Consensus and Facilitation Workshops

with Caroline Estes Alpha Institute
Alpha Farm
92819 Deadwood Creek Road
Deadwood, Oregon 97430
USA

Phone: (541) 964-5102, 964-3245

Forms of consensus have been used for hundreds of years by a number of groups, including the early Jesuits, the Quakers, the Iroquois Confederation and other Native American peoples.

Out of the nonviolent movements in the 1960s came a resurgence of interest in and use of consensus as people sought more inclusive, egalitarian and non-hierarchical ways of living and making decisions. Following in this tradition we have come to see the continuing need for teaching the process of consensus decision making and the skills of group facilitation. We are pleased to host these workshops as a way of sharing the values and processes developed in a life in community.

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Each workshop begins Friday evening and ends the next Thursday morning. In between are packed five days of intensive and personal work. Attendance is limited. We suggest that you make your reservation as soon as possible. We hope you can arrive Friday in time for dinner at 6 p.m.

Caroline Estes has been working with the consensus method of decision making since becoming a Quaker more than 35 years ago. She has used the training experience of Quaker business meetings in expanding her understanding and use of consensus for secular groups. As far back as the mid-1960s she was an informal consultant to peace and social action groups in the San Francisco Bay Area. She refined her understanding and use of consensus with the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) in Philadelphia for nearly six years, from 1967 to 1972.

Since returning to the West Coast as a founding member of Alpha Farm, an intentional community in Oregon that uses consensus on a daily basis, Caroline has continued her involvement in Quaker groups as well as working with secular groups.

She has facilitated or helped facilitate a number of large gatherings, and was the principal or only facilitator of:

Come-Unity, 1979, at Breitenbush Resort, Ore., 500 participants.
Come-Unity (II), 1980, Breitenbush Resort, Ore., 600 participants.
North American Bioregional Congress (NABC), 1984, in Missouri, 250 participants.
Greens national organizational meeting, 1985, in Minneapolis, 60 participants.
NABC (II), 1986, in Michigan, 260 participants.

Cascadia Bioregional Congress, 1986, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Wash., 120 participants.
Ish River Confluence (bioregional gathering), 1987, in Bellingham, Wash.,100 participants.
Cascadia Bioregional Congress, April 1988, Breitenbush Resort, Ore., 125 participants.
NABC (III), August 1988, in British Columbia, 300 participants.
Fourth World Assembly, Aug. 1988, in North Carolina, 80 participants (co-facilitator).
Greens National Conference, 1990, Estes Park, Colo., 250 participants.
Turtle Island Bioregional Congress (NABC V), 1992, San Antonio, Texas, 150 participants.
Greens National Conference, 1992, Minneapolis, 150-plus participants.

She has given workshops and seminars at the University of Oregon, Portland State University, The Evergreen State College, The University of Victoria, B.C., Hewlett Packard (Corvallis, OR), and elsewhere, and led three residential workshops a year at Alpha Farm for seven years.

Caroline studied at the University of California-Berkeley and holds a B.A. and a teaching credential from San Francisco State University.

She has done and is continuing extensive research on consensus, both religious and secular, and is preparing a book on consensus and facilitation.

Caroline's five-day workshops offer an opportunity for 8-15 participants from all over the country to immerse themselves in consensus and make connections with others interested in group process. Workshops offer an in-depth look at the elements of consensus: arriving at consensus, standing aside and blocking; facilitation skills; the relevance of conflict resolution and mediation; and a broad perspective on the value of consensus and its use. In an informal setting, teaching, discussion and role play are combined for a rich learning experience. Role play in particular allows participants to practice the process during the workshop using issues relevant to their own communities, giving a firmer grounding to what they have learned. Participants also often find that a kind of community is built within the group, and the workshop experience becomes an inspiration and reference point for them as they take their new skills back to their everyday lives.