Dynamic Groups, Dynamic Learning Dynamic Courses, Books, Resources and Tours for Healthy Groups, People and Culture with Robin Clayfield

The ABC was interested in the 30th anniversary celebrations of the formation of Crystal Waters Permaculture Village, one of the very first EcoVillages and the first Permaculture Designed Village in the world. The community held it’s 30th birthday party in July and the following article, which has an interview with Robin and her daughter Pele along with other residents, was one of the outcomes, along with a great cake and many shared memories.

Click here for a link to the ABC Article that went on their website.

Here’s a quote from the article – “An eco village on the Sunshine Coast was an experiment in communal living when it first started. Thirty years later the village is still thriving, and the rest of Australia is catching on to some of its pioneering ideas.”

By Erin Young

People wanting to up-skill in supporting their groups and human relationships to thrive are invited to join Robin Clayfield and I as we combine forces to offer a weekend of Social Permaculture exploration for this coming November at Crystal Waters Ecovillage. Dates are 10th and 11th November.

It is an exciting time of growing momentum for Social Permaculture around the world, so this is sure to be a special and potent weekend workshop to attend.

Participants will experience a unique combination of Robin’s extensive and established experience and wisdom as a permaculture pioneer and respected elder. I bring a whole-systems patterns-to-details approach of organisational governance and eco-social literacy supporting groups to be effective, transparent and equivalent. This all combines within the Dynamic Groups methodology to create a fun and experiential learning space.

This workshop will provide a thriving collaboration of our skills and perspectives in an intergenerational teaching team of passionate Social Permaculture designers, each with our own interesting voice in this work.

Participants will develop their literacy of Social Permaculture design, and gather effective tools to apply to a variety of settings to support thriving humans for a better world!

Here’s a link to the poster with all the details.

What does it take to be an empowered, effective group leader, teacher or facilitator? How do we develop the skills and gather the tools, courage and attitude to be a leader yet also support the empowerment of our groups, each and every participant and honour ourselves at the same time?

Robin has been living these questions and discovering some of the answers for close to three decades now. She’s written two pertinent articles in recent years that could be valuable to revisit, especially in the lead up to her new book series ‘Dynamic Teaching and Facilitation’. Both of the articles and her upcoming books address these questions.

Five years ago she wrote a blog about her ‘Dynamic Groups, Dynamic Learning’ Methodology entitled ‘Magic Happens in Dynamic Groups’. Many of the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that she talks about in this article help to answer the questions that we’re focused on now. Put them all together and you have an empowered, creative and effective leader and an equally empowered group of participants. In the article, and in Robin’s methodology, the jigsaw puzzle once complete is a magician. “Magic Happens in Dynamic Groups and Learning Happens Easily” is the Magicians motto.

Four years ago the article ‘Ten Ways to Love Your Group, Family and Community’ was published. This adds some more answers to the questions and as an overview, suggests that by loving and caring for your groups and yourself in these ten ways will provide a holistic framework from which to base yourself and your contributions.

As Robin’s journey into writing the upcoming books developed she found she was referring constantly to the facilitator, teacher, trainer, group leader, presenter, chairperson etc using all or several of these words to describe the person leading the group. If seemed cumbersome and detracted from the flow of the writing. That’s when ELFy was born. E for Educator, L for Leader, F for Facilitator. ELFy became an acronym for anyone who works with groups or learning in the ways just mentioned. It also seemed very appropriate to name the cute little mascot that now accompanied Robin in her work and represented all the elements that, once pieced together, created an empowered, creative and effective group and learning environment. Dar dar! An elfish looking magician now waves the magic wand.

Participants in Robin’s ‘Dynamic Groups’ course are introduced to ELFy and encouraged to imagine they embody each of the elements. People seem to really love the image and the idea of the jigsaw puzzle to help address all the elements of a holistic approach.

Robin’s often contemplated capturing the image in some way as a three dimensional object, rather than just a handout or colourful image, so people can use it as a reminder, a symbol of empowerment and as support, encouragement and connection to the potency and magic of the ‘Dynamic Groups’ work. Would you value something like this?

Robin’s has made a pendant of her design of ‘The Sacred Union Labyrinth’ for people to wear as a reminder of walking the Labyrinth or simply, finding balance and love in themselves or with another. It’s made from shaped timber, silver inlay and mother of pearl shell with a solid string for placing around the neck or hanging on the wall. She’s considering making something similar with ELFy.

Now, a Question for You ???

– Do you think an ELFy Pendant/Talisman would be a good idea? Would you consider having one? Would you wear one or hang it on the wall? Maybe you’d pop it in your pocket when you’re about to be an ELF… Please give Robin your feedback.

Robin’s been researching the meaning of the word Talisman.

Talisman Definitions

–  An object, typically an inscribed ring or stone that is thought to have magic powers and to bring good fortune.

– The word “Talisman,” derived from the Greek verb “teleo” means, primarily, to accomplish, or bring into effect.

– 1630s “Magical figure cut or engraved under certain observances”

21 people from all over the world and all sides of the country gathered at Crystal Waters EcoVillage in SE Queensland to participate in Robin’s annual Crystal Waters ‘Dynamic Groups, Dynamic Learning’ six day training. It was her first Dynamic Groups course since offering them across Europe and returning home last August.

March seems to have been a good time of year to offer this course with people attending as part of their yearly plan being put into action. Fortunately the persistent rain from earlier weeks gave way to mostly pleasant conditions so the campers were dry and sessions could take place outdoors. Good use was made of the beautiful EcoCentre, a purpose build training venue hired for the event.

One participant made this statement about the course on their evaluation form. “Magic! This word defines my synthesis of this course. Something inside me that was shut down for a long timed opened up and feels very yummy!”

The next Dynamic Groups, Dynamic Learning course at Crystal Waters is scheduled for 17^th to 22^nd February.

Here’s a link to the poster with all the details.

The Patreon Support Group, set up by Robin and Erin to assist in the art and design, editing and logistics for Robin’s next books is proving to be an exciting and beneficial adventure.

As well as benefiting Robin’s work it also provides many benefits for Patrons.

Book and Resources Discounts

Substantial discounts are being offered on existing books, card games and other creative facilitation, community governance or Permaculture resources. The discounts vary depending on the reward level people are on, starting with the $20 level.

10% for $20 Patrons
20% for $50 Partons
40% for $100 Partons
(postage though please)

Monthly Sessions on Zoom

There have been some great monthly Zoom sessions with either a ‘Q&A’ topic to explore every second month for all Patrons plus a facilitated ‘Brainstorm and Sharing’ session every other month for $10 and above Patrons. The Q&A’s are a forum for people to ask questions about the selected topic which everyone can contribute to. They are run like a face to face circle and begin with a brief ‘Check In’. The Brainstorm Sessions encourage people to throw in their ideas about how to turn a nominated problem into a solution or solve the problem in some way.

Most previous sessions have been recorded with an audio link available through the Patreon Feed and Erin has keep great notes and published them on Patreon for those who’ve missed the Zoom sessions. 

Past Q&A and Brainstorm Sessions have included topics like ‘Group Agreements’, ‘Working with Large Groups’, ‘Group Facilitation Processes for Earth Connection and Self Centring without it being too WooWoo’.

The Brainstorm session on ‘Timing and Lateness’ will be rescheduled for later in the year.

Next Patreon Sessions

Q&A Topic and Date: Mentoring and Coaching (Mon 9 July 2018, 7pm Brisbane Australia time)
Brainstorm Topic and Date: Low energy or motivation in a group (Wed 8 Aug 2018, 7pm)
We’re trailing 7pm Australia Time sessions and will go back to morning or early afternoon sessions after these two. Please let us know times that suit you and also any topics you’d like to explore 🙂 THANK YOU 🙂

Consultancies are Great Support

The three $100 Consultancy places were taken up very quickly and are proving to be very productive, helpful and interesting sessions for both the Patron and Robin. The $50 Consultancies are also working well for the people involved. Some of the areas covered are – Permaculture Design Course Programming and Session Planning, Course Design and Facilitation, Handout Note Evaluation and Creative Suggestions, New Business Start Ups, New Book Planning, a Life Plan… Robin has found her ‘Vision Tree Planning and Design Process’ useful at times in guiding people’s journey and needs for their project, course or interest. It’s all very exciting and valuable. There are still $50 places available that offer a consultancy every 3 months.

Thanks again to all of you who support Robin via Patreon and in every other way.

To join us on Patreon click here.

Here’s a couple of photos of the Social Permaculture weekend led by Robina McCurdy and Robin and hosted by Samantha Hawker and Frank near Canberra after the APC (Australasian Permaculture Convergence) in April.

Participants got a lot out of the workshop and went home with much inspiration and many tools for applying to their local groups and course environments.