Unconference

1.Why we are organizing this event?

Our reflection about the times we are living:

The situation we are experiencing, “the crisis”, is obliging us to reconsider and to make new moves towards a new stability.  We speak of the need to innovate, to free ourselves of obsolete concepts and to act in a different way but the strength of our inertia brings us to reconstruct or shore up the models that make us feel secure.  The image of the “new” panorama that we have in our minds is the panorama of stability that we know from the past.

We cling to economic security while at the same time yearning for work that satisfies us deeply. We wish we had the time and the clarity necessary to cultivate and pursue our dreams for our own lives and for the inheritance that we will leave to future generations but we dedicate our time and our energy trying to recover or maintain that same panorama in which we used to feel secure.

      Points of paralysis:

·         We perceive, in people (and therefore in organizations), a certain paralysis that we justify by the argument “there is no money”.  We must develop the capability of recognizing “what there is” and mobilize it, and mobilize ourselves with it.

·         We know that we need “something new” for the new panorama but we resist letting go of “the familiar”.  We keep returning to it and holding fast to it, letting go of none of that on which we have based our security until now.

      To free ourselves from these points of paralysis we need:

·         Conviction and confidence that there are sufficient tools. We must ask ourselves “What is it that we do have?”, “What is available to us that we can mobilize?”

·         Creativity to discover our authentic needs and the tools to attend these needs. These tools are already available to us but we may be ignoring or underutilizing them.

·         Personal and collective action, that mobilizes “what we do have” in order to respond to our needs as a society.

We want to participate in the development of new ways of doing that are born from our own creative power and that contribute beauty and harmony to our lives.  We want to be “Artlivingmakers” – people who make of their lives “Art” ¿How can we begin to unfold, encourage and advance these aspirations that are already emerging from the human being?

By way of the II International Dreams in Action Unconference: Living in the Era of Art, we will focus on demonstrating the potential that we already have, on visualizing the possibilities that the present situation offers and on motivating the citizenry to act energetically with eagerness and hope. We want to emphasize and to make evident the tangible and intangible wealth and potential of the citizenry, especially those aspects that we are least capable of seeing, valuing, utilizing and enjoying at this time


2. Objectives of the Unconference

2.1. General Objective

To facilitate the discovery of the manner in which we make “Art” in our lives and to promote this with the aim of generating a creative, enthusiastic society, in which each of one of us is committed to our own personal evolution and to that of our community.

The Unconference will advance the development, within the Citizenry, of an Integral Culture, open to creativity, to sensitivity to all forms of Art, to the need to do things well, to the commitment to contribute ones knowledge and knowhow to the community and that, at the same time is a culture that recognizes, values and is grateful for the wealth that it has, receives and enjoys.

2.2. Specific Objectives

1. Promote a reflection on the distinguishing characteristics of the social and cultural context, generating an enthusiastic, participative citizenry that is committed to its future.

2. Promote the recognition of the Art that each person carries inside as a way to acknowledge and advance the sensitivity and creative capability of the citizenry and to encourage the motivation to offer it in service to society.

3. Engender tolerance and mutual understanding in the citizenry, respecting and promoting cultural diversity, contributing to intercultural dialog and stimulating commitment to the evolution of the community.

4. Advance the recognition of the importance of one’s own evolution as a citizen if one is to promote the evolution of society.

5. Recognize and promote our power of influence and impact in society by what we decide to do and do, and by how we do it, increasing our capability to make of our life “Art”.

6. Make visible and advance the emerging social movement of people and organizations committed to the Transformation of Society.

3. To whom is the event directed?

            To the citizenry en general, to those who are concerned about improving THEIR society and who wish to know other ways of doing things that will generate a more humane, inclusive and sustainable society,

            To people who work in institutions, organizations and businesses, in education an in the generation of citizen participation activities,

            To people who want to discover and/or advance their capability of making of their lives “Art” with the aim of moving towards the activation of social innovation projects,

            To people who want to generate collaborative networks for promoting transformative actions in those spheres in which they carry out their activity,

            To people who want to experience the dynamics of Creative Dialog,

            To people who want to enjoy “Art” and connect with it in different spheres and forms of expression.

 

4. Important keys

This is an initiative from the citizenry and for the citizenry.

With ever increasing frequency we are being called to citizen participation. On the great majority of occasions, the public institutions are the ones who convoke, and the citizens the ones who express our opinions and proposals.

On this occasion, we citizens, in our role as such, are the ones who are convoking our fellow citizens to participate in the development of our Society.

Unconference. Diversity and participation on equal terms

One of the identifying characteristics of the Unconference is that the assisting citizenry plays and active role as a protagonist of the event by participating “peer-to-peer” in the event’s activities, that is to say each person is on an equal standing with the rest.

Diversity and beauty

One of the objectives of this II Unconference is that the participants make contact with our capability of making of our lives, “Art”, regardless of the sphere of activity in which we develop our aspiration and our potential.

Participation by people of different spheres of activity and different forms of expression will share their experience of how they are making of their lives a path of self-development and personal satisfaction while at the same time offering their “Art” as a service to the community.

As one of the objectives of the event, the Unconference will spotlight different ways of expressing “Art” as a learning opportunity for all to recognize, express and enjoy beauty.

Linguistic diversity: The Unconference offers three official languages: Euskera (Basque), Spanish and English, each participant will be able to express him/herself in the language of their choice.

Collaboration with the position of Bilbao as a city that promotes innovative thought and that is recognized for its original proposals in favor of a creative society.