Apart from these days, the Thursday and Monday are optional social days toallow Gathering participants to get to know each other better, and to allowany other interested person to attend and get the flavour of the Network.Participants can also arrange directly with Commonground to come early orstay late.
Although the Annual Gathering is the peak decision-making and planningmeeting for the Network, past decisions and our experience have enabled us toshift the emphasis of the Gathering away from more conventional planning toactivities that help us to define and develop a culture of nonviolence. Thismeans, for example, that more of the Gathering time is devoted to activities- such as support groups, story-sharing, music, drama, games, relaxation, anddiscussion groups - that allow us to get to know each other better. By doingthis, we can network more effectively throughout the year.
An important feature of this year's Gathering will be the discussion aboutgender-based structural oppression, and other forms of structural oppression.So far, several people have offered suggestions about how this discussionmight be structured and processed. You are welcome to add your thoughts aswell. The suggestions so far indicate that this discussion should take aboutone of the three days (should it be more?), and there has also been asuggestion to have two-day workshops (one for men and one for women) beforethe Gathering so that people can better prepare (and feel safer) for thisdiscussion. Would you be willing to organise a workshop for women/men beforethe Gathering? Would you participate?
The 1996 Gathering is going to be challenging, but a lot of fun. As always,it is open to people who consider themselves active participants in theAustralian Nonviolence Network.
At the Gathering, we will need to share the venue preparation and cleanupwork, but we still need more volunteers to undertake cooking and childcare.Would you be willing to volunteer for either of these? Or do you know someonewho might?
There will be a group cost-sharing exercise to cover venue and catering costsfor the Gathering. Every effort will be made to keep these costs as low aspossible. The exercise will ensure that no-one will pay more than they canafford. Although travel costs cannot be paid for through this exercise, wewill encourage interstate participants to consider these costs when decidingtheir contribution.
The Network Facilitation Collective is pleased to be organising this year'sGathering and looks forward to seeing people from as many bioregions aspossible.
See you there!
Robert J. Burrowes