The annual Social Developers Network workshop was held at the Silver Wattle Quaker Centre, Lake George via Bungendore. Their website is silverwattle.org.au The Centre also catered for us, an unusual occurrence for SDN workshops. Meals were all vegetarian, and all delicious.
Participants arrived on the afternoon of Thursday 5 May, settled into the comfortable accommodation, had a cuppa and met our hosts. After dinner, we assembled for the usual ‘welcome circle;’ where each participant introduced themselves with some basic information about who we are and why we are at the workshop, with all others just listening.
The workshop took place over four days – Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. On the Sunday afternoon a few of us went into Bungendore to explore this touristy town, and from time-to-time people went for short walks. Lake George was full of water, this being an intense La Nina period with a lot of rainfall. Fortunately, it didn’t rain during our stay but it was quite cold outside.
A fascinating variety of presentations were offered, as the following session titles indicate -
- A play called Hope & Immigration,
- Our origin stories,
- Finding New Ground,
- Restorative Practice,
- Connecting with Country,
- What do we want our old age to look like?,
- Diplomacy,
- Travels with my girl,
- The business of death,
- Facing Climate Emergency,
- Community, culture, trauma, ecology and regeneration,
- and, From colonial venture to community adventure.
Stay tuned for future workshops!
Harry Creamer
SDN Coordinator
