Are evidence-based policy folks open to intuition? A delightful challenge of my assumptions
Pic from my workshop, Creatively Practicing Development: What Would the World Look Like if we Achieve the SDGs? 2018
This was a cool moment..
I was facilitating a workshop for policy folks and development practitioners at the UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network and Columbia University.
These folks are knee deep in change making. They’re technical experts on how to make the world a better place. Highly educated and wicked smart professionals.
What was the workshop about? Diving into the question - what would the world look like if we achieved the Sustainable Development Goals? Inviting folks to tap into their unique visions of what’s possible for the world, and explore the range of perspectives there are on what sustainable development is.
The workshop had several learning objectives, but my personal intention was for it to provide practitioners with an opportunity to engage with a familiar topic in a new way - in a way that was creative, that was community-oriented and that was - dare I say - intuitive.
Knowing that the technical field of international development isn’t always friendly to things like “intuition” or “creative visioning,” I put that language to the side and focused more on the practical features of the workshop. I didn’t want any policy wonks to walk out mid-workshop!
We got to the Fishbowl Discussion of the workshop where people began sharing their unique perspectives on what a sustainably developed world would look like. To my delight and surprise, within minutes of the discussion one participant brought up the topic of consciousness (!). She shared that in her vision she saw a new level of consciousness on Earth that facilitated us reaching the Global Goals. Her prompt transpired into a 30-minute discussion on the role of consciousness, culture and spirituality within sustainable development. Organic, emergent and completely unprompted by me.
I was blown away. Reflections on culture? Sure. Conversations about justice? Yea. But an entire discussion on consciousness? I couldn’t have been more surprised! The experience totally challenged my idea of what technical professionals are open to, and inspired me to be more open and bold in my desire to offer spiritual space for development practitioners.
My main take-away? People are more ready for these types of workshops, conversations and community settings than I had thought. Spirituality and consciousness development are not in tension with policy and development practice. People understand the value in whole-systems approaches, including the holistic development of themselves as change makers.
I’m always humbled by the opportunity to work with people through workshops. I learn, they learn, we all learn. Through a co-created, highly participatory process.
If a workshop like this is something you’re interested in bringing to your people, check out my website for more info on the types of workshops WH4A offers and contact us to schedule a call.
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Hi, I’m Liz Moyer Benferhat. Writer, facilitator, coach, and development practitioner dedicated to the subtle interplay between how inner transformation feeds the outer transformation we need in the world. Welcome 🌿