Seasonal circles.
We’re really excited to launch a new offer from the dots: making the connections for change.Seasonal circles are a new, quarterly, outdoor, reflective practice space for people interested in social change from Ellie Hutchinson and Rachel Adamson. Ellie is founder and Director of the dots: making the connections for change, and Rachel has worked towards social change for 20 years in a variety of sectors. For the past 10, she has been co-director of Zero Tolerance, working to prevent violence against women.
Who is this for?
Folk working for social change; you might be involved in a consultancy, a community group, a CIC, a charity, or work in the public sector. This includes volunteering.
What you’ll get out of attending
Build on your reflective practice
Support your capacity for imagination and change
Support your ability to take change back into your setting
Develop a network of peers and strengthen your relationships with others working for change
Why seasonal circles?
Rachel and Ellie know that our systems, and the people who work in them and use them, are burnt out. This is not an individual problem, but a system one.
We know that people are struggling with compassion fatigue, cynicism,long waiting lists and a crisis of imagination. There is a carelessness that shows up when we are tired and juggling too many things. We know that the normalisation of far right attitudes and behaviours has taken root in our politics, our workplaces and our communities, and it is having a direct impact on our work, our families and on ourselves.
We need to go beyond the roots and into the soil of what is happening, and why.
To do this, we need time and we need space. We need to think and we need to dream. We need to reimagine how care shows up in our work. Often, we are told that we don’t have time to do this. That every second of every day must be spent doing social change. That unless we are completing forms or sitting at a desk or in meetings, we are not doing enough. We are not productive enough. We are not helping enough.
We refute this.
We believe we need to make time. The mindset of urgency is holding us all back, we are spread too thin, we are running to stay still.
We need to pause. Seasonal circles are an invitation to do just that.
What are seasonal circles?
Seasonal circles are quarterly, light touch, reflective sessions where we will draw on the beauty of Scotland’s great outdoors and think about the small changes we can make in our systems so that we can collectively create the bigger changes we need.
The first circle will be held in central Edinburgh on the 30th September, 3:30-5. We will look at what folks' needs and preferences are and let you know at least ten days beforehand where it will be held.
Our first circle will draw on the autumn equinox. As such, we’ll be reflecting on balance and harvest. Tickets are free to £24.