Overview
As an ongoing collaborative inquiry the nature of GRLI’s work inspires and uncovers emergent approaches to the development of Global Responsibility and initiates actions to help realise our vision. One of the five pathways of GRLI’s work (Pathway: Exploration) is to ask and hold questions to which there are no easy or obvious answers. Posing these questions have led to new routes and paths for the development of Global Responsibility.
The Crucial Conversations is the place where those exploring the edges of inquiry into and practice of global responsibility can gather to explore the strengths, challenges, dilemmas and emergent possibilities. Working together we want to explore and distill:
- The crucial questions arising at this point in human history that have no easy answers
- The nature of systemic change, how globally responsible leaders can best respond, and what I as a practitioner can contribute (the “I, We, All”)
- The inter-relationships between global responsibility and the meta-crisis affecting all parts of the world
- Ways to refine, disseminate and embed ideas and practices to support global responsibility.
We are interested in curious questions, creative inquiry and ‘whole-person’ conversation because we have found that this is where valuable learning takes place and where actions are inspired and initiated from. In order to host the conversations we draw on the support of skilled and experienced facilitators from within the GRLI partnership and strive to create a liminal space somewhere between safe and brave. We invite participants into a space where they can offer as much of their whole person as they wish
History of GRL’s Crucial Conversations
The “Courageous Conversations” (as they were originally called) started as a virtual gathering in October 2021 during a time when most of the world was subject to travel restrictions due to the 2020 covid pandemic.
The pilot event was hosted by the GRLI with guest speakers professors Lars Moratis and Frans Melissen, who led a lively discussion into uncovering the hidden potential of the SDGs. In 2022, Lana Jelenjev and Chris Taylor, who between them have decades of experience in community organising, organisational change and personal growth development, acted as co-hosts on behalf of the GRLI and presented a 3-part series entitled “Hope in a time of collapse.”
From 2023 onwards, we invite GRLI partners or associate partners who have a burning talking point, to host a Courageous Conversation with the topic to be decided in collaboration with GRLI. Topics typically (a) deal with situations or questions at the edge of our current understanding and have no readily accessible solutions (b) help us to stretch our practice and thinking beyond existing paradigms (c) address one or more of the realms of responsibility: I, We, the Whole and (d) give a platform to voices that are often marginalised, silenced or unheard within mainstream channels.
These live and interactive webinars explore multiple dimensions of Global Responsibility in a unique format that involves 30 minutes “conversation starters” – experienced voices offering their (often diverse) views on the chosen topic – prompting 30 minutes small group reflection and 30 minutes open space dialogue and exchange.
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