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The unleash project: “It’s a bit like finding a watering hole in the desert”

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Katalin from unMonastery participated at the kick-off of our new program the unleash project and is now engaged as part of the host team to organize the whole workshop cycle. In the following she shares her experience with euforia and the program.

You may not have heard about the unleash project, but you probably heard about euforia. And even if you have never heard of euforia, you have probably encountered the conundrum of work: a staggering number of people are unhappy in their working lives, while volunteering and activism is changing the way how the world deals with crisis situations - just think of the refugee crisis in Europe. In particular, young people are eager to engage and work very hard for causes they believe in. At the same time, Millenials are famously difficult to integrate into traditional workplace environments. the unleash project is offering solutions both for companies struggling with reinventing themselves in order to accommodate this new, extremely valuable human resource, and for people who are young or young at heart, finding it difficult to enter a hierarchical, competition-based, achievement-oriented workplace that does not offer purpose and satisfaction on a personal level.

The first meeting of the unleash project took place November 25-27, 2016, in Bern. Attending any Euforia event is a bit like finding a watering hole in the desert - familiar and unfamiliar characters come together to share their experiences and questions in a unique and nurturing environment. Workshops are designed to facilitate people with differing learning styles; delicious food and brief energising and meditation sessions break up the day, to nurture body and mind while learning; participants are encouraged to actively participate and share their own concerns and solutions to any given problem. Tools from The Art of Hosting are applied, including circles, world cafe, and other tricks, to maximise integration and collaboration. You meet highly successful business professionals, activists, artists, social innovators, students, freshly graduated young people searching for a better working environment, the employed and the unemployed, refugees, post-graduates. The overarching connection is the sense of community and shared values. It is a truly magical experience.

The unleash project will continue - if you missed the Kickoff, you can still sign up and participate in the rest of the events cycle. You can step into the cycle at any point, since it restarts in May 2017 as the current series come to an end.

Upcoming events:
20 - 21 January 2017: Personal Level: Focus, Mindfulness and Wholeness
Impact Hub, Bern

3 - 4 February 2017: Team Level: Creating a collaborative working environment, Share & Grow Night
Geneva

10 - 11 March 2017: Institutional and Societal Level: SDGs and Impact Initiatives, Share & Grow Night
Impact Hub, Bern

12 - 13 May 2017: Debriefing
Wylerringstrasse 36, Bern (Innovationsdorf)

Reinvening euforia: reflection day

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Reinventing euforia: Come to the euforic reflection day and let's tap into all our potential - 11 December 10h-18h / 20.15h - Bern

euforia is all of us, partners, volunteers, staff, boosters alike. It's the changes all of us have co-created and experienced thanks to our involvement!
We have collectively felt many signals that it's time to completely reinvent euforia's form of organisation. For impact, wellbeing, sustainability and awesomeness (for us individually collectively and the world)!

What has happened so far:
If you have followed past announcements, you know that we have started our reinventing journey by re-imagining our values, purpose and principles.

What will happen now:
For the next stage, we invite you very warmly to Bern on 11 Dec in order to think further:

10h - 18h- for everybody
What is needed to unleash yours and euforia’s potential to get to our stars (Values, Purpose, Principles)?  
How can we tap into all the potential that is within us, all the resources that are both within us, between us and in our relations?

18.15 - 20.15h - for euforia ex-volunteers, etplers and experts in any domain
Would you like to be part of the support structure of our new transformative, collaborative, self-managed programmes The Unleash Project/Rev Lab?
Come and discover the new programmes, the structure inspired by holacracy/teal and the support roles YOU could fill to help teams & programme flourish!

Let's dream together, use all our sensing & imagination in a fun and reflective day!

You are important! Come and sign up here!

Hugs from and to all!

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the unleash project – insights from the kick-off weekend

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We sense there are more fulfilling ways of working at the personal, team, institutional and societal level. We want to explore together the attitudes, skills, knowledge needed to create new ways of working for the 21st century. This is why we developed the unleash project, an open source, transformative, cross-sectoral and experience-driven learning program that empowers people to thrive in the paradigm shift of work of the 21st century.

Last weekend, we started with the first session of the unleash project. About 50 people from different sectors (NGOs, Social Businesses, Co-Working spaces, etc.) came together and explored the attitudes, skills and knowledge it takes to move from careers to vocation. The goal of this kick-off was to dive into the topic, the euforia methodology and to co-create the program that will follow in the first half of 2017.

Thomas Vellacott, CEO of WWF and the changemaker and HR specialist Carine Leuthold gave valuable inputs to different questions: Why is a paradigm shift needed in organizations and the society? What trends are coming up in the working environment? What new capabilities do current and tomorrow’s leaders need? In a World Café we discussed possible answers and solutions.

Moreover, we gained deeper understanding about the different paradigms of organizational thinking with the most current one emerging: Teal Organizations. We learned how to work effectively without hierarchical structure and to see organizations as living organisms where the wholeness of individuals at work and Self-Management are in the center.

Different concepts and their implementation
During these two days we experienced the different methodologies we use at euforia, mainly the Theory of Group Dynamics from Will Schutz (FIRO), the PEMS model which helps us to approach the needs of different kinds of personalities (Practical, Emotional, Mental, Spiritual) from Daniel Sa Nogueira, Radical Collaboration from Tamm and Luyet or the concept of Experiential Learning. We experimented those and other concepts with facilitation, coaching and deep listening exercises.

We also treated the importance of wellbeing and purpose. We are convinced that personal wellbeing and an intrinsic motivation are crucial to flourish at the workplace. This topic goes beyond a good work-life-balance: it’s about seeing ourselves as part of an ecosystem where not only our personal wellbeing matters, but also the interpersonal relations and values are central. Greta Rossi from Akasha Innovation introduced us to the tool “The wheel of Life” with which we analyzed our personal wellbeing and dived deeper into the subject matter with a peer-to-peer coaching session.

In the evening, Tariq Al Olaimy hold a Share & Grow Night about Biomimicry, an approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to human challenges by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies.

And now? The future of the unleash project
With all those insights in mind, we co-shaped the future of the unleash project. Find here the program of our weekends in January, February, March and May.

We are extremely touched and grateful for these two days and want to thank everybody for collaborating, engaging and being fully present! We’re looking forward to having you all again in the January weekend and also welcoming new faces!

Find all information about the coming sessions and the registration form here.

Join "Recipes for Wellbeing" next wellbeing retreat!

An increasing amount of research points to the rising levels of burnout for entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs. Reaching this point of extreme physical and emotional fatigue inhibits changemakers’ ability to thrive and to create positive change in the world.

Recipes for Wellbeing wants to find solutions to these challenge by creating and spreading a culture of wellbeing in the field of changemaking. How can you get involved? Go to our online platform to discover a diverse collection of recipes to cultivate wellbeing in your everyday work and life.

If you want to take your commitment to wellbeing to the next level, JOIN our next wellbeing retreat in Palermo, Italy with fellow changemakers from Europe and the Middle-East. It will take place from the 18th (11am) to the 20th (9am) December. The participation fee is of 100 euros and you would need to cover for your train/flight, the accommodation is all covered by Recipes for Wellbeing. This is a unique chance for you to start 2017 with a boost of wellbeing.

Want to join? Write an e-mail to alessia@euforia.ch.

Join our imp!act teams Geneva or Zurich!

Last weekend, our new imp!act teams Geneva, Zurich and St.Gallen met for the first time at the (r)evolution lab main training weekend and started working on their imp!act events for spring 2017. The teams are super motivated and have already developed great ideas to make imp!act happen successfully in the three cities. However: they're looking for support! imp!act teams Geneva and Zurich are still looking for team members who participate at (r)evolution lab and gain there the skills to co-organize the imp!act events.

(r)evolution....what?
The (r)evolution lab is a space where you can connect with like-minded people for an innovative and experiential learning journey towards the organization of your own imp!act event in April/May 2017. It allows you to share, learn and experiment a wide range of highly professionally valued skills and knowledge, such as team and project management, leadership, facilitation and wellbeing strategies. Within the RevLab you also experience a different kind of working culture based on co-creation, radical collaboration, pushing boundaries and euforias oooops-culture (daring to try and fail).

The next trainings are from 3-5 February 2017 and 10-12 March 2017. In between, the teams meet regularly in order to prepare their imp!act event.

Interested? Get in touch with us on revolutionlab@euforia.ch!

(r)evolution lab: The first Main Training weekend in Bern

After almost a year of online meetings, co-creation sessions and reflections, the first training weekend of euforia's new (r)evolution lab eventually took place.

The (r)evolution lab was conceived on the same idea as the former eTP (euforia Training Programme), namely empowering youths to organise their own imp!act event. However, the new programme has more to offer than project management and facilitation session; it fosters participants’ personal development and wellbeing management. The new (r)evolution lab also aimed at going beyond imp!act and fully integrating STEP into action. Through our well-established “train-the-trainers” approach, STEP into action volunteers are empowered to scale our large-scale event targeting high-school pupils.

On 25 November twelve participants from across Switzerland attended the very first (r)evolution lab training weekend. After introductory sessions, team building activities and a short presentation of the imp!act and STEP into action programme flows, participants got involved in practical workshops and built their city teams. We can already look forward to three teams organising imp!act in Geneva, St. Gallen and Zurich in spring, and two teams getting started for STEP into Action 2017 to take place in Bern and Geneva next fall.

After this first training weekend, participants will put their learnings into practice and continue working together. They will meet again for two in-person trainings on personal development and outreach (3-5 February) and on facilitation (10-12 March).

If you couldn’t attend the first training but feel intrigued and would like to step in, please get in touch! imp!act teams Geneva and Zurich are still looking for motivated team members. Email revolutionlab@euforia.ch to know more.

 

This was STEP into Action Geneva 2016!

Winter is coming... Mais ce n'est pas la bise glacée qui empêche les élèves du postobligatoire genevois de bouillonner d'idées !

Les 14 et 15 novembre derniers a eu lieu la 3ème édition de step into action à Palexpo (Genève). 1200 jeunes sont passés par les phases de sensibilisation, réflexion et action sur les thèmes de l'environnement, des droits humains, de la solidarité, de la migration, et pour la première
fois, de l'économie sociale et solidaire. Les 60 bénévoles de step into action étaient au taquet pour motiver des élèves parfois engourdis (par le froid, par la routine, par le pessimisme...) avec du fun, des idées et de la musique. A la fin de chaque vague, ce sont des jeunes éveillés et satisfaits du parcours qui repartaient avec leur action kit trop stylé que vous pouvez désormais « spotter » dans tout Genève !

Deux semaines plus tard – car il n'a pas fallu attendre bien longtemps avant que les plus vifs ne se manifestent ! – une dizaine de projets a émergé dans le cadre de la phase de suivi Boost Your School. Cette dernière incite les élèves à créer un projet qu'ils peuvent appliquer dans leur école au
cours de l'année scolaire. Soutien pour les migrants, recyclage, récupération d'invendus pour les sans-abris, collecte des pièces de 5 centimes pour les enfants malades, énergie renouvelable... Voilà ce que la nouvelle génération de changemakers veut offrir.

Winter is here. Il n'a qu'à bien se tenir... Change is coming.

Pictures and videos coming soon! Here the first impressions.

STEP into Action 2016 in the media:
Tribune de Genève
One FM
léman bleu