Welcome to My Gaia Radio notes and links page!
To be brought to the page where you can download the audio for a call, click the first text below the title of the call you want to download, it will either says; Gaia Radio Content Call or Gaia Radio Community Call. The links within the notes will open in a new window when clicked.
Gaia Radio - Content Calls
Creating an Effective and Engaged Team - Feb. 18, 2014
Gaia Radio Content Call - February 18th, 2014
Transition series part 2 - Creating an Effective and Engaged Team
Recording listened to - June 12, 2014
This call is a product of the Partnership between Gaia U. and Transition Towns initiative
- Hosted by Nick Osborne and facilitated by Jennifer English
Nick started out as a social activist aiming his efforts at creating a better world, focusing on important issues, worked with amnesty international, local agenda 21 and others, felt disillusioned and “packed in” his work along with some of his peers. They went and camped out in the woods in Ireland (was in his mid 20’s) they wanted to demonstrate how people could live move sustainably. They lived an idealistic life as far as sustainability was concerned until they started to rub up against each other. They didn’t know anything about group process, people fell out and it ended, shortly after he took a PDC and was happy to find 3 of his favorit words used together, design, system and sustainability. Started researching Ecovillages and their systems infrastructure. Published some work and helped to organize the ecovillage network.
Went back to Ireland and started another project which last about a year and then it ended due to people’s lives simply changing not, a falling out. Started to take a closer look at the social technology. Where is there expertise in this social area. Went back to college and did an Matsers degree is Social, Group dynamics tackling how people can overcome a lot of the obstacles which come along in these projects. Holocracy was a game changer when he discovered it.
Now delivers Transition training and a course called Effective Collaboration - that helps people learn what they can do to help groups work well together - Alternative activist methods of learning. Now is working together with his partner who is a psychologist. Has made some videos on youtube to help introduce people to this “effective groups”.
Talks about a model of 3 different types of groups
1. Hierarchical groups
2. Collaborative - flat
3. Dynamic steering groups - Agile
Group development cycle - the things you are likely to experience as a group forms.
I just found this same talk on youtube with the slide share this is the link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCLwdvCGnkA
- The audio isn’t good on the video so I just turn the audio off on the youtube and play it with the audio from the itunes download. The text is also not so clear on some of the slides.
Questions that are helpful - (from slide share)
1. Why don’t most groups create ground rules?
2. What invisible norms exist in your group?
3. What roles do invisible norms and ground rules play in your group?
4. Why are ground rules important in a group?
5. What happens in your group when ground rules are broken?
6. What is the invisible norm in your group about following rules?
Charles group in the breakout liked the diversity that groups offer which helps to inspire. Challenges can be differences in character - learning to work with differences interests/character/values.
Nick - Charle’s group hit on key issue in groups “How differences are dealt with in a group.” - How do we deal with differences. It is rare that people who have a lot of differences are able to just deal with their differences without some type of structure.
It is helpful to create ground rules/group agreements, have a conflict management procedure/management. People are generally quite resistant to bring in these types of structures.
Jennifer - has been working with groups 24 years - finds a defining factor of a group working well or poorly has to do with - being intentional and consciously engaged - meaning people being on the same page (which happens rarely on its own). Thinking hats is useful tool. A facilitator who can keep a group on the same page is very helpful, whether you are dealing with facts, feelings, etc.
Talking about dynamics of “the difficult person issue” - It could be that the same issues follow a person around to many different types of groups. Another way of seeing it is it could be that this “difficult person” actually is picking up unspoken things within the group. This is why group agreements are important and when someone steps outside of those agreements it can be pointed out and the issue of the persons engagement becomes less personal (like someone saying “I don’t like the way you say that” The agreements are brought up and conflict resolution or other agreed on processes can be implemented).
Awareness skills are important - What is happening in the group? Between individuals? How am I effecting the group?
Another link on this from Transition Towns - effective groups (lots of downloadable tools) - http://www.transitionnetwork.org/training/courses/effective-groups
Holocracy
It takes the best bits of hierarchal structure and collaborative structure and synthesizes them creating something new.
Star fish analogy - Its a fractal structure - meaning it has the components in all parts of its body to fulfill its needs. It is not centralized in its organizing
Agile groups are better for fast changing environments, they are adaptive and responsive - valuers are around agility and dynamic steering - instead of predict and control - it works with intention and dynamicly steering in the direction taking into account all the changes and emergence of unfoldment that happens on the path to accomplishing that intention.
circles nested inside circles. bodies which are parts of bodies like cells - organs - poeple - society - nature.
Empowering people as focalizers - decisions on roles and authority are made together then the focalizer helps to make the decisions within their given area of management.
Holocracy is a structured, disciplined constitution with specific processes.
Roles get definined from tensions created while dont “the work” - the structure of the organization is created in response to the needs that are emerging from the process. The organization becomes the most adapted to its environment and its mission.
Charles - Where is the board of directors and a legal context of a Holocracy structure for a Nonprofit. Nick - There are several ways it can be done. It didn’t seem so clear to me the answer.
Sharrel - Is there a organization that has templates to create such groups
Nick - Holocracy.org is an opensource webpage with a lot of free information and even a constitution, though it is difficult to adopt Holocracy without some type of training. Glassfrog is a software for people to use that are adopting Holocracy.
Question - Define the word Agile
Nick - Hierarchies are effective in stable environments, as environments become more complex a more collaborative approach is needed, when the environment becomes fast changing, complex and chaotic, there needs to be a quick responsive adaptability, flexibility to an organizations structure.
Talks about the different resources on the transition town network.
link to the Transition Town Effective Group Toolbox PDF
Financial Permaculture - Jan. 30, 2013
Gaia Radio content call - January 30, 2013
I participated in this call from Varanasi, India at 10:30 pm. I was informed of this call by Ava, because when I was in Switzerland before my course started I had a lot of “down time” I asked Ava if there was anything I could do and she sent me invitation to some Gaia Radio calls.
I have had a little exposure to Financial Permaculture in my PDC’s and in some literature, as well as using local currency, bartering Credit Unions and the likes. I decided to participate in this call because I want to work for myself and be self sufficient.
I took several pages of notes before the call to refresh my mind, my notes came from a PDF I have.
PDF definition - Design that generates the least amount of waste with the highest yield taking into account the true social and ecological costs”
Waste was defined as anything that dehabilitates the system.
Patrick was the presenter a Gaia U graduate from 2011 He was introduced by Jennifer his main advisor.
Patrick was speaking from a project in Florida that he helped with, it sounded like a project fulfilling a very diverse range of needs. I didn’t catch all the details I know there was a farm and a social project with homeless people and a cafeteria, it sounded like a real social hub. “Earth Learning” was a name of an organization I am not sure how they were involved.
He spoke of Scale and how Financial Permaculture is like scaling the system up much larger than a backyard garden.
The dialogue went onto Capitalism and the difficulty with what society thinks it is and what it really is. We all spoke a bit about our experience with how people around us relate to the idea of capitalism and if they speak about it. They gave the 5 criteria for capitalism I only got the first 3: Private ownership of Production, Wage Labour and Market Exchange. (too fast)
A few references: Economy for the Common Good, Sacred Economics by Charles Izenstein (sp?) who, I believe, coined the term “Gift Culture”.
I got cut off from the call. Reconnecting I had missed somethingPatrick spoke of something called Direct Public Offering which is when a group of people pool money in order to be considered an “official investor.” This requires a minimum of 1 million dollars. He was excited about the potentials of this method to influence large systems, economics.
Then the talk moved onto what has been dubbed “The Solidarity Economy” by the US Social Forum.
(Auto-ethnographic Note: I am frustrated not having internet access right now, as I am going over my notes. I did follow the US Social Forum to some degree in years past. I will look later to check my blog posts on Vermont For Evolution and VT Commons) - I only found this article I wrote which is relevant - Civil and Sovereign Society an Old World Ethic
The Five Principals of a Solidarity Economy:
definitions from my Apple Dictionary Version 2.1 (80)
•Solidarity - noun 1 unity or agreement of feeling or action, esp. among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group : factory workers voiced solidarity with the striking students.
•Equity - (a word with extreme differences of definition) simply - noun ( pl. -ties) the quality of being fair and impartial : equity of treatment.
•Democracy - (I skip all the Definitions of Democracy and simply refer to the origins as I feel it simplifies the nuances and is direct “The People Rule”) - ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from French démocratie, via late Latin from Greek dēmokratia, from dēmos ‘the people’ + -kratia ‘power, rule.’
•Sustainability -adjective able to be maintained at a certain rate or level : sustainable fusion reactions. • Ecology (esp. of development, exploitation, or agriculture) conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources.
•Pluralism - noun 1 a condition or system in which two or more states, groups, principles, sources of authority, etc., coexist. • a form of society in which the members of minority groups maintain their independent cultural traditions. • a political theory or system of power-sharing among a number of political parties.
Patrick spoke of the importance of developing methods to Map your Bioregions flows.
My notes end here.
I had visited the Financial Permaculture website several times before this call but I never got deep or considered the site public because I couldn’t access the documents. I didn’t remember this at the time of the call, but when I revisited the site after the call and was again not able to access the documents, I remembered.
This is something I need to look into deeper. I remember the call was technically difficult for me but it was well done and worth my time. It reminded me how important and young this part of the puzzle is.
I feel this topic is a very difficult one, considering all the emotions of the drastic state we see the world in today. I see Permaculture and Whole Systems Thinking as a Terrestrial Science that comes in offering the solutions, I hope I can be a carrier of that torch to offer its bounty to the present and future generations.
Mushroom Cultivation - Oct. 4, 2013
Gaia Radio Content Call - October 4, 2013
Recording listened to - June 18, 2014
Hosted by: Gabe
He got his bachelors degree at U.C. Davis in Permaculture - studied mushrooms cultivation there - started his relations with mushrooms by researching and picking wild mushrooms. Has since become a professional picker and picks such a quantity that he has to sell to restaurants in San Francisco.
Mica - Friend had a near death experience with mushrooms interested to learn more about identifying.
Marianne - In Scotland close to Findhorn - working on edible forest gardens. Wants to learn more about bringing Mushrooms into that type of design.
Gene - Belleville MI. has always loved mushrooms - wants to know more about growing.
Maggie - Toronto - Was involved in creating a mushroom cave, wants to learn to identify wild mushrooms
Daniel - focused in the Urban landscape - close to a forest wants to learn more about foaming.
Terrel - NYC - To support Gabe, also working on Urban food production - farm to table in the city.
Started by eating Morels as a youth introduced by his family and friends who picked. It has been a long journey of getting to know mushrooms.
Gabes OP on Mushroom cultivation - http://icaafs.earth/view/view.php?id=602
“-take” means Mushroom in Japanese that is why you see many mushrooms ending in “-take”
Many of the mushrooms he is talking about you can’t cultivate you can only forage them.
they are not plants they are closer to humans and animals. - The mushroom is the fruit and the plant (organism) is the Mycelial network. Their is female and male spores and it takes them finding each other for them to become fertile and able to form mushrooms.
log cultivation started in China about 5000 years ago, Shiitake logs were also gathered early on and they stacked other logs hoping it would leap to the new logs (not so efficient). In Europe they started cultivation in caves. Sterile technique which is the present cultivation method has about a 100 years of history.
primary decomposers - grows on wood - easier to cultivate - carbon material - which this call is focusing on.
secondary decomposers - white button, Portabellas
Funga-phobia - the fear of eating mushrooms.
Breakout Harvest - Everyone loves mushrooms - culinary, foraging and mycorhyzal networks as soil management - talked about fungi phobia
Talks about Paul Stamets book mycelium running.
Mushroom growing on logs
- Finding logs - Need to be healthy and freshly cut Mushrooms are in competition. Oak, Alder, Dogwood, Maple, (Some conifers can grow but more rare better to focus on hardwoods) - I (simha) have used poplar for growing oyster and sugar maple for Shiitake - Getting access to logs - can get logs from power line clearing crews - friends sustainable harvest from friends lands - road clearing - let logs sit for a few weeks so the anti-fungal properties in cambium layer starts to breakdown (no longer then a few months) best time to harvest is late winter (early spring) because the moisture content is high. 4-8 inches in diameter - just short of 4 feet and straight makes it easy to inoculate and easy to handle
- Materials - estimate dowels per log, wax (for sealing in the dowel)- non-gmo soy wax, cheese wax, bee wax, cord-drill, grinder, fast speed drill, drill-stop, wax dobers, foam brushes (like to use the best), turkey basters, paint brushes, measuring tape and hammer, wire brush (to clean logs), something to heat wax up, crockpot,
- set-up a work station - can make a jig which holds the log in place. I (Simha) found by putting three logs and working on the middle log it was held in place.
- Inoculate - Drill diamond pattern into logs, hammer in dowels, brush logs off with wire brush, dob the wax (must be liquid burning hot or it wont stick).
- Stack your logs for incubation (several ways to do it). As a solid tower it helps keep the moisture easier to water, takes up less space.
- Incubate 6 months minimum, Shock them in cold water 24 hours and then set out will get flushes in 1-2 weeks.
Oysters and shiitake are the easiest to cultivate - Shiitake are better kept when dried than oysters.
coffee grounds are a primary material not secondary - has tried wild oyster mushrooms in a bucket of coffee grounds but molds took over. a bucket with a lid might work.
1-2 years was a surprising factor of waiting - Gabe thinks that he might have got his logs too late. always looking for wind fallen trees, so they might already have had some other mushroom. Tries to do 1000 dowels every year has done 5000 some years. Likes to do the doweling in February finishing up in March. If you are still freezing every day he suggests to wait.
Is Your Transition Initiative effective? - Jan. 24, 2013
Gaia Radio Content call (recommended by Liora) Jan. 24, 2013
Is Your Transition Initiative (TI) as effective as it can be?
Note: this was before Gaia U. and Transition came into official cooperation
I participated in this call from Varanasi, India. I did so following the invitation from Liora via a Gaia U. e-mail.
I am an online member of Transition Vermont, yet have had little connection with the initiatives, as they are mostly north of my region and I have yet to connect with my regional chapter. I am interested in the Transition movement yet my over all goal of this call was to experience the process of a maestro conference call and to test my technological capacity of connection.
At this time I was using an iphone G4 with 3G Data connection via skype-out
It was 10:30 pm. my wife was trying to sleep so I went onto the roof top of our guest house with a mat to sit on and a headlight to take notes with. A group of tourists also staying in the guest house soon arrived and playing guitar and singing, it was soft enough so I stayed.
I realized through this that a stable environment is important for these calls, yet is sometimes uncontrollable, more often so when traveling.
The call started off with introductions, we were few on the call. I believe the presenter’s name was Naresh. In the beginning there was talk about how the global recession had brought many places like Greece into the Transition movement.
I believe Naresh was in contact or working with a committee representing “Civil Society”, this committee is an advisory panel for the EU. He said they were very interested in the Transition Model. This Committee had a study and report made following 17 different Transition Initiatives.
at this point I was disconnected and it took a couple minutes to get back onto the call.
The speaker referenced an article he wrote called, “Tangoing with Giants” which I still have yet to read.
They gave us a tool to evaluate, diagnose and resolve issues which are holding your initiative back from its full potential. It is called, “Diagnostic tool How is your TI working?”
Its nine pages and is saved in my on my Hard Drive and backed up in my Google Drive - Gaia U Tools folder.
The participants spoke about some of their experiences and difficulties in their Transition Initiatives. People agreed that the most difficult part was motivating people both to come to meetings and then for those that do meet to take actions outside of their meetings.
Naresh then spoke about his development of this diagnostic tool. He said the original process of transition explained by the transition books was too complex with some 44 components of transition. So the team who made this tool took the 44 components and grouped them and then started with the most essentials and working down they narrowed it down to 7 categories.
More people spoke about their experiences and the general message was that the most important and the most difficult thing is engaging people into dialogue and into action.
Here I got cut off and then when I got back on they were wrapping up and we checked out.
After I drew a small mindmap (image below) thinking of the vital components of Transition - It is far from complete and is simply a document of my process.
Giving Useful Feedback, Nov. 6, 2012
Gaia Radio Content Call - November 6, 2012
Recording listened to - June 13, 2014
Presented by Ariane a Gaia U. graduate
Outline of call
- working process
- introductions
- why it is important and exciting
- conversation
Ariane gave her End of year presentation on giving feedback because she realized the power of feedback allowing her to grow as an ecosocial designer. In the beginning of her Gaia U journey she didn’t value the peer review and feedback. It was seen as just another step and thing she needed to do. It felt odd as she didn’t know the people whose work she was reviewing. She also got overwhelmed sometimes by the amount of information she would receive from others reviews of her work. She realized it is an art to give useful accessible feedback. In her first year she had a practical experience of feedback shaping her process and project outcomes. Her second year she buddied with someone and agreed to review each others work. The second year deepened her experience of both giving and receiving feedback. Wants to see the feedback process of the peer reviews at Gaia U to become more of a designed aspect of projects rather than an after thought.
Question: What is feedback useful for? I think feedback is what stimulates self-regulating systems to regulate. It is what informs the “tweaking” function in a design framework and kicks you into the iterative cycle of design to refine a system /design. Feedback is the reflection
Group harvest from breakout
- support to fallback on
- validating experiences
- giving another perspective
- can facilitate honesty
- giving feedback with kindness - 2 to 1 ration of positive to critical - stay empowering
- easier if you know something about the person
- when receiving it - ego can resist it - keep on a positive note
- from senses
- there can be a lag to gain the feedback from a system/experience
- realize patterns
- can create community
- a measuring tool to guide our learning
- all senses give us feedback
Ariane’s website link on where she offers 6 ways to give feedback in your leadership learning for service to your community - http://arianeburgess.com/regenerative-leading/leadership-skills/feedback-is-natural/
6 feedback Tips condensed from Ariane’s website address above
1. Generate a few feedback questions you can ask participants in your trainings to get feedback on specific areas you want to improve on
2. After completing a presentation, use five minutes at the very end of the presentation and ask for three people in the audience to give you feedback
3. In a collaborative project design feedback into your system as a debriefing
4. Design your feedback by asking a few simple questions use a word count because written feedback can create more work.
5. If you feel moved to give someone feedback who hasn’t asked for it, check in with them first to see if it would be useful.
6. Don’t take it personally. Ask for the feedback and listen to what the person is telling you.
What are your experiences of getting feedback?
Group Harvest after break-out
- Daily check-ins - was difficult for one
- Just starting to experience feedback in Gaia U- worried it wasn’t honest
- Had hard feedback - but realized it wasn’t personal - made her work go deeper
- Don’t take it personally
- Staying positive is important but not to spare feelings
- People spare feelings and hide the truth
- Its about listening deeply
- Receiving and giving feedback intensely all the time when living in community
- Receiving without being defensive
- Giving it without attacking
- Helpful to have a facilitator - ensures process and safety
- Being aware of the level of safety and permission (scope) was defined is helpful
Simha - I was introduced to constructive feedback early on with art. I feel this helped me understand that being critical isn't personal it is only to give us points on where we can improve. Giving constructive feedback can be touchy though I have definitely had it blow up in my face, I am getting better at it by focusing on giving the positive preamble or punchline to help the person understand the purpose of my critisim.
PoDAPO is Gaia U’s feedback form
Presentation - Organization - Design - Action learning - Process - Outcome
These are the six areas we give feedback on for our OP self and peer-review
Breakout - talk about your PoDAPO experience you have had at Gaia U.
Harvest from group breakout
- Suggestion - instead of a spreadsheet it could be like a tree (mindmap?)
- It is an adapted (borrowed) review form
- It takes using it a few times to get use to it
- Could use PoDAPO to rate the next president…
- Found it helpful to use as a framework when thinking of your own project
- Found the criteria helpful to review others work
- The criteria of the PoDAPO helped to see people’s work deeper and learn more
- Advisor helped a lot in guiding how to use it
Jennifer's feedback - The whole evaluation process in Gaia U has transformed her life, it took time for it to make its effect. It was a gage to see how wholistically she was approaching hr projects. It is wonderful to see associates evolve int eh art of feedback. It helps to look at how others give feedback and fulfill criteria of the PoDAPO. Using it as a template -
The four agreements from the Toltec Wisdom
1. Be impeccable with your word
2 Don’t take anything personally
3. Dont make assumptions
4. Do your best
Tools and Models for Design, July 29th, 2015
Gaia Radio Content Call - July 29th, 2015
Recording listened to - 25 August, 2015
Check in - I am a bit frustrated having not had the slides for this call. I feel when a call has slides it is important that it is saved and uploaded with the call so we as recording-listeners can get the full benefit of the call. I think these types of calls are great, because it is creating a resource for all the associates now and in the future.
The process of design is natural as we all experience. The process of articulating and tracking that process is not as natural (for most of us). I feel these calls are a great help to engage us into this more difficult process. My pathway has benefited a lot from all of these content calls on design, thanks again.
Another modality that might help associates to be engaged in this "process of process" is to have a Gaia U design project articulated and documented openly. It would be even better if associates were a part of the design team and there was an open discussion forum which made the entire community a potential contributor. I had this idea as Jennifer mentioned a project proposal for a new Design Tools section in the Gel site. I would love to see this project take on an open design process.
There are already certain assumptions (as I see them) in this design proposal such as, associates feel this would be best to have on the Gel site and not on Mahara. Maybe from the Admin perspective it makes sense because it is easier. Does it meet the need of the associates? Is there some constraint that made this design decision? I am not asking for answers, I am just saying this is a great learning opportunity.
I bring up this modality of engaging us into the design process because I feel it is a holistic approach and I know it would have benefitted my pathway.
Thanks to Laura for engaging this content call and for the content and insights of all the participants!
Some notes:
Gaia U is looking for and expecting a holistic approach to design. This is an edge for the community, about half of the associates are exploring design to the level that they should be. Is Gaia U producing good designers? Wanting to be on the Leading edge of design - Adding value
Gaia U is hoping to create a place on the Gel site for Design information with a forum
Conscious engagement:
- Action modality - The conscious doing
- Conscious Design - Tracking, managing, evolution of self, accountable, learning, Dynamic steering, Critical evaluation, best practices
Scope of being able to "Design and Do"
Theory - in documentation you are thinking about and exploring design tools - which models worked in which situations, comparing and contrasting. Document patterns and principles in your design decision making.
Create your own model: Do the Action and the identify the modalities of the design. Set up a design model something shifts - Document tweaking of the design model - conscious of the evolution of your process - identifying your natural and cultivated ways. Make a flowchart and Map it.
intentional intervention - documenting/tracking your thinking of why and when to intervene and its outcome
Gaia Radio - Community Calls
Living Without Money - Apr. 23, 2014
Gaia Radio Community Call - April 23rd, 2014
Recording listened to - June 20, 2014
hosted by Meredith Kirby
Why this topic? She spent time traveling and had to live off of the waist of others and society because she had no money. She saw a great imbalance of how Earth’s resources were distributed among people. Poor did n’t have the same access to resources. How can I live my life in a way that is not perpetuating this “global system of trade”. She heard of this counter culture of travelers who were living in this way, without spending money.
How is this relevant to this world? Every time you spend a $ you are voting to use all the embodied energy relegated to create and get that product to you. How can we create proper stewardship of the planet? There are many advantages to living without money (or on a less money oriented) life. Gives you a sense of independence from the Global industrial complex. Gives inspiration and ideas on how to create solutions. Brings a new lens to Social Justice issuers. Looking at the cheaply produced goods, most are made in countries with no labour laws, so child labour, slavery, pollution and all many other social issues connected to create those cheap goods.
Slept under bridges, traveled by train hoping, lived on the bare minimum of a few dollars in her pocket, actually was living quite comfortably. It isn’t necessary to go to this extreme, Meredith now participates more in the money system as a compromise to meet her goals, yet still uses what she learned during this time in her life to affect the world.
Reducing waste (and save money) - short term solutions - Conserve resources; unplug phone when you don’t need it, use energy efficient light bulbs, educate yourself about the resources you use (everything you use in your daily life - trace it back to its original source) when you understand where these are coming from and how they are made you can start to make informed decisions and even making them yourself.
Reusing and recycling - beyond bottles and cans many things can be recycled and reused, you need to adapt this as a worldview
Salvage and rescue - You can dumpster dive, but there are also so many other waste streams you can intervene in. estate sales, So much is thrown away that is still useful and good - Food not Bombs - dumpster dive and prepare meals and prepare them and serve them for free in public businesses, they also approach the administrations of waste stream they discover and try to get it directly from them before it goes to the dumpster. Dumpster diving is illegal and you may get a citation for trust passing. Good to have open and honest communication about your S&R missions.
Transforming waste - repurposing (up-cycling) materials for a new purpose, building is one of the main ways we can do this. Using bottles and broken plates tiles for mosaics and walls with clear color windows. Arts and crafts and other things you would normally buy in a store you can build and make from your salvaged materials.
Food system is one of the critical areas where you cans separate yourself front the money system. Grow your own food!
Transportation - internet is a great source - ride-share, hitch hiking - not the safest or legal practices (best to go in pairs), Train-hopping.
Shelter - internet is also for shelter - couch-surfing - safest because it has a validation system of checks and balances, also a good way to host people who are traveling. Opportunity to learn from each other. Wwoof - work exchange for organic farms giving room and board - cost a little to be a member. Workaway.info - similar not based on organic farms. Squatting - staying in empty abandon buildings (homes not jails - org. that moves homeless people into abandon buildings) 7 houses for every person.
Making art out of trash - film - http://www.wastelandmovie.com,
Landfill Harmonic Amazing and Inspirational - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJxxdQox7n0
Open-source technology - alternatives to expensive software.
free Education - College courses free online, youtube, DIY blogs, TED talks,
- Once you find some of these ways of using these resources and strategies you can begin sharing, gifting and trading - the Gift-economy - through this we can begin to live in a world of abundance.
- What strategies have you found to live free - cheep in your life? - Care taking land and homes, work-trade for rent at friends places/projects. Buying clothes at thrift stores, bartering services and products. Growing my food, baking my bread, making oat and soy milk, other food processing for the more expensive value-added products. Salvaging materials from the side of the road and dumps. Using craigslist and front-porch forum to find things for free or cheep. I used to travel on stand-by flights (getting hard to do). I have also used alternative currencies.
- Charles added - Gift circles - people share what they need/require, what they have and can share, what they are grateful for. Skills share - Open-source Ecology - global village construction set.
- Great presentation I really enjoy this topic and have made it a way of life to some degree.
Stay Positive and seek ways to bring your life into balance with your value system!
The story of stuff - a book and also some video s on line - When people say they will throw it away. Where is away?
Creating Surplus - The sixth sacred thing - Starhawk - neopagan Permaculturist - Earth Activist Training.
What we can do now? - sustainable households and communities - Transition towns - community gardens, solar panels, grey-water system - separate grey-water from septic and use it to water gardens, systems change! Initial effort will be worth it in the long run - self regulating systems - “The designer becomes the recliner” - freeing up your time for other things. Once you get more people together saving money your saving actually increases, The system is more than the sum of its parts.
Trade-networks - Creating networks of these sustainable households and communities to share goods and services/skills (internet is a good resource for this). Keeping our resources cycling locally means that it is quicker for it to makes is cycle back to you.
- Why live without money? (short-term long-term solutions) I think money is a simple symbol and I think it is more important that our value systems change. The Industrial (State) money is a symbol which by its very creation is supporting an unsustainable (debt) system and paradigm… so I think it is important we begin to create alternatives and parallel systems to this economic system - As Charles said detaching ourselves from the Banks and Multinationals Corporations - Using a Credit Union is a good way to do this and still be able to remain within the system, among all the other ways we have talked about. Timeshares and skills share are good systems to invest in.
- What systems do you participate in in your life which support long-term independence? - I believe Gaia U. is one system that is working to help us in this respect. Permaculture is another system and worldview which is supporting this effort. Metta Earth - where I am working presently is working towards longterm independence, I also am working online to share resources I have created a wiki site with many Permaculture resources the link is - http://permaculturesource.wikispaces.com
Sacred Commerce - We can run our economic system that is in line with an ethical moral system.
Micro-lending and Peer to Peer lending - Sharing money/resources to support systems we want to use and to have in our world.
Living in Harmony with Money - May 23, 2014
Gaia Community Call - May 23rd, 2014 Recording
Carrying over from the Call on living without money
- Current worldview on money (in capitalism)?
- Personal worldview on money (alternative to capitalism)?
Call is aimed at going from Pattern to detail - big picture to personal
Global finance as apposed to personal finance
Why is it important to me to change the global narrative on money? - Value systems is really the topic for me. I like the idea of changing our values from linear hierarchies to cyclical feedback loops
The influence of money on people’s lives - their viewpoint and how they interact with it. Money as a representation as your time and/or services - now it is not backed up by physical goods (gold).
important to consider where we are choosing to live - money plays a different role - city to country. in the city you will end up on the street.
As a parent the responsibility of taking care of your children it is a part of your livelihood. Good to have a support system to talk about our relationship with money.
Liam - France went off the gold standard after world war II because they sold a lot of their Gold to the US. The US went off the Gold standard also - What is the standard? Money is an abstract concept. Zeitgeist the movie goes into what the FED is and what their function is. How artificial is the production of money now in this digital world.
Money in politics - global politics can make discussing money a heated topic. Valuing a person the number in their bank account isn't right - Use things and cherishing people rather than cherishing things and using people.
trying to keep call out of politics and into our experience with money. Positive and constructive stories to get inspired and move towards the alternative parallel systems we are working to create.
Student debt - Students making decisions based on making money after college (sacrificing their values to pay their debt) - sub/consciously motivated by fear - US is very fear driven. Fear is driving decision making in realms which are disconnected from reality and our biosphere.
In “the new” economic system small scale (intimacy) is very important so you know that your ethics are being followed by the people’s production you are supporting.
Many people who don’t have a lot of money shop where its cheap and they know that they are supporting a system of production that they don’t ethically support. They have to sacrifice their ethics do to poverty - some find ways around it.
Jennifer - Understanding what our needs are is not taught in our education system (In US) and teaching how to meet our needs is very fragmented - many confusing messages. Debt is normal, insurance is necessary (mandatory) -
Managing a life has come down to finding a balance and having spiritual foundation of principles and ethics - Trusting has allowed things to provide for her self and her family. Keeping integrity has shown her needs will be met without.
Pass it foreword idea - the barter/gift economy - Liam brought it up at a PDC giving a massage to someone who wanted on but asked her to pass it foreword hoping that it would make it around the circle.. what ended up happening was she ended up giving money to someone else and the experiment fizzled there - we have become so specialized that people feel they have nothing of value to offer.
The more local and general we are with skills and skill sharing the more resilient our culture is. The more specialized and the more exported our skills are the more fragment our culture is.
What is your relationship with money?
Simha - When I was young my mother was a single mom and student, we didn’t have much. My stepdad says when he first met me I was playing in the dirt with stones because I didn’t have any toys (I think its a little exaggeration). We had what we needed and I didn’t know any differently. Elementary school my mom and step-dad moved into the lower middle-class with steady jobs. My father and step-mother where better off and I started to note the difference.
I am privileged with very caring parents who work hard to give me great experiences and support me in my path.
They made sure I could do the year exchange program to Spain and give me enough spending money so I would have some level of independence. I was always pushed to save money and think about its value as a youth. I decided to enter into the coast guard mostly because I wanted to pay for school with the GI bill. I got out and lost my investment yet saved almost everything I earned I lived off these savings for several years living very simple.
I was supported by my parents to go back to school yet took out a student loan.. I dropped out of school for many reasons one of them being I didn’t feel invest 4 years of my life in getting a fine art degree coming out with a debt was worth it (once I got a taste of it). Many of my decisions in going to school were out of pressure to do something with my life, so it was partially fear based. Once this fear dropped after meeting someone who influenced me greatly, my need to justify doing something to have security in my life dropped.
I left for Mexico with very little money I was on a new path with a new relationship with money. Simplifying my life, becoming vegetarian and spending my time meditating doing yoga and exploring nature, this allowed a new experience. I kept working along the way odd jobs yet found ways to skip-out of paying the big expenses like rent, I lived in a cave two warm seasons and in Mexico two winters where I met my wife. We didn’t have a lot of money yet we each had pockets of investment which we would dip into and spend to keep traveling around the world.
Over the years we have done a lot of working for free/trade - creating a base of social capital. This has given us many havens of refuge around the world working to improve projects.
Over our ten years living together we have maintained a simple life spending little and living healthy. We inherited a rental building which has allowed us to continue living how we want, traveling and engaging in permaculture/yoga around the world.
I resonate a lot with what people have spoken of on the call about TRUST and how when we trust that if we need to do something the money will be there for it to be done. END of my answer
Jennifer - Has had a friend who compromised their ethics to make money and then was able to use that to make a change in the world in the direction of their ethics. This makes me (Simha) think about the carbon credits and how some Permaculturist and ecological designers are using funds from multi-nationals to accomplish their goals/projects.
We are all privileged people on this call - How different would this call be if we weren’t all privileged?
Meredith - Same thing she asked her self when she decided to live without money. Grew-up without much money - has experienced what its like to live without money. What are your needs and how can they be met - traveled to Guatemala - people live on very little amount of money. People who are struggling there with money are actually more happy and less stressed than American who have more than they need.
False needs - people in developing countries don’t have so much false-needs, they are more connected with communities and networks that can help them meet their true needs locally.
People spoke and shared a lot about their experience in countries that are more impoverished and how they experienced them happier and meeting their needs more locally.
Liam brings up the point (in this context) - What is privileged? we in the rich 1st world who never have enough, are the privileged? or maybe is it the people who find happiness where ever they are (in what ever situation) are they the truly privileged?
How can I inspire my mindset of contentment more?
world happiness index - http://www.happyplanetindex.org/data/
How can we use money pro-actively to change the world in a positive way?
Participants answers:
- Putting money into things that will create more longterm benefit for myself and my community
- Pay to create systems that will meet our needs over a longterm
- Stacking functions - 8 forms of capital - http://appleseedpermaculture.com/8-forms-of-capital/
- Work to be of service to others - prioritize ethical reasonings of action with investments
- Finding the joy in our work - Creating relationships (even with the symbol of exchange i.e.. money and the good being “purchased”)
My Answer
- I agree with everyones answers - What comes to my mind is a Bill Mollison quote - "The potential yield of any system is infinite.". What that means to me is that our creativity is the limiting factor. Breaking old paradigm ways of thinking (I believe) will reveal some of the more creative ways of changing the world through all the various for ms of exchange (money).
Prison Abolition and Permaculture - Nov. 8, 2013
Gaia Radio Community Call - Nov. 8th, 2013 -
Recording listened to - June 18, 2014
Presented by Nicole Vaspor - Permaculture Practitioner - based in Summerset in the south of the United Kingdom
Focused in political agro-ecology, Sustainable Food-systems
Disclaimer - Can be a re-stimulating topic - Needs active listening
Learned about Permaculture while in Prison. Was sentenced to three years for being involved in a social activist movement focused on Animal rights. When she was sentenced in 2009 she applied for a grant for horticulture and spent much of her 2 years in prison studying horticulture, permaculture and working in the prison garden. Permaculture changed her worldview - the most transformative years of her life. left prison in Dec. 2010 - Has been assisting other inmates since she got out who where in some very hard situations. Nicole felt in her new role she was
- Link to article Nicole wrote on this called What Will It Take to Heal? Prison Abolition and Permaculture - http://permaculturenews.org/2012/10/20/what-will-it-take-to-heal-prison-abolition-and-permaculture/ - wrote this article in october 2012
This was a big step in putting these two threads of her life together.
Prison Industrial Complex - Org in US - Critical resistance - has prison abolition as a strategy. they define PIC as overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social and political problems. Through its reach and impact, the PIC helps and maintains the authority of people who get their power through racial, economic and other privileges. - Their web site - http://criticalresistance.org/about/not-so-common-language/
Nicole was in one of the first private prisons in her area. 60% were re-offenders - the majority of these are drug users who have used crime to feed their habit. Most of these woman have had a hard upbringing poverty, abuse, rape, no family or support, etc. Another large group were woman held under immigration laws - all political. Other woman were there for fight back from abuse, rape. A small minority of woman who were unreasonably violent - some 20% of woman in prison are estimated to have mental health issues. Doesn’t want this call to be negative but this is the reality.
This is a system which is a melting pot of vulnerable woman - the private prison system is designed so it is a perpetuating system by making it a for profit system. Some of the more vulnerable woman are actually more profitable to this system as they get more money to keep them locked up.
Nicole felt a sense of being powerless even with all her abilities to organize and do community engagement thats when she found Critical Resistance. They organize from an abolitionist perspective.
Abolition - PIC abolition is a political vision with the goal of eliminating imprisonment, policing, and surveillance and creating lasting alternatives to punishment and imprisonment. Abolition is both a practical organizing tool and a long-term goal.
Many people always say that there are some people who need to be in prison. It is a holistic long-term view. One change of view that Nicole found useful in this change of worldview is to talk about harm rather than crime.
Quakers lobbied against capital punishment - Some background history on how Prisons function has changed over time.
When talking about reform she recognizes the Abolition is a long-term goal and there is a transition. “Non-reformist reforms” improving life of prisoners - which is important work it is just critical to see it in context if this type of reform will normalize this type of harm or if its end goal is restorative justice.
- Another article written by Nicole - Permaculture in Prison - http://www.wildheartpermaculture.co.uk/?p=455
People in the abolitionist movement can adopt permaculture in their worldview and as Permaculturists we can start our projects with the important question: How can we design to reduce harm in our community, access to under privileged people - How to build a safe culture.
The Permaculture movement is so positive and so solution based yet the focus on power and privilege is lacking.
Reflection
These people in prison seem like people who should “be in the middle of the circle” (needing care) of our society in culture rather on than being pushed outside. Are there ways we can deal with violence in our communities directly rather than using the system? ensuring that people who are abused have support systems, under privileged have what they need etc.
interested in the demographics of prison - has felt like she has been profiled because she was in an area of less diversity just do to her race. hypocrisy of the system because 60% offenders - mostly drugs which is something our popularized in our culture. Many prisoners are reaffenders because they don’t know how to live outside of prison - Perpetuating white supremacy - It reflects on how bad people’s life must be if they want to live in prison also a factor of post prison life - Nicole created a zine.
After being in prison having a criminal record it is difficult to get a job you are marked - access to housing, support; to get off drugs, to get skills.
Nicole has felt very privileged as someone who has gotten out of prison to have a support network, be able to live with her mom and get a job because of her skill set and experience.
Andrew’s feedback - This is exactly the type of issues Gaia U wants to participate in and bring more into the permaculture field. Oppression and liberation - becoming a good practitioner of Ecosocial Design. De-incarcerating De-schooling - Decrease the power of the state we need to take over its functions with a parallel system - an redefine it. Private/Public paradigm - Might need to put together some private organizations that can take over the functions of the state and private organizations.
Agrees we need to create these parallel system organizations that are designed by communities to meet their needs - reevaluation counseling has a large part to play in this - the counseling services in prison are nearly non-existent and even counter-productive. Tools to talk about their feelings - co-support from their peers to peer-council. prisoners self-organizing is seen as one of the largest threats for prisons.
Nicole had created a group with another prisoner while in prison to help woman speak about sexuality. The staff of the prison who was helping them started coming on to the other organizer and this just revealed the dynamics that shows how complex and difficult it is to organize in prison.
Suggestion by Liora - Book on creative writing in prison - Wally Lamb - Link to the book - http://www.amazon.com/Couldnt-Keep-Myself-Correctional-Institution/dp/006059537X
Jennifer - Conspire theater - http://www.conspiretheatre.org - Austin social activist group - We offer on-going theatre and creative writing classes with women incarcerated in both the minimum and maximum security units at the Travis County Correctional Complex in Del Valle, TX - to help people regain their power. Creativity transforms trauma - we need ways in our society to get rid of stored trauma - traditional societies had these integrated into their cultures.
Nicole had a lot to say thanking Andrew, Liora and Jennifer for the opportunity to creatively heal through this structure of support in creating Gaia U. and supporting her holistically in her path.
My Check-out
- How does this touch you? I have seen some of the PIC my self both as a prisoner and a visitor so this topic resonates deeply with me. This is an article I wrote on PIC - http://vermont4evolution.wordpress.com/human-rights/the-prison-industrial-complex/
- How I see the next steps to link permaculture and prison abolition - Societal solutions? - One of the arenas where I see a large portion of work in the “next-steps” of this fusion is world views as prisons have become a permanent ideology, people can’t imagine life without them. I think fleshing out the ideas of abolition world view through a permaculture lens could be a good exercise.
- Personal next steps to take action? - I had been writing consistently to my cousin who has been in and out and is in presently but have stopped for some months now as I have been buried in work. My next step is to reconnect with him and share some of this discussion!
Worldview - Separation to Connection - Sept. 18, 2013
Gaia Community call - September 18, 2013
My Reflections on the call - The journal entry details my reflections on a Gaia U call on Separation and Worldview and a related tool that I remembered from the Generation Now course I took for my OP3 Leaderful Leadership.
I just finished the All Gaia Community Call "Worldview from Separation to Connection" on September 18 presented by Laura Kaestele. The call was being wrapped up and the phone call got cut on Skype. I tried to call back and it wouldn't even ring it would just close out the call every time I tried.
I decided to do a reflection on this call while it is still fresh and I have had some time to reflect. It was a well presented interesting call. We had two breakouts during the call the first discussing our experience and view of separation the second our experience and view of connection and what a more connected world looks like. An exercise just came to mind that we did during the Generation Now course, related to this call.
The exercise is simply creating three columns on a page, on the left you write the things that "make your heart sing" on the right you write the "things that break your heart". The central column you use to try and make connection from between the left and right. You can draw arrows and write a description word. The central column details how, what makes your heart sing could be a solution to something that breaks your heart. I thought this was a really interesting exercise. (image below)
Back to the call. On reflection I realize that our global feeling and identity/worldviews with separation has come down to identifying all "others" as a commodity, something to be leveraged to your advantage. This seems to be the underlying root cause - driving force that shapes our "separated world". This ego-centric worldview is a dead-end. The ecological and social upheaval we are seeing in the world are direct responses/effects of this worldview. I do believe a systemic change of orienting future generations is the foundation to transforming this global root cause, among other system wide changes. The research on presencing, non-violent communication, re-evaluation counseling, other forms of listening, being present, and actively receiving are the foundational block with which we have to work.
All in all a great call, it has me thinking a lot about this meta-project/issue. I also appreciated the call being well attended and actively engaged. I am a little confused what happened at the end, being cut off. IT?
OP Support Call - Jan. 20, 2014
My purpose for the call - get assistance with Summary intro and conclusion
We all discussed issues with keeping in concise.
I was in a breakout with Liam, he said that the Design page I made in Mahara helped him on his OP4.
He is now looking at how to frame his OP5. Thinking the 5P´s still unsure, the other threads he sees are - Learner, Leader and Worldview and how he is progressing in them. They seemed to be the fundamental components of the TALC. Thinks he has too many threads to follow, wants to keep it simple yet get it all in, also does not want to be redundant.
Kate had a question about where to put here drawings and audio.
Jennifer answered, there are three distinct parts of an OP.
1. Behind the scenes commentary - including process of creating the OP, Overall pathway and how you manage it.
2. Core Report including Design of project, the project, the outcomes
3. Supporting evidence (not included in word count) including evidence of outcomes,
learning journals have 2 possible places -
1. if its about life and pathway it goes in commentary,
2. if it is very specific about project it can go in supporting evidence.
Summary is a part of the commentary - Welcoming the reviewer-reader.
Introduction - is important for how you contextualize your report- showing how what your aim of your report is.why you are doing what your doing and introducing the various threads within the report.
LIPD - write how you will track your progress through out the year (also relevant for a LR) can create a google survey you fill out after each OP, excel spread sheet, a mind map you build off of as you go.
My question about intro, summary and conclusion - Jennifer answered in three parts.
- Getting feedback from advisor
- ¨so many ways to do this¨
- and her opinion.
1. Advisor has opinion too, if there is something you must do, your advisor will make a requirement, if not it is a suggestion/recommended next step
2. Try a number of different styles and see what works for you.
3. In her opinion She referred to an OP as a Hut ¨the hut analogy¨.
The Big hut is the commentary the summary is like the door ¨welcoming¨ the reader.
Then there are two rooms 1. core report and 2. supporting evidence. The welcome commentary gives instructions on how the hut is built and how to navigate the rooms.
The intro can have 4 parts -
- What inspired you to do this project (or others)
- The context
- A quick summary of sections
- What you hope people will get out of it
introduction - what you are going to tell us
report - tell us
conclusion - remind us what you told us
An OP is Two projects at same time
- Project Design - How you meet your goals with this design
- OP Design - Learning Path, Tracking, Skill building, edges
The core report is a stand alone piece that should be to the level of publishing. - meaning it should be of value to others.
PoDAPO call #1 Presentation and Organization - Sept. 22, 2014
Date: September 22nd, 2014 - Time: 10:30 AM PDT/ 1:30 PM EDT/ 5:30 PM UTC
Hosts: Jennifer English and Kate Marnul
Topic: "Edge"ucation on Gaia U Skillflex Development Series (PoDAPO focus on Presentation and Organization)
Came on line at 10:30 am - 5 minutes past the hour only two people on the call. Why are people not showing up to calls? Even the Associate presenter didn’t show up...
Call is adressing Skillflexing and PoDAPO this one is on presentation and organization.
I didn’t take much notes on this call, it was only a few of us and I was focused more on the active doing then recording.
email with example OPs was sent -
OP 5 Learning Review Meredith Kirby BSc PreCapstone
Very well organized. Clear navigation. Good use of images and graphics. Includes an introduction and page summaries. All required content for template present. Editing and formatting crisp. Professional presentation style. Diverse use of Mahara columns well integrated visually.
Link: http://icaafs.earth/view/view.php?id=5295
OP 5 Learning Review Charles Thibodeau MSc PreCapstone
Crisp editing, shape and size. Great use of Mahara. Useful links within supporting evidence. Nice display of images and maps. Easy to navigate OP template with headers to each page. All the parts are easy to find and complete.
Link: http://icaafs.earth/view/view.php?id=5613
OP1 Learning Intentions and Pathway Design Kate Marnul BSc Capstone
Well edited. Professional layout and style. Great use of charts, maps and images. Very succinct and easy to follow. Great progression and weaving of threads between sections. The required elements were evident and accessible.
Link:
OP 5 Learning Review Akin BSc Capstone - Graduate
Very lovely writing style though some editing mistakes. Use of mixed media evident. This was the person's second use of Mahara - very good. Great content about flow of OP and key threads. Well integrated introduction and conclusion that follows through in the middle. Required elements included.
Link: http://icaafs.earth/view/view.php?id=4887&showmore=1
OP6 Learning Review Marissa Evans BSc Capstone - Graduate
Well edited. Very clear and thoughtful use of media. Great edge pushing with new media. Integration of key threads evident in specification and conclusion, then woven throughout. Examples provided for key threads. Another first use of Mahara for Associate - she had to convert her files into Mahara - so not ideal use of platform, but the rest of the OP is great.
Link: http://icaafs.earth/view/view.php?id=1667&showmore=1
Five OP Examples for Po
OP3 Project Nicole Vosper Pre-Capstone Msc
Clear, straight-forward structure, great overview, easy navigation with all required elements accessible, integration and use of mindmaps in the report, good editing and visual layout
Link: http://icaafs.earth/view/view.php?id=5628&showmore=1
OP 5 LR Amelia Parisian Capstone Bsc
Great flow of text and visual material, beautiful hand-drawn pictures, mix of genres and media including text, mindmaps, pictures, lists, music
Link: http://icaafs.earth/view/view.php?id=4382&showmore=1
OP1 LIPD Simha Bode Capstone Bsc
Nice guidelines for reader, thus easy navigation, great mix of styles, genre and media using text, poetry, mindmaps, pictures, lists, graphics, charts, well edited and beautiful, clear visual look
Link: http://icaafs.earth/view/view.php?id=6036&showmore=1
OP1 LIPD Laura Kästele Capstone Bsc
Great integration of colors, pictures and graphics, beautiful layout and flow with texts, resource references at the page bottom, many different styles, genres and media, clear and skillful digital use
Link: http://icaafs.earth/view/view.php?t=CIu3anLfToPBWNEMXsYV
OP 4 Project Daniel Brodell-Lake Capstone Msc
Methodical setup for the report, detailed table of contents and numbered paragraphs, supportive evidence section with lots of additional material and images
Link: http://icaafs.earth/view/view.php?id=5348&showmore=1
Po. Meme 1: Editing, shape, size
Editing: Use of grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence construction, numbering, references, vocabulary, avoiding unnecessary repetition.
Shape: The associate included all the necessary elements and they are easy to find. The Output Packet was easy for reviewers to navigate. Supporting evidence sections are used to: keep the core report short and clear of unnecessary technical clutter provide opportunities for reader and reviewer to check that the author has chosen sufficiently reliable sources that validate the work.
Size: Output Packets should come within the word count equivalents - surplus quantities of materials do not impress reviewers.
It is worth developing the attitude that working to limits is a creative opportunity
Po. Meme 2: Mix of media, genres and styles
Addresses choices regarding media, genre and style to enhance and support the meaning and the message of the OP.
Media mix = (for example) videos*, images**, slide presentations, written reports, animations etc. Please share the author of all media content.
Genres = story, documentary report, game, talk show etc. The associate's story-telling abilities (sparkly, authentic, moving).
Styles = fonts, images, color, graphical look and feel etc.
An OP need not be 'flashy' to score well in this category, the emphasis is on relevance and helpfulness of the chosen techniques. Note that research and choice in this field is an opportunity to use design thinking and thus the associate can make conscious use of (and report) a design process.
*Videos should always be short and accompanied by a text explanation of their content - this helps readers to know what they contain without having to fully view them (possibly multiple times).
**Images also need labels that relate them to the text.
Po. Meme 3: Structure, flow, use of illustrations and examples
How easy is it to navigate around the OP (Table of Contents, Tabs, etc.)?
The associate included a clear introduction and conclusion, and a note to the reviewer about navigation.
Structure allows the associate's thinking to unfold in an understandable way - links between levels in the flow of argument are credible - the reader can tell how the associate got from A to B and what elements make up an argument. Illustrations and examples truly illuminate proposals and are used with sufficient frequency. References* to other materials (other peoples' and the Associate's) are present and clear to follow. The work reads well and engages a wide audience.
* Makes clear links from the Core Report to any references used (references should point to an entry in the Annotated Resource Review).
I just recently saw the “new” template (over one year old) it is located in OP Buses dropdown menu - OP Guidlines
Kate arrives 11:15
Kate: thinks of OP like a textbook - well formatted - examples and illustrations - using mahara features by using a different theme to highlight it. Kate is using her own template she created and is happy with how it is going
Po. Meme 4: Output Packet Management (Managing time, managing promises for OP)
Relates specifically to production of this OP. Did the associate make the OP Bus they agreed on and
is OP complete (has all the required elements) including self and peer review and is it readily available to peers and reviewers from the associate's profile page?
New requirement of publishable output packets for capstone year - what does it mean to target wider audiences.
PoDAPO call # 2 - Design - Oct. 27, 2014
Listened to audio - Jan. 18, 2015
Two complete Design cycles by the time you complete an OP
1. The OP
2. The Project
- Why is it important to design?
- Tools and models
What is design to me and why is it important? Design is an interesting word because some languages like French don’t have a direct translation. They are even using english for the lack of a better term. To me Design is a multi-faceted process of planning with a desired outcome. It is the ability to understand and to break molds, models and constrains using them to actively integrate their teaching and then to tweak and recreate them with the intention of improving the process or idea.
OP design Kate - looks at feedback loops - storyboarding - Has gotten more explicate and structured in creating her OP through Gaia U.
Jennifer talking about OP Design - The moment you start thinking about the project you are doing you have begun designing your OP. Think about what model you would use before even choosing a project. 6 OPs in first cycle 5 in second cycle - Overtime you turn in an OP you could use 2 models and potentially even create your own - experiment with as many as possible - adding value by designing your own models - need to compare and contrast the models as well.
OP Process
1. Choose model
2. Start surveying - Articulating goals - assess the field - internal focus - collecting information (roles, others OP, PoDAPO, feedback, potential projects)
3. Expansion mode - don’t start making decisions - give a time to expansion mode (map all the possibilities
4 Contraction mode - Analyses and assess parameters, constraints, SWOC Analysis, OP template, mind map requirements of OP.
Three types of Goals:
Goals of content - hard skills, knowledge, outcomes
Goals of process - time-frame, parameters, feedback
Goals of presentation - media, framing, articulation
Jennifer - We need to ask. What have my patterns of behavior been? Is it working for me? is there another approach? What is holding me back of meeting my goals?
This is a part of your assessment of unlearning patterns and this is where you make your conscious goals. When we make goals in Gaia U - identifying a limitation we are seeing where we can intervene to push this edge. This is active experimentation
When we set a goal - it is not about succeeding or concurring that limitation it is more about engaging that edge and being consciously engaged in it. Setting up a “liberating structure” to address these limitations and track your engagement with them and how they play-out.
Refining our skills through this spiraling through the design cycles large and small.
A section of a collection should be presentable to the public (publishable)
Parts of an OP:
1. The Core report - is a stand alone piece (publishable) this is part of assessment (Who is my audience) using accessible language and navigation. OP is teaching others about our experiences - it should be replicable (for the public)
2. Commentary - (Specific to Gaia U) - How you are managing your pathway - yu project - OP Design - all you un/learnings
3a. Supporting evidence - Goes with the core report - annotated resources, documents (for the public)
3b. Supporting evidence - connected to commentary (Gaia U specific)
You can take these public specific pages and make it another collection made to be publishable.
How are we structuring OPs for public audiences?
Kate - uses a numbering system for her pages 1,2,3 to differentiate her pages of which audience it is designed for. Imagines her OP as an interactive book - When people come to my OP they can see number 1 is the core report - being intentional of how she is speaking to her audience.
Good practice to get a little list and e-mail it to the people you want to read - send them the link.
Simha - My last OP on User Interfaces was a break through for me on this front and I see the need and benefit for creating multiple OPs for various audiences. I learned a lot about presentation in this OP, check it out here - http://icaafs.earth/view/view.php?t=Uv6oVpzFrxIu4gyJq5EP
Jennifer - What is Publishable? In Gaia U we all as community are going to decide what “publishable means - Article, interview, webinar, one level
Good to map out your process in a flow chart - Can explain that they are happening at the same time (intuitive) an intuitive process might be meditation, receiving feedback from the world - allowing your self to go with the flow - There are still decisions being made - Gaia U is working to get you to articulate this - important to explore design models even if they don’t feel natural - assess how flows are working for you - active experiments are a way to change patterns to see what is serving you and to see new perspectives. Compare models and there ways in which they work in what context.
Simha - I have created a collection of pages for associates to create their own page showing their design cycles/process in the Activity Hub -http://icaafs.earth/view/view.php?id=4538
If you want to add your own page - go to the Activity Hub homepage and click create new page (top right) build your page - then post a link to the Hallway forum at this url - http://icaafs.earth/interaction/forum/topic.php?id=211
and it will be added to the collection
All of what was described above also apply in the same way to your project design. 4 parts Gaia U is looking for.
1. Conscious engaged with design
2. Active experiments and tracking
3. Identifying your design model
4. Comparing your experiences with these
What principles of design are you using?
This will be covered in: both Commentary and Core report
Articulation of approach and Intervention
Process and details
Your ability to convey the steps - clarity in making it assessable and navigable - ability to articulate your learnings and observations.
Supporting evidence of final Capstone OP make a page of all the flow charts of the design process you used for all of your output packets with comparative assessment
Interventions - To be able to identify a point of intervention you have to be observant.
- Observation
- Intentions for an outcome
- Analyzing & Assessing (constraints, timing)
- Design
- implement intervention
Scale of interventions:
1. Garden - Physical
2. Creating an event - Social
3. in the field (identifying gaps - bridging fields)- Metta
Transitions and timings
Being aware when transitions happen - (about to go through, going through, gone through) using that awareness to use transitions as designing for interventions (goals), going through a transition consciously, reflecting on a transition/intervention.
Simha’s check out
Questions - It is difficult to compare design processes when you have used them in different contexts - Is there any suggestion on best practices for this?
Share what you gained from the call, appreciations - It is always good to talk abut design because so many times there are these subtle (mini cycle) that are important yet get missed in articulation this was a good reminder. The piece on interventions and transitions was also good to reflect on (the three stages).
Feedback - I would like to hear and have (when present) more interaction in these calls. One idea: If there was some questions presented in the Gaia Radio announcement of the call which people could have some time to go over and reflect on before the call it could bring a more engaged call.
Next steps - My next step is to look at the transition of my life right now, nearing the end of my Capstone year and think about my goals and potential interventions.
PoDAPO call #3 - Action Learning Skills - Nov. 14, 2014
PoDAPO call (A) - Action Learning Skills - Nov - 14, 2014
Pay attention to how we are engaging with the different capacities in the Kolbs model, How we are improving - comparing it in world context - Meta level
Learning and Unlearning
last week they talked of intervention - when we realize there is a gap or an anti-pattern - this is a time we consciously intervene this is a time when we break a habitual pattern and unlearn - we need to break them down many times dismantling them it requires awareness and deep attention to the present moment. By being observant of patterns we can evolve into whole beings.
Answer these two questions:
1. What is your general sense of action learning and unlearning?
2,. How have I been interacting with the elements in the PoDAPO?
Laura, Sophie and I answer -
Jennifer - Learning cycles are cyclical - Theory U model - Integrating things more and more refined - Ayurveda - Goes through different ways of learning in different seasons. To learn right and master - Teach “Yogi Chai” - Deconstruction - Reconstruction - Expansion - Teaching - further integrates
Sophie spoke to the Learning pyramid
Doing = Concrete experience in a conscious way - implementing while paying attention to what you are doing. The more applied your whole body is the more you return - In OP this is usually located in the Project outcomes and in Supporting evidence - “Here is what I have accomplished ….”.
Thinking = Analysis - deconstructing/reconstructing/critiquing and expanding - trying models accessing the field - applying myth and metaphor - its putting your project into a world context. Evidence in critical evaluation - references to field and world context philosophie - footnote annotated resources - referencing others work.
In your OP we are trying showing that you are consciously balancing these
What is the difference between Active Experimentation vs Doing? (question from Sophie)
Jennifer answers - Doing is Conscious engagement and Active Experimentation has three parts1. identifying the design step 2. rapid prototype 3. tracking your outcomes of prototypes and project over all.
Jennifer goes over Kolb’s iterative learning cycle - Concrete experience (Do) - Reflective observation (Reflect) - Think (Process observations, self-foraging, analysis phase) - Designing (Proposal - rapid-prototype) then the cycle goes back to Concrete experience being more informed.
Active Experimentation = Three parts - 1. articulating you design (Articulating the need for interventions - then a proposal on how you will intervene) 2. Rapid prototype 3. tracking and managing your design Design process. It is Qualitative in nature (practical applied data collection)
Reflective observation = Is about being able to step-back and articulate the outcomes (what happened and then how it changed things in you and the context. reflections are found in Reference to discerning the outcomes edges journal entries. It is Quantitative in nature.
Transformation of context - This can be put in OP just by identifying what field you are working in and what is the world view of this field what are the patterns surrounding this topic. - Being able to articulate an intentional intervention that you made in how you were attempting to transform that worldview or hole. (Meta-level)
On a project context level - How you project made a difference on a practical level “how you impacted the system” - This can also be applied on yourself, internal and external - How you are changing by going through this experience and context. Transformation of Context comes in Core
Transformation of self Level - This is found in the Commentary - how your worldview was affected, your unlearning etc.
....
(I was cut off the call with 15 min left due to being logged in in a Library in Spain with a max time limit.)
PoDAPO call #4 - Process Skills - Dec 12, 2014
Listened to call on Jan. 20, 2015
* There was a confusion on which element we are on - changing from Action Learning to Process Skills - Action Learning was last call. Shifting to Process Skills (transition a little rough)
Meme 1: Project Management Skills (time management)
Meme 2: Critical Evaluation of Thinking and Reference to Good Practices Elsewhere - Validation of Knowledge
Meme 3: Collaboration, Participation, and Use of Peers, Allies, Mentors
Meme 4: Leadership, Facilitation and Mentoring Efforts
Two types:
Skills specific to Gaia U - Criteria in PoDAPO - Professional development capacity -How you are managing project/time - engaging in community/Gaia U/field - How you are processing information - Being: leader, collaborate, mentor, allie
Skills specific to each associate - Outlined in LIPD
Meme 1 - Evidence you are able to identify project, accountabilities, roles/ responsibilities, interventions, scope, design, tools to manage and track, Reflection of your design cycle, pathway management and tracking. This will show up in the core report. Best practices tools are a key component to share (often missed by associates) People often forget to talk about what they are accountable for as well.
Jennifer goes into sections of an OP (this could have come first in the call and referred back to after each meme as to where they are located)
My reflections and edges - Good summary of project management skills - Its good to hear it again laid out because it is the over arching meme of Process skills (as Jennifer said). I have a lot of edges around tracking - It is completely new to me. Journaling has been my pioneering-tracking methods. It brings me back to the moment where I can recall different processes I was in and how I was managing and making decisions. More recently I have been able track my progress in project management through a rubric system I created. it is a valuable edge. I defiantly find myself in the middle of projects thinking “Process?” as it is my nature to just do. I have enjoyed this flex some as I want to understand how I work.
Sophie uses google calendar to help track her tasks and roles in projects. Edges not articulating roles ahead of time
Mateo - people skills - communication - one of the largest pieces of project management - highlights has been working with groups and taking on leadership roles. edges are around over commitment and pro-actively communicating.
Nicole - How to manage ourselves in the project - design is important to save time and energy - looking at patterns she keeps falling into - edges putting in to much energy in - wants to decrease output and increase yield.
Meme 2 - (One of least understood of most associates) Researching - more than just research - assessing your own work in comparison to other people’s work in the field - precursor to “adding value” - less about outcome - more about critic of the field (in how to learn in Action Learning certificate of orientation)
Identifying the field you are working in - What is information is available in the field? - What is the common worldview of that field? - How are people on the periphery of the field relating to it? - Comparing your work to others.
1. Deconstruction - Mapping it out as original author shared the information (outline -mapping highlights)
2. Reconstruction - Put it in form that makes sense to you - remapping it from your lens/worldview
3. Critique - comparing your work/experience/perspective against others (multiple authors)
4. Expansion - might notice gaps in the field - bridging - bringing attention to (filling-in or expanding on contradictions)
This all will be in the core report and the annotated resource review
Bibliography is footnotes of sited research (quoted) annotated resource is more expansive - anything that helped you even if you didn’t refer to it in your work.
1. Reflect on Jennifer’s overview - This is helpful for my present OP4 I am glad I got to listen to it now!
2. My own experience with process skills - I find that I have a hard time placing myself in the field. This is one of my edges - valuing my knowledge and experience.
3. Edges with process skills - As I said - The Permaculture field seems so huge! Even each niche of the Permaculture field seems huge. I am coming around and with each OP I feel I am understanding myself better which is leading to valuing what I have to offer.
Mateo - All of this is a precursor to adding value as we bring our work into the world. This process is about adding value to the field. Been difficult to get constructive feedback loops in groups of peers.
Sophie - lack of documenting resources in the moment - a common issue for this element many people have.
Jennifer - Glossing over a process that you learned a long time ago and apply without identifying it or referencing it is a common issue.
Each course in a regular college has a syllabus and 3-4 books a paper needs to be turned in with so many resources. What do you want to do to validate your degree. You are your own professor. Gaia U wants to see one OP really focused on accessing the field and comparing your own experience with what is going on in the field.
Meme 3 - Collaboration
Social, group process, PR, peer, stake holders skills - Within communities Gaia U, Local, the field.
looking for a diversity in how you engage with peers
1. Communicating roles and responsibilities of those involved and how you engage with them
2. tools using to interact
3. Outcomes of this - best practices - social capital you are forming
4. Document the story of participation (within Gaia U.)
Depends on where you focus is - If it is a part of your project it will be in your core report if it is just part of your pathway it will be in the commentary.
My Reflections - It is good to hear all of this spoken I have read the PoDAPO many times but this helps. I have had some edges around this in the last few OPs.
My edges - I find it is difficult to report on interactions when they are other than productive, this is because of my subjective view point. I see things through a lens and I know this. It makes me feel like I am judging (even when trying to be objective).
Mateo - Sees this as the most important part of what we are doing in Gaia U it is needed to make change in the world - documenting it goes one step further. communicating it in a way that allows other to see the value is his edge.
Nicole - Has been flexing this skill a long time - still looking for better models
Sophie - Collaborates locally and with professional allies - lacks seeking out practical collaboration - critique of Gaia U orientation - didn’t find allies during orientation - still trying to engage Gaia peers - Needs to learn to ask for help.
Jennifer - Feedback loops are a significant part of collaboration - OPs need to articulate how you are giving receiving and using feedback.tools like archetype models, strength assessment, 10 faces of innovation - attributes of individuals bring to the table - when working in a group can use these tools to help identify who is best at what. Even when doing solo projects can still use these tools - showing your capacity and lack of certain traits effected your outcomes and what that means for your flexing - collaborating
Guild buddies - Having community, Gaia U struggle around making requirements - If there is requirements then it can push people to experiment outside their boundaries - if they don’t want to they can make a proposal. Gaia U has difficulties in how to structure guild buddies (requirement/not)
Meme 4 - Leadership, Facilitation and Mentoring Efforts
Gaia U wants to see - that we are taking responsibility - Project participant and up to leadership and being a role model. Increasing our own capacity to learn through being a teacher/leader mentor - to be a good leader you have to be a good support person. Gaia U is aiming to build this into the community. Shared mentorship. Actively experimenting with putting yourself into these roles - Looking for articulate compare and harvest experiences, tools and outcomes. This one is documented in all parts of the OP - Commentary - within your pathway (not specific to the project), project related - Core report, best practices might be in supporting evidence.
Reflections - Great call! Leadership/teacher is an edge for me and it is why I have made it a main part in my capstone theme. Many people tell me I am a natural leader yet I am still working to see myself in this light. I know this comes from restimulation around academia and the idea of "what is teaching". I look forward to my next OP to flex this skill on another level - Teaching to teach.
PoDAPO call # 5 - Outcomes - Jan. 16th, 2015
Listened to on 12/03/2015
(1) Benefits to the field - The most challenging for associates and the most complex out of all in this criteria
1. CONTEXT - Whose doing what with whom where when and how?
2. ASSESSMENT - Deconstructing Reconstructing Critique and expansion - SWOC
3. IDENTIFYING - How you and your work is adding value to the field (overlapping with decimation)
Aspects to engage in and track the fields you are working in -
* Field in General:
1. Specific - The field is the most narrow specialization of the topic of your project (for example Hugelkulture).
2. General - This is the broader topic of your project (for example Gardening).
* Scale of the field (Zones):
1. Local and regional community and how your project effects them.
2. National and global community that is effected by your project.
3. Within Gaia University - What are you contributing to the epistemic community?
When you are thinking about impacting the field think about what zones you are working in.
- First identify what the field is, where you fit into the field.
- Give the Context of what is going on in the field and in the different zones.
- Bringing evidence of critical evaluation critiquing what is going on in the field, gaps in the field and how your work adds to or bridges what is already in the field.
- Referencing good practices within the field - assess other players in the field and their work. If you are cross pollinating making connections within more then one field.
Liam - The field of Permaculture is so vast - The specificity of what area we are working in is critical because there is so much information out there.. Where in that vastness are we making our impact. This is one of the challenges that can paralyze us in this criteria. In his own work he is making an effort in defining his target audience and what he is trying to effect for change. Some aspect of OPs are that associates are reporting on what they are learning and don’t see that they are actually contributing to the field. This is a point of confidence that we need to address.
Jennifer - The cross-pollination of several fields can seem difficult to identify, yet it is actually easier. Is there anyone else who is already working in connecting these fields. Take the time to see what else is going on in this dynamic multi-field.
Even if you are just gaining skills in your project you can still look at other people working in the field and their best practices compare and assess. This in and of itself is adding to the field.
Liam spoke to creating a Pattern Level of Dissemination.
Jensen - Has been looking at two of her topics (Social and Urban Permaculture) as separate fields but is now thinking about how the topics are related and now wants to look into who is connecting these fields. Looking at ways to revitalize revamp other people’s work to make it her own. What can I do differently then other people working in these fields to add to their value. Has been wanting to engage in Gaia U more - this is a big edge for her - Is making a big effort to have a learning mentor for each of her OPs
Jennifer - Into the process not having grand outcomes - Yet you are making impact on a different scale. We are looking at an increased scale of impact as you progress in your Gaia U program. As you are working on benefits to the field you are creating a pattern of healthy active with how you are interacting with this skill. It isn’t about how grandiose your impact is. It is that you are showing that you are consciously interacting with this skill-flex.
Prototypes - how there is so much available in the field. Orientation the idea of the knowledge commons - create a place where we document the best practices in the various fields. Just gathering this information is a great addition to the community and movement.
Tommy - Thinking about the paradigm shift that is taking place - in the traditional edu. we were told that the high level of movers in the field where the ones contributing and we are just invited into the conversation - we are told we have to reach this high level before we can contribute. This is the unlearning. Realizing that he has left his idea of the field too broad and needs to get more specific. Allowing himself to have a voice and trusting that his contribution will be more and more effective. This new paradigm of learning doesn’t happen in isolation - we are not as focused on ourselves. We are shifting our vision from the components to the relationships - system-thinking.
Jennifer - Gaia U is training you to think in this way - Learning how to unlearn - Deconstruct - Taking what someone says making it into bullet points - Reconstruct - Making these points relevant to you - Critique and Expansion - Critiquing someones work and comparing and contrasting it to others or your own work - Then bridging the gaps that you find in the field.
What niche are we interacting and engaging in? Niche is a good way of thinking about this.
My reflections (Simha) - I really resonate with what Tommy brought up about this programming of the Industrial Edu. complex and our programming into being only learners. I have definitely struggled with this criteria. When I look at the field of Permaculture and what is out there it can be over whelming to say “these are the best practices” and then to say I am actually contributing to making them better is even more difficult. Listening to this conversation has helped me to feel more empowered to tackle this! On my first project OP I did find a tool the ripple diagram and adapted it to this criteria though I think that it wasn’t completely successful as it wasn’t really taking into account what is already out there in the field. This is definitely a complex component of OPs that I think we could all put effort into helping each other with by documenting our best practices and processes in fulfilling.
(2) Dissemination
Liam - a continuation of the last conversation - As Tommy was saying - The act of assimilation is a form of dissemination or at least a contribution to the field - at the heart of it we need to have compassion for ourselves - that we can and are contributors - How learning has been focused in the History of learning it makes more sense to me why associates leave this out of OPs because we have been trained to think we can’t contribute until we reach a high level of accomplishment.
Jensen - Is making more of an effort to get her work out to friends and family.
Tommy - A way to get people to read your work is to read others work and give them feedback. Just keeping contact with others creating content is another way (like good practices to blog posting).
My reflections (Simha) - I was hoping to hear the Activity Hub mentioned in this section as I feel it is a collective space that can really support all of us in our efforts of dissemination… even more than the All Gaia Community Forum as Mahara has more capability of sharing and interacting with each others work. This is a space that is underutilized and has so much potential! Please share your work on the Gallery of Associate OPs, and post about your projects learnings/unlearnings on the forums! I agree with Tommy it is a two way street, we need to show interest in our peers work and give each other support and it will be reciprocal. Outside of Gaia U I found this website https://www.academia.edu (there are a few Gaia Associates on there). I feel this is a good platform and part of the epistemic community. I have yet to post an entire OP there... My present project I am building into an ebook I think this format is the most digitally accessible, so I feel we as a community need to start looking into it (It is new to me). I am still a bit confused as to how it will be or fit into my OP, it will be revealed.
(3) Personal and professional growth and development
If your reflection about personal development are stories in the context of your project to benefit someone else (the reader) it can be in the core-report. Generally personal development will be put in the (Gaia U centric) Commentary section. The same goes for Professional development.
Liam - awareness is a word I heard through out this call - this is a reflection on each of these criteria. Competence and Attention about personal and professional development is about the awareness of what you did or did not touch on in your project. Keeping our awareness while we go through a project. The growth is not the important thing it is the awareness of what you did and didn’t achieve. Being Self-reflective.
Jennifer - If someone is having difficult with OP I teach to do the Commentary last with the is reflective quality.
Tommy - the Goal Setting portion of design is laying the ground work for this awareness - and in the reflection in the commentary section is relating back to these goals. Layers of goals going back to the LIPD… Another feedback loop of looking back to intentions and then looking forward to new goals - it is the awareness which ties that process together.
My reflections (Simha) - I really like the points of awareness and goal settings as the basis for this component! I feel this is another one of my weak points.This year I was able to build a progress tracking rubric that I feel has really helped me with quantifying this. Quantifying growth seemed so abstract to me last year and after meeting with Liam and putting work into this I feel I am able to make this component more personally beneficial rather than just trying to fulfill it as a criteria. Check out my Capstone LIPD here to see my rubric - http://icaafs.earth/view/view.php?id=6800
Appreciation and Reflections on the call and Next steps:
Great call! This series is by far the most beneficial for me personally out of all the Gaia U calls I have attended! EVERYONE HAD GREAT CONTRIBUTIONS! I was happy to hear that this series is likely going to be repeated! I feel really getting into the PoDAPO is the greatest deprogramming - unlearning tool we have and we need more and more exploration of it! I am presently working on my last project OP and all of this will be implemented as much as I can. I will use these notes and my others on this series to build my OP. I will also e-mail and post these notes to Jennifer and the Gaia U community.
Creative Commons license
Gaia Radio notes and resources by Will Bode is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from Will Bode.