SDN Small-Group Workshop - Falls Retreat, South of Port Macquarie

Falls Retreat Workshop Flyer

A small-group workshop from 18-20 September at the Falls Forest Retreat, John’s River, south of Port Macquarie.

SDN workshops are an open space approach - no fixed agenda, no experts, and no hierarchy. Whoever comes is ‘meant to be there’!

Participants (max 12 this time) have the opportunity to talk/present about anything they want, on any issue of importance from global to personal – in a trusting and supportive atmosphere of sharing, conversations and stimulating discussion.

The workshop provides a forum for ideas big and small. It’s a chance to exchange thoughts on creating a good life, share concerns and problems, insights and personal stories, where we’re at in life right now. Sessions are expected to go for an hour and there is no requirement to present if you choose not to. It would be great if you (and/or your partner) can attend.

Concession fees are available on request.

You never know, this could be what you’ve been waiting for to break the Covid-19 drought!

SDN Annual Workshop, Victoria, 17 to 22 January 2020

Participants of the 2020 SDN Annual Workshop
Participants of the 2020 SDN Annual Workshop

Participant Reflections On the 2020 Workshop

  • Harry Creamer, SDN Co-ordinator: "The best participation incorporates both intellectual and emotional. So people were moved. I mean, yes, they were moved to tears at times by the depth of the discussions, of the sort of topics that we were covering".
  • Tom Livanos: "I've met various individuals, which is the other motivator to come to a place like this, because I felt it was very open to anyone who was interested in the wider world of modern society to come along and thrash out ideas. So that openness was a big appeal to me."
  • John Russell: "(Ned Iceton) and I started these workshops as a way of trying to promote social change and help people to participate in social change movements. We had the concept of looking at both the personal and the community (so these) workshops are different from most in that they attempt to cover both aspects."

Workshop Summary Report

The 2020 SDN workshop was very successful. The event took place from 17-22 January at the Don Bosco Retreat Centre Lysterfield, east of Melbourne. This was ideal – everyone accommodated on site, a large meeting room with good IT equipment, a well-equipped kitchen and spacious dining room, set in delightful pastoral surrounds of grazing paddocks, elegant gum trees and giant granite rocks.
 
There were fourteen participants - six women and eight men. Three were younger than 45, three in their 50s, four in their 60s, and four in their 70s or 80s. Seven had attended an SDN workshop before, but for seven this was their first experience. We came from Melbourne, Canberra, other NSW and South Australia, all wonderful and talented people, working in areas like restorative practice, climate change and sustainability, community development, and in Indigenous communities (one participant was an Aboriginal man from northern NSW).
 
We formed an instant ‘family of friends’, ready to share our thoughts and emotions, our perceptions and feelings, our hopes and fears in an atmosphere of trust and support. The range of topics covered in presentations, each one carefully prepared and delivered, was outstanding. Restorative practice in the ACT, the Uluru Statement, ageing, money and society, theories of change, feedback loops, story-telling, ‘Love, culpability and responsibility’, intimate relationships, imagining the future (2100), and a Truth Mandala.
 
As SDN grows there will be more workshops like this one.  Don’t miss the next!

SDN Newsletter April 2020

Participants at the 2020 SDN workshop near Melbourne

The April 2020 Social Developers' Network Newsletter is attached for download.

This issue includes - Invitations to share our ideas, and to join an SDN Zoom meeting; and quite a few articles. All in all a Bumper Issue.

PDF icon 2020-April-SDN-Newsletter.pdf

Social Development Inspiration

Links to websites and articles that may inspire your social development mind.

  • Survival Of The Nicest? A Theory Of Our Origins Says Cooperation Not Competition Is Instinctive

    Visit
    Cooperation Not Competition Is Instinctive

    'As worker-owned cooperatives continue to gain prominence around the world, we may ultimately witness the downfall of Carnegie’s “law of competition” and a return to the collaborative environments that the human species has long called home.'

  • Restorative Justice FAQ

    Visit
    Restorative Justice

    Why Me provides a succinct outline of common questions and answers about Restorative Justice.

  • Regenerative wellbeing: Creating the conditions conducive for well beings

    Visit
    Photo by Sebastian Unrau on Unsplash

    Regeneration is an interconnected process of becoming that all living beings participate in, where the healthy unfolding of every life form is inextricably connected with the healthy unfolding of everything else.

What is Social Development?

Adventure

Social Development is the Intersection between Community Development and Personal Development.

Many citizens in Australia and elsewhere give generously of their time and energy to contribute to the wellbeing of the local community and the wider society. Some seek a group where ideas and plans can be discussed in an open way, and where constructive feedback and support can be provided.

The Social Developers' Network

SDN Logo

The Social Developers' Network (SDN) is a non-profit, free association of people with a commitment to personal and social development.

Social Developers meet at national and regional workshops, to contribute and share knowledge and experiences.

Our purpose is to be creative and action-oriented: we constantly seek explanations which emerge from action in the world. We are equally interested both in individual people and in the wider social and ecological systems on which our collective wellbeing depends.

What are SDN Workshops?

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SDN Workshops are real and relevant, on a personal and social level, for those engaging actively and sincerely in the issues of our times.

The vital and central component of SDN membership is participation in recurrent workshops. Participants each discuss a wide range of self-chosen topics, covering everything from personal, through philosophical, professional, operational and practical issues.

Benefits of Involvement with SDN

SDN on Social Media

Social Media Messages

Facebook Page

SDN has a Facebook Page. Please like our page.

Facebook Group

SDN has a public group - Social Developers Online Connection. This group is for anyone who has attended an SDN Workshop in the past, and also for people who have an interest in Social Development. We welcome your engagement.

Role and Objects of the Social Developers’ Network (SDN)

The SDN is a non-profit unincorporated association whose primary task is the support and training for citizens engaged in constructive volunteer initiatives beneficial to the community. The SDN is a support platform only, and does itself not engage in any kind of active lobbying, projects, or public policy initiatives. The SDN does not hold any political agenda, and welcomes people from all political, racial, and social identities. The SDN is predominately a receptive space for those engaged in community initiatives to come together to discuss, reflect, learn and rejuvenate through a uniquely designed process of interaction. Read More