Community facing workers are feeling overwhelmed, facing burnout, increased expectations, reduced budgets, lack of community engagement and bureaucratic decisions that are based on siloed responses and don’t bring long-term change. In this workshop we will focus on how we got here and together create a roadmap to change.

In this interactive workshop we’ll do a deep dive into the broader sociopolitical landscape that our organisations live in. From the end of the Second World War till today successive policies and social attitudes and mores have affected the way our services were created and continue to operate. Understanding the environment in which we operate allows us to make choices that are more client and community centred.

In the second part of the workshop we’ll collectively design a roadmap for change. Based on the current landscape and our unique Flourishing Framework®, we’ll explore how to advocate for change and build holistic practices that value the individual and their community.

We’ll cover

• A brief history of social service policy

• An overview of social attitudes towards those in need

• Our unique Flourishing Framework® and how to use it to change your practice

• A road map you can use straightaway to make a difference in the lives of the people you work with

These two workshops are run together to give a fuller picture of the Flourishing Framework® and its application. In community work, what we focus on becomes our primary method of evaluation. For too long we’ve focused on individuals outside of their community context, their deficits, and what they don’t have. Our hope has been to bring some relief, no matter how short term or the dependency it creates. The Flourishing Framework® points to a different quality of outcome that recognises our interconnectivity as people, our need of community and the wonderful potential held within each one of us. These workshops explore how the framework can transform the way we do community work and provide fresh more enduring outcomes.

Flourishing is a philosophy, a practice and a tool, in these workshops we’ll cover each aspect looking at how you can apply it to your life, work and community. We’ll explore the thinking behind the idea, how it works in practice and then how it can lead to community change.

In these interactive workshops we’ll unpack each of the 6 elements that make up flourishing and, based on these elements, build a unique to you, picture of flourishing. The workshops will show how your unique sense of flourishing can lead to flourishing in your community and beyond. As a practitioner or worker you’ll discover how you can use flourishing to build great teams and stimulate shared projects with positive outcomes.

We’ll cover

• Philosophy of flourishing

• 6 elements of the Flourishing Framework®

• Personal application

• Application for practitioners and workers

• Building teams that flourish

• Using the Flourishing Framework to create shared vision and projects

Most approaches to community research focus on needs and deficits, and are extractive, leaving community members feeling disempowered and community organisations being expected to deliver on research outcomes. Effective community research involves community members as researchers, working with their strengths and aspirations. This introductory workshops will give you tools to connect positively with community, work with them as holders of knowledge and beneficiaries of all the discoveries.

In this interactive workshop we will explore approaches to community research that are effective, accessible, inclusionary and benefit the local community in real and tangible ways. Appreciative and participatory approaches include the community as researchers and promote strengths as pathways to real and lasting community change. Researching the community with a focus on participation and strengths helps increase engagement and overcome inertia to involvement.

We will cover:

• 3 community research tools

• How to include the community as researchers

• How to use community aspirations to meet current needs

• How to overcome charity and welfare dependency through active community involvement

Whether we experience it in the workplace, local community or online, many are facing an epidemic of loneliness, disconnection and disengagement. Facilitating people to come together around their strengths and interests is one way to overcome these issues. These two workshops, run together, focus on Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) to help unearth people’s strengths and potential contributions in a way that connects with their sense of purpose and inner motivations. Many speak the language of ABCD but few unlock its real potential for change.

Together we’ll explore the importance of listening to your community and using what you learn to facilitate real community led change. With the community in the driver’s seat, we can begin to reimagine the supporting role our organisations can play as individuals and communities follow their aspirations and work together to achieve great things.

We will cover

• The principles behind ABCD

• How to truly listen to your community

• 5 steps to revitalise your community or workplace

• How to effectively collaborate with others

• A process for applying ABCD

Whether at work or in the community there are issues that just won’t go away. From homelessness to poverty alleviation to lack of engagement in programs. What all these issues have in common is that they are comprised of complex systems. They do not occur in isolation and can only be addressed holistically. Simple cause and effect thinking may apply a band aid but will never solve the problem. To help address these issues, this workshop will explore a tool called Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) that can be used to understand and design solutions to some of the most difficult issues we all face.

There are CAS all around us from transport to food supply to the way we use the internet. We’ll explore how you can become aware of the systems you are a part of and map them for understanding and systems change. Once the map is in place we’ll show you how to create what’s called a causation chain and from there how you can begin to design more holistic mechanisms for change. The good thing is that even what seem small changes can have a large ripple effect across a whole system.

Together we’ll

• Map a CAS

• Create a causation chain

• Explore the seven characteristics of a CAS

• Learn how to use the CAS tool in your context

One of the biggest problems for the community and social services sectors is worker burnout and staff retention and let’s face it community work is hard. The needs keep mounting and the resources seem to keep dwindling. In this workshop we’ll explore how to keep motivated, align your sense of purpose to your values and discover how to live a holistic life despite the challenges.

People often say, “find what you love doing and you’ll never work a day in your life.” We’re not sure about that because some days are just hard however, by using our unique Flourishing Framework® we’ll explore how to align your skills, sense of purpose and contribution. As these things align you’ll find new motivation that will help you keep going even on the hard days.

We will

• Explore the six elements of the Flourishing Framework®

• Do a deep dive on purpose and contribution

• Explore what intrinsic motivation is and how you get it

• Design an individualised mission statement

Leadership is one of the most misunderstood terms often referring to ‘the leader.’ However, every single one of us has the potential to offer leadership in our area of expertise. Over this workshop we’ll unpack leading through influence and explore its role in creating healthy teams.

In order to lead we need to tap into our sense of purpose and the values that matter to us. Leading by influence is not necessarily having an opinion about everything but is knowing what’s important, when to speak up and to whom and when to act.

We’ll cover

• Characteristics of leading by influence

• How to unearth the gold in your own story

• How to lead up

• Practical steps you can take to demonstrate leadership

Everyone has something to bring to the creation of Flourishing Communities. Often this leads to a beautiful chaos. In order for this chaos to be transformed into something that will generate true change we need an understanding of the necessary roles or functions. During this workshop we will explore the roles for our organisations, policy makers, and overall community and how they can exist together to create places and spaces we are proud to live and work.

Using global examples this workshop will show you how the tapestry that makes up community can work towards the common good and how to influence institutions and organisations to put community first.

We’ll cover

• Roles for institutions

• Roles for organisations

• Roles for community members

• A pathway for shared community transformation