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Resources & LinksCONSENSUS MANUALS AVAILABLE ONLINESeeds for Change (UK) is my new favorite website on consensus decision-making. Their writing is straightforward, thorough, clearly values-based, and includes a historical and multicultural perspective.
Kevin Wolf's The Makings of a Good Meeting, based on the classic
booklet by Berit Lakey of Movement for a New Society with a bunch of other
stuff added: CT Butler & Amy Rothstein's Formal Consensus method A Facilitator's Guide to Effective Consensus Meetings, by Rob Sandelin. Book available online. Advice is down to earth and based on experience. Consensus Basics, shorter paper by Rob Sandelin. Written for cohousers, but applicable to other groups. The consensus "fingerbook"
written by organizers of the Direct Action Conference in Berlin in 1995 is online at last, courtesy of the European facilitators' collective Zhaba.
Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Handbook from the Alliance to Stop First
Strike, Santa Cruz, CA, 1987 ACT-UP New York Civil Disobedience handbook Collective Book on Collective Process is largely a critique of bad habits that groups who purport to use consensus sometimes fall into, but it also contains useful suggestions. Champlain Valley Cohousing Sociocracy Manual. Sociocracy is a version of consensus designed to prove that the method could be used successfully for business. This extensive manual includes information on organizational structure as well as decision-making. A BOOK LIST PAGE IS ALSO AVAILABLE. CLASSESAlpha Institute. Caroline Estes and Lysbeth Borie teach excellent workshops on consensus and facilitation. Alpha Farm, Deadwood, OR 97430; 541-964-5102; alinst@pioneer.net; www.pioneer.net/~alpha/ai-info.html. Community at Work. Workshops in facilitation skills, building sustainable agreements, organizational development and more. Community at Work, 1 Tubbs St., San Francisco, CA 94107; 415-641-4840; skaner@aol.com; www.communityatwork.com . Institute for Cultural Affairs (ICA). Offers facilitation and group process trainings in US cities and internationally. ICA/Chicago, 4750 N. Sheridan Rd., Chicago, IL 60640; 312-769-6393; www.icaworld.org. International Institute for Facilitation and Consensus. Classes in Spanish and English. IIFAC, Domingo Diez 1589, Plaza Corporativa #113, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico 62250; +52 (777) 102 2288; email@iifac.org; www.iifac.org. Jim Rough and Associates. Excellent 4-day trainings in "Dynamic Facilitation," a high-energy approach to releasing group creativity for problem-solving. 1040 Taylor St., Port Townsend, WA 98368; 360-385-7118; jim@ToBe.net; www.ToBe.net. Process Work Center. Also known as process-oriented psychology, this approach integrates conflict resolution, archetypes, dreamwork and bodywork into a powerful mode of individual and group change, also called worldwork. 2049 NW Hoyt St., Portland, OR 97209; 503-223-8188; www.processwork.org. ORGANIZATIONSFellowship for Intentional Community (FIC). North American network for people interested in cooperative living. In addition to offering many of the books listed on the reverse, FIC also has audio tapes and reprint packets available on decision-making, leadership, and consensus and facilitation specifically. FIC, RR 1 Box 156, Rutledge, MO 63563; 660-883-5545; fic@ic.org; www.ic.org. Friends Meeting. The Religious Society of Friends, more commonly known as the Quakers, have been using consensus decision-making methods for over 300 years. At Eugene Friends Meeting, for example, newcomers are welcome to sit in on Meeting for Worship for Business, usually held after Meeting for Worship on the 4th Sunday of the month. 2274 Onyx St., Eugene, OR 97403; 541-343-3840. Quaker worship groups exist in many locations around the world. International Association of Facilitators (IAF). Sponsors an annual conference, publishes a journal. 7630 W. 145th St., Suite 202, St. Paul, MN 55124; 612-891-3541; iafoffice@igc.apc.org; www.iaf-world.org. FAVORITE WEBSITESCo-Intelligence Institute. Tom Atlee's fabulous website on how our society can work more wisely for the good of all also includes summaries of over a dozen group process methods at www.co-intelligence.org. Center for Voting and Democracy. If you are going to vote on something instead of using consensus, first check out this site with information on proportional representation, instant run-off, preference voting, and other systems, at www.fairvote.org. National Coalition on Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD). Do you want to build a world based on dialogue? So do the people at NCDD, and they are providing networking and resources to make it possible. Northwest Intentional Communities Association (NICA). Maintains resource pages on meetings and group process at their web site, www.ic.org/nica/Process/meeting.html. Contact NICA at 22110 East Lost Lake Rd., Snohomish, WA 98296; floriferous@msn.com. Randy Schutt, long-time activist, has a dozen short papers (1-12 pages each) on cooperative decision-making, many downloadable as PDF documents over the web and the rest available for the cost of copying and postage. See the list at www.vernalproject.org/RPapers.shtml. Contact Randy at PO Box 608867, Cleveland, OH 44108; rschutt@vernalproject.org. Training for Change. Wonderful collection of tools and exercises, includes topics such as diversity, strategy, nonviolence, and more. trainingforchange.org OTHER WEBSITES THAT OFFER POINTERS TO LOTS MORE RESOURCESCenter for Group Learning Center for Collaborative Organizations Citizen Science Toolbox
Comprehensive list of group and community processes; includes 63 detailed process descriptions, with references.
Free Management Library Group Facilitation listserv Resource page Internet Nonprofit Center Service-Growth Start4all Articles911.com(NCDD) DESCRIPTIONS OF CONSENSUS IN USE AT VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONSBurning Man Caspar, California Heartwood Cohousing Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) Tree Bressen, facilitator and teacher, has been assisting intentional communities, nonprofits, and other organizations with group process since 1994. Pages from her website are available for copying and distribution free of charge as long as you continue to include these credit lines and contact information. Tree Bressen |