Facilitation

Safe Space: A Tool for Allowing Deep and Consensed Dialogue

You can use this tool creatively, adapting the intensity of the 4 basic principles to different situations, depending on the level of risk being taken in each setting. Some components of these tools may be inappropriate for some settings, and invaluable in others. The more personal risk involved, the more carefully you want to frame the space at the outset, because a secure anchor is the only thing that will enable a process to fly to the heights of its potential.

NASCO Board Meeting Process

The following approach to facilitation and decision-making outlined in this document is a modified consensus process which came out of the June 2006 NASCO Board meeting after a good deal of discussion and experimentation with different meeting processes. The process outlined below is something of a hybrid, which attempts to combine some of the clarity and formality of Roberts Rules with the participatory and flexible nature of consensus processes.

Nonviolent Communication

This packet is full of useful tools for learning about and practicing nonviolent communication. This resource was created by: The Center for Nonviolent Communication (www.cnvc.org), 5600 San Francisco Rd. NE Suite A, Albuquerque, NM 87109, Tel: +1.505.244.4041. "We share our material freely and we appreciate donations. A contribution that reflects your appreciation of what we offer and the value you receive will be used to further the development and distribution of Nonviolent Communication.

Basics of Consensus

A decision-making process that many co-ops use is consensus. Consensus is a process of building united judgment whose purpose is not to avoid conflict but to bring out all opinions and perspectives. Each position has a responsibility to present facts and perceptions which are not being considered, to explain her or his position clearly and rationally, and to question the other positions so as to reach full understanding of their positions.