Make a small donation to the Congress in July and help us unlock up to 5x matching funds so we can offer more scholarships! Learn more here.
Congress is a verb
The Turtle Island Bioregional Congress (TIBC11) is a participatory, co-created event. The program is structured to be dynamic and responsive, holding space for participants to collectively determine what is most deserving of our shared attention.
Congress sessions will culminate in the development of the Bioregional Action Toolkit, a plan for coordinated, distributed action to regenerate Turtle Island.
Congress Flow
The complete Congress program includes ceremony, talking circles, workshops, panels, and open space, plus arts and movement. But the convergence and congress sessions are the heart center of our gathering together. Here is an explanation of how these sessions will dynamically inform the program in real-time and collaboratively assemble the Bioregional Action Toolkit:
Wednesday 9/16: Group Convergence 4-5:30pm
Our first convergence as a group comes at the end of a day that includes our opening circle, talking circles, and workshops. We will sit in circle for facilitated discussion on what feels most alive, strategic priorities, and time to express what needs to be said. One goal of this time will be to compose a list of the highest priority topics for us to address over the course of the Congress. This list will translate into the Topic Circles the following morning.
Thursday 9/17: Topic Circles 10am-12pm
Participants will choose a topic they want to dive deep on and serve as a contributor for how that topic manifests in the Bioregional Action Toolkit. For example, a Rights of Nature circle may exchange examples of successful earth law tactics and campaigns, discuss best practices, and collate resources and leaders in the space that can support new campaigns.
In between Topic Circles and this convergence, we will have lunch and then Open Space.
Thursday 9/17: Group Convergence 4-5:30pm
We'll share what's coming up for us, including takeaways and reportbacks from Topics and Open Space. We'll start developing our list of key tactics and practices that will make up the Bioregional Action Toolkit.
Friday 9/18: Bioregional Circles 10am-12pm
Here we'll circle up based on location, gathering with our place-mates for conversations focused on our home bioregion contexts. What is feeling most relevant to our specific landscapes? What tactics do we want to see in the toolkit? What practices in the toolkit are subjects that we can be a resource on, as other bioregions adopt them?
Friday 9/18: Topic Circle II 1:30-2:30pm
This is a chance to reconvene in our Topic Circle and refine what we'd like to put forward into the toolkit.
Friday 9/18: Congress Session 3-5pm
This is where it all comes together. Bioregional groups, Topic groups, delegations, and individuals can all propose additions to the Bioregional Action Toolkit. These are strategies, tactics, and practices that can be adopted in any bioregion and implemented with the support of the Congress network.
Unlike the Resolutions of past Congresses, the threshold for inclusion in the toolkit will not be unanimous consensus but consent: is this good enough for now, safe enough to try? Bioregional representatives will be free to use from the toolkit what makes sense in context, and leave the rest. The important thing is that we will walk away from the Congress with a coordinated plan for action, backed by the relationships and resources to be successful.