This week’s 12 links:
- Going with Grace – a US-based organisation offering end-of-life doula training and end-of-life planning. I’ve been interested in this work for a long time, and I have since located the UK equivalents.
Tags: grief - An account on Nitter (a free and open source alternative Twitter front-end), which has since disappeared.
- Typography for noobs (video, 7’21”). Relocated to the folder of videos to watch, and a problem for future me! I love typography and good design.
- Active Hope Training – an online course that accompanies Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone’s book Active Hope. The one that I had to order a second copy of because of the annotations in the first one, remember? I’m obviously still interested in this, and the course is on my list.
- Blade Runner Aquarelle Edition (video, 34’49”). Yes that’s correct, it’s a Blade Runner animation made up of 12,597 watercolours. On the video pile.
- Some Ways of Measuring Quality of Conversation, by Todd Battistelli. In which he considers how well a community handles disagreement, by noticing (measuring?) the diversity of viewpoints and the amount of convergence. A note about the self-awareness needed around power and hierarchy, foundational values, and assumptions that are not questioned. We might saywe value disagreement, but do we really?
Tags: conflict, dialogue, measurement, power, relationships - The Principles of Working Together, by Todd Battistelli. In which he shares some reading notes and quotes from the book ‘Emergent Strategy’ by adrienne maree brown. He highlights the place of disagreement and conflict in coalition work, and the need to build in methods to work through these, learn about each other, and deepen relationships. A note also on the importance of self-awareness, generating humility and compassion. In an echo to Joanna Macy’s quote:“So that when things come apart, we will not turn on each other”, TB quotes adrienne maree brown: “connection to each other is the most important thing to cultivate in the face of hopelessness—we don’t want to cling to outdated paradigms; we want to cling to each other and shift the paradigms”.
Tags: conflict, dialogue, relationships - BASIC Framework, by The Understanding Group. A beautifully neat framework to deconstruct the architecture of any complex product, service, or system, by building parallels with physical structures to identify key elements and influences (boundaries, associations, situations, invariants, and cycles). I do bloody love a good framework, and this one has a particularly pleasing design style. It’s a bit over my head (feels quite abstract), though it’s nice that it exists.
Tags: complexity, systems change - Systems design explains the world: volume 1, by apenwarr. An experienced software engineer who explains what systems are, and therefore systems design. Totally feeds into my interest in complexity and systems change, and it’s always great to hear a pet interest described and explained by someone from a radically different background, because they are talking about the same thing through different language, models and examples, and that makes some really neat connections happen.
Tags: complexity, systems change - Play Disrupt July 2024 newsletter. Lead article on consultation fatigue and making involvement meaningful. Play Disrupt are based in Bristol and do engagement, participation and consultation. They have a VERY interesting team of creative designers including game design, storytelling and theatre, urban design, art, etc. I don’t know why I haven’t subscribed to their newsletter before, but I have now!
Tags: engagement, co-production - The science of synchronising two brains (video, 4’36”). On the video pile. Love me a bit of neuroscience!
- Elspeth Beard – One of the Early Globetrotters. An article about an English woman who rode her motorbike around the world in the mid-80s, aged 24-27 (it took 3 years), halfway through her architectural studies. Just a random personal interest as I ride a bike too, but am way too chicken to take it round the world.
My time to read:1 hour 15 mins
Image credit: Motorcyclist Online article, February 2009