Unpack our responses to conflict and some principles for navigating hot spots in ways to that don’t ‘other' or shame.

Practice some communication skills that can help us support those principles.

Being only a short ‘taster’ session that delves into some of the more emotionally-laden elements of facilitation, attendees are requested they have prior facilitation training experience. This workshop is designed to ‘go deep lightly’ and aimed at everyday hot-spots - not for resolving your facilitation nightmares :).

The prior event Facilitation Essentials was is an introduction and is a prerequisite to this event “Facilitation skills for difficult conversations - “Facilitating Hot Spots.”

(Anyone with other facilitation training or enough experience is also eligible for this ‘Part 2’ session).