2021 Conference:
Making different choices
11th - 15th October
Healing Solidarity 2021
At Healing Solidarity, we want to invite different, conscious choices in our sector -- choices that make our work more equitable, imaginative, feasible, and joyful!
So this year we are making different choices to structure our annual online conference in a new way. There will be no recorded sessions this year. All 15 events will be live and each day for the week of 11th - 15th October, we will offer three virtual sessions:
Indian Standard Time (IST) - 4.30 pm
East African Time (EAT) - 2 pm
Central European Time (CET) - 1 pm
British Summer Time (BST) - 12 noon
Eastern Standard Time (US ET) - 7 am
Indian Standard Time (IST) - 7.30 pm
East African Time (EAT) - 5 pm
Central European Time (CET) - 4 pm
British Summer Time (BST) - 3 pm
Eastern Standard Time (US ET) - 10 am
Indian Standard Time (IST) - 10.30 pm
East African Time (EAT) - 8 pm
Central European Time (CET) - 7 pm
British Summer Time (BST) - 6 pm
Eastern Standard Time (US ET) - 1 pm
Over the five days of the conference, the daily "in-between" conversations will build on each other, to weave a collective thread about making different choices in our sector.
Rather than trying to determine the “outcomes” of the conference by internally curating and shaping the conversations with invited guests, we’re instead creating a generative process designed to spark new ideas and tease out new threads among our members.
As a result our aim is that the conference will be made up of events designed for sustained, thoughtful group inquiry and deep, active listening - spaces that are conversational rather than presentational.
Whether you join us for one event or many, we will be building our skills to actively act on the re-imagining that we have been doing together via Healing Solidarity since 2018 - and that many of us have been engaged in in different ways for many years prior.
Join the “in between” conversations
at 3 PM (UK time) each day
Let’s practice together what it means to nurture relationships and trust, and understand how shared knowledge and wisdom arises from emergent processes that bridge the reality of where we are and a vision of where we want to be.
The Directors of Healing Solidarity will share our own visions of what is possible when we are making different choices in the sector.
On day two the threads of our conversation will be picked up by a group of activists who will share how different choices could improve the quality of relationships in the sector.
On day three the threads of day two will be picked up by a group of funders who will share how different choices could ensure resources and power are flowing rather than being controlled.
On day four the threads of day three will be picked up in an intergenerational conversation among elders and youth in our sector about how we can share leadership.
And on day five, the Directors of Healing Solidarity will reflect on the conference “experiment” and weave all the threads together. We have no idea exactly where this process will land us and that is a deliberate choice.
Beyond....
Be the part of the conversations
How will you take the emerging threads forward in your organisation and in your partnerships? Let’s dare to believe that we can all do something to challenge and change global development practice.
We’re excited to hold these spaces, and we also invite you to be a part of these emergent conversations with us. You aren’t just invited to listen but to contribute your energy, ideas, and resources.
Our Sponsors
Host your own conversations
Alongside the five days of conversations that are part of the main conference, this year we will be offering a resource/facilitation guide to support you in self-organising and hosting concurrent or follow-up conversations in your organisation, location, community, or any other space you choose whether virtual or in-person.
Who runs this project?
Meet the Healing SOLIDARITY ADVISORY CIRCLE
Mary Ann Clements
Feminist Writer, Facilitator, Activist and Coach and Initiator of Healing Solidarity
Swatee Deepak
Social Justice Consultant, Former Director, Co-Founder and Board Member
Pontso Mafethe
Interim Director of Programmes at the African Women's Development Fund
Esua Goldsmith
Author, Facilitator, Strategist, Activist and Speaker
Roshni Nuggehalli
Executive Director at Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA)
Jennifer Lentfer
Aid worker turned writer/poet, writing coach, and communications strategist
F.A.Q
I’m not based in the UK, can I take part in this too?
Yes. Our conference, online Collective, resources and events are accessible from anywhere in the world.
How is this project run and managed?
This project is run by an Advisory Circle who are the Directors of Healing Solidarity which is a Community Interest Company registered in the UK.
Why are you charging for the conference this year?
It's free to join the Collective and participate in our regular events through the year. But we need resources to support this project and so this year we have decided to invite you to make a contribution to support the conference in recognition of the labour and effort involved in bringing it to you. If you want to support out work through the year you can also find out how to become a sustaining member of Healing Solidarity here.
I don’t actually work in international development. Can I still join?
Yes absolutely. Anyone who is interested in issues of global solidarity and collective care is welcome to join us.
A taste of Healing Solidarity 2020
Our annual online conference is a week of conversations with activists, practitioners and thinkers interested in welcoming the change we need in international development practice, and figuring out how to care for ourselves and one other in the process.
Check out a taste of the conversations from our 2020 conference below
