The project horizon
Why and from which intention? Our Motivation
Social facilitation (named La Prossima Cultura in Italy and Cultura Facilita in Spain) is a project with its roots in group facilitation, systems thinking, deep ecology, gender perspective and social justice. What drives us is an aspiration to contribute to social and cultural change for more regenerative, more equivalent and more ecological cultures. And this is why we base our work around these tools and perspectives, bringing into dialogue our inner transformation as individuals and the transformation of our groups and communities.
We want our activity to reach a diversity of contexts, from grassroots movements (like social movements and activism) and community realities (like associationism, municipalities and ecovillages), as well as other realities in public health and education bodies, social participation, universities, the co-operative sector, entrepreneurship, etc. We are active in a variety of locations, our greatest presence being in Europe and the Mediterranean area. We work in Spanish, Catalan, Italian, English and other languages.
Our intention is to be present and offer support in social, group and political processes at the key moments of our time.
High dream and vision
Our intention, and our activity as people and professionals, moves us to generate a network, a movement of people who can take these approaches and tools into a growing diversity of contexts in our society, with the goal of driving forward a paradigm shift in our way of relating to other people, to the Earth and to ourselves.
At this moment in history, we consider it essential to collectively develop ways of being in the world, of living together and relating to one another, which sustain life and better understand and value diversity. And this doesn't just involve innovating, but also recovering and re-signifying certain practices which have enabled us to be sustainable as communities since ancient times.
High dream and vision
Our intention, and our activity as people and professionals, moves us to generate a network, a movement of people who can take these approaches and tools into a growing diversity of contexts in our society, with the goal of driving forward a paradigm shift in our way of relating to other people, to the Earth and to ourselves.
At this moment in history, we consider it essential to collectively develop ways of being in the world, of living together and relating to one another, which sustain life and better understand and value diversity. And this doesn't just involve innovating, but also recovering and re-signifying certain practices which have enabled us to be sustainable as communities since ancient times.
What do we want to bring to the world? Our Mission
What materializing these more equivalent and regenerative forms of culture means to us is walking the paths that enable us to live this emergent culture - not only as a set of techniques, but as ways of being in the world and coexisting.
On the one hand, we disseminate practices and experiences of regenerative culture via outreach, training activities and materials: new models for collaborating, participating in the fabric of society and public life, and collectively addressing complex and emergent issues of our time. As well as this, we want to support the personal development of those who an show an interest in the project by promoting a network of collaborators and multipliers who can contribute to materializing real life changes and paradigm shifts in a variety of contexts.
Through facilitation, we accompany groups, communities and organisations in these processes.
In addition, we want to create and form part of networks which can nurture and spread these emergent cultures in their own surroundings and contexts, generating a greater impact also at a social, cultural and structural level.
Our Roots: What inspires us
Emergent culture is an ecosystem, a complex set of several elements: some of them as yet unknown, others emerging and spreading more and more widely, and still others which we are recovering from our ancestors. In this project, we are mainly inspired by five perspectives or approaches (which we will call our roots), and the relationship between them:
Systems thinking
Learning to understand complexity, comprehending the connections between the elements of a system, training ourselves to see relationships instead of separate objects, models and patterns instead of events that are isolated from each other.
An ecosystemic way of thinking, of looking at the world and understanding it, helps us to orientate ourselves and act in complex and uncertain situations where there are no predefined solutions, just living processes.
Deep ecology
Rethinking the role of humans on this planet, as part of the web of life and of an ecological vision of the world: deep ecology reintegrates human beings into nature and ecosystems.
What are the values, practices and ways of relating to ourselves, others and the world which are enhanced by this perspective?
Group facilitation
… as a tool for social and cultural transformation.
By this, we are referring to a series of methodologies, techniques and approaches that enable us to be in the world and be in relationship from a place of greater awareness - balancing the objectives of the group, the relationships within it and its group processes.
This integrative perspective cultivates the fertile soil from which other, more sustainable ways of relating and coexisting can emerge.
Gender perspective and diversity
The culture of equivalence is based on the fact that, while as people we are not equal, we are equivalent.
For us, gender perspective is key to the work we are developing, since it is central in the context of generating more equivalent relationships, and is a powerful motor of cultural transformation for leaving the dominant patriarchal culture behind.
Social transformation, inner transformation
This is an original, transversal feature of our work. Taking our aspiration for social justice as a starting point, for us the dialogue between inner transformation and social and group transformation is key.
To transform ourselves as groups or cultures, it is important to develop, as individuals, the change we wish to see in the world. At the same time, as people who are changing and evolving, we also need groups and societies in which we can explore together these more equivalent ways of relating.
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We regularly send out publications, materials and updates related to our 5 roots, as well as information on our events, courses and workshops. To keep up-to-date and follow us, subscribe to our newsletter below. You can unsubscribe at any time.