ENTERING THE LAB AS A COMMUNITY SELF RELIANCE
GROUP OR ORGANIZATION
Ushering in a new era of human civilization
At VOL we understand Community Self-Reliance (CSR) as collective ways to meet our basic needs that can also reduce our dependence on existing systems and structures. From our perspective, CSR projects include things like urban agriculture, time banks, community solar, alternatives to the police, and many others. We work with groups to explore the systemic implications of these kinds of projects and their potential for developing an entirely new way to organize human life.
We talk about community a lot. It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot. But working with VOL brought together a diverse group of people and got us to slow down, take time, and build trust. I’ve never worked with a group that’s gotten me to slow down, take time, and see that the work we do is the foundation for our future. Working with Visionary Organizing Lab has gotten me to see that our work lays the foundation for future generations.
- Joe Concra, Future of Care, Kingston, NY
By supporting groups and foundations that want to develop the growth skills, facilitation skills, systems thinking, emergence thinking, and transformative thinking tools needed for Visionary Organizing, VOLs work with community self-reliance groups helps them see themselves as responsible for ushering in a new era of human civilization.
Through a customized series of trainings and workshops, community self-reliance groups and foundations that work with VOL develop:
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A shared understanding that we are in a period of historical transition and that therefore community self-reliant projects can have an impact not possible at other moments
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A shared understanding of how we came to value things over life
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A shared understanding of how that culture lives in individuals and institutions
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A shared set of values and tools to measure their alignment with them that will allow community self-reliant groups to align their actions and decision making with the values of the world they want to create
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A vision for their work, the emerging new world, and a shared understanding of how their work contributes to it