Convers-Actions is a facilitator academy created to help individuals learn the art of facilitation and understand its subtle working nuances which can then be used to host circles and workshops in a more meaningful and joyful way. Its a six day residential intensive boot camp where participants experience different frameworks, processes and rituals making them expose to multiple perspectives in regard to hosting and facilitating. It has been held twice in Udaipur at Swaraj University and shared with the Multiversities Alliance in the Deer Park Bir Gathering in 2019.
While working with Multiversities' members and other communities in different capacities at different points, we realised the need of having amazing facilitators who have the knack and style of engaging with learners in a natural and dynamic way. There are a lot of individuals who have this magical quality but yet find it difficult to channelise it in a certain direction. The intent behind convers-actions is to build a platform wherein we can together nurture and unleash the potential and create a team of powerful facilitators who are ready to anchor different processes, gatherings, programs and generate insightful learning's out of it. Convers-Actions got started with an idea of having a pool bank of thousand facilitators all over ready to delve into the magical world of curating experiences for different Multiversities. We have still a long way to go before we fill in the pool but the journey of co-creating and training facilitators is enriching to us on a personal level.
The participants are shared an invite based on which they fill a questionnaire which gives us a peek into what their journey is like. After going through the forms we get on a call with each participant and understand what their idea of facilitation is, their expectations and finally we share our intention. Once we come to some shared understanding, we send them a final confirmation for coming and attending the workshop. The workshop in itself consists different layers wherein each of us including the host gets to to experience new insights all the time. We design the workshop in a way which has a balance of hard hitting formal structure, informal aliveliness and magical chaos. The six days are weaved into themes ranging from grounding and centring of self, to designing small workshops as prototypes to final hosting and being part of certain large gathering such as hosting a informal cafe gathering.
We are bringing in simple tools of games, listening, engaging with people in conversations that matter, activities, reflective practices, expressive art forms such as dialogue, dance, music, art, movement as a way to connect to people and to express yourself . All of them have the power to shift the way we relate and connect with people in organisations, families, communities, etc and make our work and lives more enriching.
Dharmik and Vineet- Students of psychology went on to start their circles with kids from school on wellbeing and also they have been closely working with Anubhavshala as co-facilitators and helping them curate festivals and sessions with teachers and young adults. Dharmik also has started hosting conversations in the jail university, Udaipur.
Darshan- He is a space designer and an architect and post convers-actions has started hosting sessions on learning through art and powerful questions.
Ankit- He is a khoji and has voiced it on different occassions about how convers-actions has given him a certain direction into facilitation and has been co-facilitating in anubhavshala and swaraj university.
Kabita- She is from Shillong and post convers-actions has started hosting menstrual circles with women in her community.
Shailesh- an illustrator from Bhopal has got into the domain of graphic facilitation and is now working with different stakeholders and is gung ho about his new journey.