Once the sale of the Tivoli Housing Co-op was complete in 2014, the Common Fire Foundation shifted its focus dramatically, limiting itself to providing basic support for the Beacon Co-Housing community. The Foundation previously had a much more expansive vision of helping to support the creation of numerous intentional communities nationwide that shared our values related to communities as a foundation for personal and collective transformation. The information on this page represents our PREVIOUS more expansive vision and is provided here in the hopes that it may help to support or inspire other people’s efforts in this field.
Sunday, June 3
10:00am – 6:00pm
Tivoli, NY
2 hrs north of NYC
www.commonfire.org/directions
Cost: Sliding Scale $70-$120
Scholarships and work-trade available
Space is strictly limited. To register or for more information:
(845) 554-3406 certificate@commonfire.org
Individual trainings are open to the public, though most have limited capacity and priority is given to program participants, so please register as soon as you decide you would like to join us.
The Trainer
Celia Kutz is on the Board of Directors of the Common Fire Foundation. She lives in Minneapolis, MN where she is happy to be working as a trainer, facilitator and community organizer. She has been facilitating groups from a young age, organizing in her small rural hometown, on college campuses and in activist groups across the country. She enjoys being an organizer and trainer and finds one of her greatest strengths is her ability to listen attentively, reflect compassionately and invite critical awareness. She is an advocate of non-violent communication, loves using Theatre of the Oppressed techniques in her trainings and is exploring the world of Process-Oriented Psychology and World Work. She has trained many collectives across the country on group conflict,consensus decision making and facilitation, strategic non-violent direct action and diversity work.
Celia has taught Sustainable Activism in the Experimental College of the Twin Cities, organized against the 2008 Republican National Convention and is active in supporting local political prisoners and defending against the conviction of other political organizers. She works with residents, business owners and other community members in South Minneapolis working to protect residents rights and locally owned, minority led institutions from the adverse affects of gentrification. Celia has an undergraduate degree from McGill University in Anthropology with a focus on Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the United States. She is inspired by Myles Horton and Emma Goldman and is a strong believer that we all have the creativity, intelligence and capacity to tackle our toughest questions - we just need the space to ask.
The Training
Conflict is a natural and necessary part of living in community -- or being in any authentic relationship. Depending on how we approach it, conflict can be a path to self-discovery and stronger connections within the community, or it can block forward movement in the community and make people want to run for the hills. All too often it's the latter.
Conflict takes a heavy toll on many communities and literally does drive many people away. We offer training in a four-step process that aims to be a supplement to the Be Present Empowerment Model, providing a structure to help de-escalate a situation of conflict and provide immediate, practical solutions to give the people involved space and support while they continue to do the deeper work of understanding themselves and how they relate with others.
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