Over the last 14 years, we have been enriched by expereinces of creating nurturing spaces for young people. We are consolidating our learnings and beginning to offer structured programs for facilitation. In that process, we offered our first facilitation program building on the priciples of Samvaad.

Samvaad

Facilitating Conversation that Matter

6 weeks, Online

About 30 individuals from various walks of life came together for a six-week intensive Samvaad on “Facilitating Conversations that Matter.” Our intention was to create alternative structures of facilitation with the intention to create a dialogue for a new future.

Creating intentional community and facilitating spaces that allow for each of us to show up authentically has been a lifelong pursuit at Youth Alliance. We gathered people who also have a been on a similar pursuit in their journey of facilitation and/or leading an organisation.
This was not be a “training”, but a lived experience in which we challenged the existing structures of how we gather for conversations. We explored questions and processes that transform our own thinking and how we relate to collective coexistence, learning and change.

We asked for your commitment and participation, as people who gather are the “event”. What you bring to the conversation is creates this Samvaad.

This was an offering to celebrate 10 years of existence of Youth Alliance. It is an attempt to nurture facilitators in service of creating a more harmonious world.

Principles of Samvaad

Pedagogy

We learnt from **[Peter Block’s work on “Community - The Structure of Belonging][1]”**, using small group pedagogy. Sadanand Ji’s work over the last 50 years and Youth Alliance’s philosophy of facilitation.

Intentions:

* Recognise that 'how we choose to gather for conversations create the world we live in'
* Learn to invite people into a different structure of belonging
* Tools that help create accountability and commitment in communities / organisations
* A cohort of 25 diverse facilitators to learn with

Samvaad Sutras

Sharing here with acknowledgment to Peter Block and Humberto Maturana - * Facilitation is the facilitator showing up
* If you hold the room, your serve the room
* The first ingredient to facilitation is self knowledge
* Facilitation is not a strategy but a practice
* Our vulnerability gives others permission to be who they are
* Context is decisive
* We are shaped by our context and we shape our context
* Any young person who do not have admiration of an elder is being cheated

Know more about previous Samvaads

Participant Testimonials

Shashank from the organising team also wrote a heart reflection - illuminating the gift of working with Sadanand Ji in this process and over the years. He writes “I have been thoroughly taken by SN’s ability to be curious. So many times, I would have judgements for my colleagues at Youth Alliance. And that would make me attached to my expectations for them. And my effort would be directed to convince them on my idea of growth for them or what they must do to meet the group’s need. And SN would show up, in a different way.“