Initiatives
For the last ten years most of my work has been with The Berkana Institute. I and others at the Institute have worked around the world with people and organizations building healthy and resilient communities. I’m currently most involved in three initiatives at Berkana.
Berkana Exchange
An ecosystem of learning centers, grassroots-based initiatives, individuals, regional learning communities and movements, participants in the Berkana Exchange are working in many ways to build communities that work again. Participants are developing the capacity to solve their most pressing problems—such as community health, ecological sustainability and economic self-reliance—by acting locally, connecting regionally and learning trans-locally.
Why “trans-local”? We believe that large-scale systems change emerges when local actions get connected globally—while preserving their deeply local culture, flavor and form. There is no universal solution for the challenges of poverty, hunger or environmental destruction. But there is the possibility of widespread impact when people working at the local level are able to learn from one another, practice together and share their learning with communities everywhere. The video clip to the right describes the Art of Learning Centering, a gathering of the community of the Exchange.
Right now the Exchange is in a period of transition. The Berkana Institute has stepped back from playing a central role as steward of the community. Many of us are still very connected with each other and looking forward to another gathering in the middle of 2010, most likely in Brazil. Find out more about the work of the Berkana Exchange.
Southern Africa Learning Collaborative
I visited Southern Africa for the first time in 2001 and my heartmind was forever changed. I can’t quite explain it. I was never one with an itch to go to Africa. It was over there, someplace, far outside my view. But I have become deeply connected to and in the region. It is one of the places where I come most alive and where I learn the most about what is important in the world today. Over the years, through Berkana and the Berkana Exchange, a growing community of people who work and live with similar values and principles has become visible. Led by Kufunda Learning Village in Zimbabwe and the GreenHouse Project in Johannesburg, people from Uhuru in Zimbabwe, LaPeng Family and Child Center in Johannesburg, Fisherwomen in Cape Town, and the INK Urban Area in Durban have been learning from each others work, and seeking to reach out to others in the southern Africa region. They believe that a leader is anyone who wants to help and that they have the knowledge, strength and creativity to make life better. With others at Berkana, I am working with them to develop this Southern Africa Learning Collaborative. This PDF Description explains a bit more about the collaborative.
Powers of Place
I believe deeply in the Powers of Place. When I walk along the eastern hills of Kyoto, I am connected to my spiritual roots. When I rode my bike through the valleys and hills of southern Oregon on this year’s Cycle Oregon I was connected deeply with the beauty of this Northwest region which has been home to me for 60 years. When I walk in the eucalyptus forests of Australia, I feel the age of the planet. Walking along the dusty roads of rural Zimbabwe, I feel a vibrance of life. The Fetzer Institutehas provided funding for a two year initiative called Powers of Place. A number of us from around the world are in a deep inquiry about how to work with the power of place. We’ll be opening our website shortly; you’ll hear more about it here.
These three initiatives are a critical part of my learning ground. They are places where I am able to deepen my own understanding of what’s important in the world. They are a source of inspiration as I do my work.
Bob became an important partner to our work in Pioneers of Change. He often challenged our age limitation in the network of pioneers. When we described what it meant to be a pioneer to us, he noted that he felt the same way too. Each member of pioneers of change made these five commitments: Be yourself, Do what matters, Join with others, Start now and Never stop asking questions. This was the credo with which we each did our world changing work in many different organisations and settings, and often Bob was right there with us. Bob has an ability to join in as a respectful and quiet listener who then brings perspective, language and models to what is going on, and what we are grappling with. The fact that he had 20-30 odd years of additional experience than us never seemed to be a challenge. He had a capacity for tuning into the value we offered with our younger perspective. And because of his commitment to finding new ways of working, living and being he never felt above us, but joined with us in our inquiries and offered incredible value to us in our questioning. 
We invited Bob to help us examine our agency’s impact on the communities we serve. He did more than that. He helped us see that the real power of our work lies in connecting deeply with people as much as in connecting water lines, roads or services. Bob helped us remember how to listen to and learn from each other, accessing the knowledge we already have to create more healthy and resilient communities. From this initial work we’re exploring new roles as leaders of an organization committed to restoring relationships with tribal communities.