You are invited to an open space workshop - no hierarchy, and no fixed agenda (we create our own).

The Social Developers Network is an association of people interested in the challenges of our time, keen to share knowledge, experiences and concerns.

Be part of the effective small group experience that SDN offers - conviviality and mutual support guaranteed!

View from Don Bosco Retreat Centre

View from Don Bosco Retreat Centre

Don Bosco Retreat Centre (link is external)
In the Dandenong Ranges foothills Victoria.
Where: 
Don Bosco Retreat Lysterfield Victoria
When: 

15-19 January 2024

The workshop provides a forum for big and small ideas, our stories and personal growth. Bring your contributions and share your concerns, from the personal to the political, the local to the global, and become part of this workshop’s dynamic agenda. Feel empowered to be a more effective catalyst for social change.

SDN acknowledges the traditional custodians of the country we meet on and pay respects to their elders past and present.

This workshop is completed. We retain the page here for information.

Workshop Report
SDN 2024 annual workshop group photo

SDN workshop group. From left top row – David ‘Sal’ Salomon, David Crew, Allen Edwards, Sarah Houseman, Lesley Shuttleworth, Lisa Moore, Richard de Martin, Rosaria Palmese. Sitting: Noel Holmes, John Russell, Heather Lawrence.

This year’s annual Social Developers Network workshop was held at the Don Bosco Retreat, Lysterfield east of Melbourne. It’s an ideal venue – accommodation on site, large meeting room, well-equipped kitchen and spacious dining room, set in delightful pastoral surrounds of paddocks, giant gum trees and granite rocks.

There were eleven participants - six men and five women. Seven had attended an SDN workshop before, but this was their first experience for four others. We came from Melbourne, Adelaide, Newcastle and Deniliquin and quickly formed a family of friends, sharing our thoughts, emotions, hopes and fears, in an atmosphere of trust and support.

As SDN grows there will be more workshops like this one. Don’t miss the next!

The range of topics covered in presentations was outstanding:
  • Restorative practice working with young people.
  • ‘Ears of the Heart’ project involving Kimberly elder Kankawa Nagarra.
  • Post Voice Referendum stories.
  • The Colebrook home in South Australia where Aboriginal children were taken, a Reconciliation group and creating a memorial garden.
  • Introducing the ‘Detoxing Deniliquin’ workshops.
  • The mythical Hero’s Journey as it applies to our own lives.
  • Concepts of change when seeking to intervene in contemporary predicaments or accept as beyond our current scope.

We also held a grief and sorry business campfire, an art therapy mini-workshop and deep listening exercises that brought people closer together.

Workshop Details
Workshop Name: 
SDN 2024 Annual Workshop Don Bosco
Status: 
Completed
Workshop Location Map: 

Don Bosco Retreat Lysterfield Victoria

Workshop Begins: 
Mon January 15, 2024
Workshop Ends: 
Fri January 19, 2024
Workshop Fee: 
$280.00
Workshop Concession Fee: 
$120.00
Workshop Deposit: 
$50.00
Workshop Payment Methods: 
Online
Direct deposit
More details: 

You are invited to an open space workshop - no hierarchy, and no fixed agenda (we create our own). The Social Developers Network is an association of people interested in the challenges of our time, keen to share knowledge, experiences and concerns. Be part of the effective small group experience that SDN offers - conviviality and mutual support guaranteed!

The workshop provides a forum for big and small ideas, our stories and personal growth. Bring your contributions and share your concerns, from the personal to the political, the local to the global, and become part of this workshop’s dynamic agenda. Feel empowered to be a more effective catalyst for social change.

Download Workshop Flyer: 
PDF icon SDN Workshop Flyer January SDN.pdf