Community Building Workshops
Community Building Workshop Guidelines
Welcome!
Soon, you will participate in a Community Building Workshop facilitated by certified leaders from the Foundation for Community Encouragement (FCE). This page will help you to prepare for this experience.
It is very important that you read this material before the experience.
At a community building event, the group’s goal is to form a true community. A community is best defined as a group of people who, regardless of the diversity of their backgrounds, have been able to transcend their differences, enabling them to communicate effectively and openly and to work together toward goals identified as being for their common good.
The process of reaching community is an adventure. It is normal to be scared at the outset, but we learn through adventure. Therefore, FCE uses an experiential learning process, believing that it is deeper and more profound.
Principles of Community Building
A group of people does not become a genuine community easily or accidentally. There are certain principles which a group learns as they develop into a community. The most important reason for your participation in the workshop is to learn these principles experientially. The following information will serve as a guideline for your participation.
Inclusivity
A true community is inclusive, and its greatest enemy is exclusivity. Groups who exclude others because of religious, ethnic, or more subtle differences are not communities.
Participation
Please commit to staying for the entire experience. When individuals leave or withdraw because of difficulties building community, they deprive the group of their unique talents and insights. Be prepared to persevere through periods of frustration, anxiety, and even despair. Such periods are normal as part of the community building process.
Participation takes many forms. Speaking is not required. Non-verbal participation can be as powerful as other forms. However, it is important to be attentive and involved.
Punctuality
Please be on time for all seminar sessions as part of your commitment to participation.
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is an essential measure of respect for participants in the group. Therefore, tape recorders are not allowed.
Suggestions
The intensity of the experience may be exhausting. Therefore, we suggest that you do not over-schedule your free time. You will probably need that time for rest, reflection, and integration of the workshop.
Please dress casually.
While personal issues may be addressed, the event is not intended to result in their resolution. It is not a substitute for therapy, nor is it group therapy. Since community building is challenging, self-screening is required.
Finally, if you have any questions about these guidelines, please bring them up with the facilitators during the time set aside at the beginning of the workshop.