In May, we learned about the importance of fika, had dinner in a castle (Kalmar Slott) and met a dynamic group of deep thinkers across climate, heritage & policy!

This all happened while facilitating a three-day workshop at Linnaeus University in Kalmar, Sweden on the theme: Climate, Heritage, and Policy: Dialogues in Learning.  Marcy Rockman, of the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures at Linneaus University initiated this convening, funded by the Swedish Research Council, and asked us to collaborate in its conception and facilitation. Twenty participants — archaeologists, heritage professionals, and researchers from Sweden, Norway, the UK, and beyond — gathered to build a shared practice linking climate change, cultural heritage, and policy through structured dialogue and experiential learning. The workshop moved beyond documenting what is changing in our physical, social, and cultural environments to explore how we gather, hold, use, and share knowledge of that change — and how that knowledge can better inform policy and public engagement. Throughout the workshop we used site exploration, art, creative group activities and individual writing activities to explore these concepts and spark new collaborations (fika breaks helped that too!). At the end of the convening, participants shared: 

“The Creative Futures team is amazing! You've done such a beautiful job taking big ideas about place, meaning, & learning and turning them into specific activities that held deeply thoughtful conversations.”

Coming up…

In August we’ll again be working with New March Forest Strategies– on a second seminar for forestry professionals.  Indigenous Communities in the US Northeast & Great Lakes States: An Introduction for the SFI Community aims to build awareness within the forestry community to recognize and respect the rights of Indigenous People in the Northeastern US and Great Lakes states. The session will include an overview of Indigenous communities in these regions, including the history of removal and what tribal sovereignty means, as well as intersection points between Indigenous knowledge and practices and sustainable forest management.  

In August, Braden, Stacey, and Naomi Kawamura (Executive Director of Densho) will lead a workshop at the Peacebuilding Through Truth and Reconciliation: International Network of Museums for Peace Conference at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Canada. This session offers a space for peace museum workers to share and reflect on the unique pressures of unpeaceful times. Through personal reflection, deep listening, creativity, and dialogue, participants will explore shared challenges and hopes for their work alongside colleagues from around the world.

In September, Braden will co-lead with Richard Josey of Collective Journeys a responsive session at the joint NCPH and AASLH conference in Rhode Island. The session, yet to be created, will respond to an issue that is pressing in the days leading up to the conference. He will also co-lead with Jenna Owens from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello the workshop "Revolutionary Conversations," which aims to strengthen our capacities for connecting and understanding through dialogue.

Locally…

You may know that I (in this case, Braden) live in Maine, which, if you’ve been following the news, needed to pick a new Democratic Senate nominee recently. You can read plenty of national coverage of what happened, and why, but the process, unsurprisingly, had reverberations for our work on gathering, decision making and community building. 

The skinny on the process of selection is that each county held a meeting to elect delegates to a state nominating convention where the new nominee would be chosen. The Democratic party did as well as anyone could pulling together a mass voting process on a week's notice and under constraining legal guidelines. The realities of the situation made for a one of a kind voting experience.. I live in Cumberland County (the state’s most populous at about 300,000 people), and with the summer visitation to Maine there wasn’t a venue big enough to hold everyone who wanted to meet, meaning voting was held digitally. The physical reality that made this happen couldn’t be overcome, but I was very sad at the missed chance to spend time with others right now. This is a time of hope and pain in the state. Maine is a special place that, for all of its beauty and resilient people, is not immune to the challenges facing the rest of the country. There is anger and hurt over the killing of a Mainer by ICE and over the choices and broken promises that led to a second round of voting for Senate. What a time this would be to gather with others. 

When we talk about the degradation of our civic infrastructure in our field we often speak metaphorically. This was a time that the absence of the physical infrastructure was readily apparent. Few if any of our cultural organizations could host thousands of people on short notice, but it did make me think about how much spaces to gather, and gather fast, matter. Big groups don’t need to gather on short notice all the time, but there is always the sense that we could. We could pack the school gym, or the town hall, or the sports arena in Portland. But we couldn’t, and that feels like a hole, a missing puzzle piece of connection. Civics is a hot word in our fields and I’m glad it is. As we keep building the skills of civics I hope we also build and sustain the places of civics.

One benefit of the digital meeting was that it made the unwieldy process of voting more manageable. Cumberland County had around 150 delegate slots to the state convention and over 1,300 people signed up to run for those positions (who says people don’t want to participate!). The day before the meeting voters got their “voter guide,” a list of all those running along with the 250 word statement they had written about why they wanted to serve. The statements for Cumberland County ran more than 400 pages. The next day, voters need to make (up to) 150 choices from that list. 

That night a friend made a spreadsheet, we made notes next to people we knew, other friends were called, more notes added, we divvied up the sections to read and report back on. It became a collective research project to find our way through. We did our best, and every person I voted for was great. And standing with that truth is also that it had to be one of the least informed votes I have ever taken. Were there amazing people in that sea of 1300 I didn’t know and couldn’t pick out. Absolutely.  

Which makes me think about two things for our organizations. One is to never underestimate the power of a group project. Figuring out our answers to this 1300 person pop quiz was engaging and meaningful. At our organizations, we so often ask people to consume or to give (of their money and their time). We don’t often let them be a part of a team with a purpose. All of the things we spend so much time thinking about: belonging, proximal development, inclusion, meaning, are all right there in a small group of people choosing to make something happen. Can we be places where people can come and be part of something that builds? 

The last thought voting sparked for me was on the importance of creative constraints in creation and choice. I like having choices, and I often wish I had more choices in politicians. But 150 out of 1300? Too much. As fun as our late night study group was, it’s not something I’d want to repeat. For so long our institutions offered people one choice, they could take the place how it was and that was that. In changing to more inclusive models, organizations sometimes go to the other end and hand people a blank piece of paper and say “go ahead, fill it in.” Occasionally that is appropriate (as in a snap election under great constraints), but usually it's too overwhelming. As we look to build our organizations with people, how do we have conversations that land somewhere between the choose 1 of 1 and choose 150 of 1300?

New Kingston by Kevin Bewersdorf

Storytelling in so many ways!

Linda had a chance to see the film New Kingston by Kevin Bewersdorf (who is also a member of her trivia team!) which tells the story of building and repairing homes in his tiny hamlet of New Kingston. But really, it’s a story of community–of ties built, broken, and built again, in this beautiful place, shot entirely on his iPhone. Stacey’s been listening to the new season of A Braver Way Podcast by Monica Guzman. If you’re interested in social bridging - this podcast is for you and if you want to understand why bridging matters to our health and democracy, watch Join or Die based on Robert Putnam’s research.

There are many ways we might work together and these days we are particularly interested in supporting teams in:

• Exhibitions: Developing exhibitions that expand perspectives in storytelling and community participation.

• Community Engagement & Interpretation: Creating opportunities for visitors to have more face to face connections and build community together.

• Facilitation: Bringing together teams, regional or issue-based cohorts or groups to facilitate stronger relationships, imagine new possibilities, and collaborate to actually make things happen!

Want to build creative futures with us?