Invitation to WAYS TO WISER DEMOCRACY – a breakthrough Co-Intelligence Institute pilot course

I am happy to announce that we are offering a brand new course based on over two decades of my wise democracy and co-intelligence research and thinking. I invite you to apply to participate (see below) – and to send this invitation to others whom you think might be interested.

And if you can, send a bit of support to our new “wise democracy pattern language” project.  We’re aiming for $10,000 by August 31st because then we’ll qualify for $10,000 more from the Kailo Foundation. So any little bit – or big gift – you can afford brings us closer to our goal.

Blessings on the Journey we’re all on together.

Coheartedly,
Tom

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Hello lovers of democracy, a just society, and a viable future,

We invite you to a special collaborative learning opportunity…

Are you interested in democratic reform and/or democratic transformation?
Are you open to exploring expanded views of democracy and its possibilities?

If so, we warmly invite you to apply for this pilot run of Tom Atlee’s new course:

Ways to Wiser Democracy
Online. Eight 2hr classes. Wednesdays Sept 7-Oct 5; Oct 26; Nov. 2 & 9

Purpose & Content: Based on numerous real-life experiments, this course is an exploration of how democracy can be structured as a participatory system that evokes the latent power and wisdom of a whole community or society, for the long-term benefit of all.

We will be looking together at how power and participation of the right kind can generate the healthy democratic outcomes we urgently need using wisdom of, by and for the whole.

Thanks to many successful ideas and approaches now available to active citizens, public officials, and democratic change agents, we can begin to develop greater discernment, distinguishing effective from ineffective forms of participation. Based on these understandings, this course will provide practical insights into how we can create wise democratic structures.

In this pilot course, the expertise of the Co-Intelligence Institute (CII) and Tom Atlee will provide the core material, and you will also be learning from other participants as well as sharing your own experiences to further ground and test the models we will be working with. You will also be our educational design partners, giving us feedback on the course design and helping shape its next versions.

We seek to spread a new awareness among activists, officials and community members of what it means to have democratic processes that help us arrive at shared wisdom, and what this allows us to accomplish.

Structure: A series of eight two-hour sessions meeting online as a small group (< 20) to explore together the “wise democracy” paradigm and related experiences, methods and models that suggest what “we, the people” are capable of achieving together. The sessions will be recorded and available for sharing and discussion later.

Schedule: Eight Wednesdays – September 7, 14, 21, and 28; October 5 and 26 (there will be a three-week interval, with no classes on Oct. 12 and 19); November 2 and 9. Plus one or more of several feedback sessions.

Time Commitment and Feedback: If you are accepted into this pilot program, we ask you to commit to:

(a) Attend at least 5 of the sessions live, and view the video of any session you must miss before the next session.

(b) Complete assigned class preparation of no more than 2 hours between sessions: reading, watching, and/or writing. (We will also offer you more resources to dive deeper if you choose to do so. There may also be some optional small group or one-on-one phone calls as part of the course.)

(c) Provide feedback throughout the course, and especially in conversations in the middle and at the end (to be scheduled to meet course participant schedules).

Cost: As you are part of a pilot course and contributing to its development, there is no fee for this early version of the course. We gratefully welcome any donations you are able to offer to support further development and promotion of the course, but this is completely optional.

Selection: From the pool of people who respond to this invitation, we will be choosing up to 20 participants that will include some folks already familiar with Tom Atlee’s work as well as some less familiar or new to his ideas. To enrich the course experience and the feedback we get from participants, we are also seeking diversity in perspectives and life experiences.

• If you apply but are not selected for this first pilot, we will keep your application on file and notify you of future opportunities.
• Alternatively, if you are interested in applying for a later date, you can fill that information in below.
• If you would rather not apply now, but would like us to notify you about future versions of the course, just let us know.

= = = = = = = =

Application

 If you wish to apply, copy the text below from this blog post and paste it into a new email.  Email your application by Tuesday, August 30, 2016 to cii@igc.org with “WD Course Application” in the “Subject” field.  

Application for:
___ Fall Pilot (Sept-Nov, 2016)
___ Full Course (Spring 2017)
___ Later versions of the course.

Times of day you could attend the 2 hour online classes Wednesdays (applicant responses will help us determine the best schedule):
___ Morning
___ Early afternoon
___ Late afternoon
___ Evening

Name

Phone

Email

US State / Country (note time zone if your country has multiple time zones)

Level of exposure to Tom Atlee’s work:
___ Extensive/in depth
___ Somewhat, maybe over years
___ Newly engaged
___ Have heard of him
___ Know nothing of him

Will you be attending the Boston NCDD conference Oct 14-16?
___ Yes ___ No
(We’ll be holding a discussion and evaluation gathering there for any course participants attending the conference.)

Your interest in this course:  What do you hope to gain from it? What would you like to contribute to it?

 

Perspectives/Experience

Please provide information here to help us select a diverse group using any descriptive language you are comfortable with, mixing or adding categories/questions, but all in no more than 500 words. (You may include links but please don’t send documents or other attachments or enclosures.)

Age:

Gender identification:

Racial/Ethnic identification:

Education (formal and/or informal):

 

Work highlights, creative products or projects, etc.:

 

Personality; Learning/Thinking/Engagement style:

 

Ideology/Worldview/Perspective (political, religious, philosophical, etc.)

 

Political engagement and your relationship to political reform and/or transformation:

 

Relevant associations (companies, governments, organizations, networks, professional groups, etc.):

 

AGREEMENTS (Your submission of this Application indicates your agreement with any of the following items which you mark with an “X”.)

1.
___ I agree to abide by the Time Commitment and Feedback commitments noted above.

2.
___ I agree to CII recording the eight online classes of the Fall 2016 session of the “Wise Democracy Course” in which I am participating, with the understanding that the full recordings will be available to class participants and CII’s course analysts.

3.
___ I agree to have excerpts from class recordings used by CII in future promotions and courses, without further permission from me.
OR
___ I agree to have excerpts from class recordings used by CII in future promotions and courses, on the condition that I separately approve the use of any excerpts where I am speaking.

________________________________