Whole Measures: Tools for Creating Change Special Workshop Focus: Community Food Systems August 20 – 23, 2013 Center for Whole Communities, Fayston VT with Jeanette Abi-Nader, Mohamad Chakaki and Curtis Ogden WHOLE MEASURES FOR COMMUNITY FOOD SYSTEMS (CFS) is a values-based community-oriented tool for evaluation, planning, and dialogue geared toward organizational and community change. Whole Measures CFS invites organizations to build on the reporting of outcomes and to highlight and measure the multitude of interconnected indicators that define a healthy, whole community. Based on the Whole Measures tool, Whole Measures CFS encourages all those who care about people, food and the land to apply a big-picture approach. Whole Measures CFS Fields and Practices
JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS STRONG COMMUNITIES VIBRANT FARMS HEALTHY PEOPLE SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEMS THRIVING LOCAL ECONOMIES
ABOUT THE WHOLE MEASURES FRAMEWORK Whole Measures is a framework developed by Center for Whole Communities (CWC) that offers a flexible approach to planning, implementing and measuring the change we seek to create in our communities and organizations. When applied to a social or environmental change initiative, Whole Measures can serve as a foundation for a highly integrated, whole systems approach that effectively embraces a wide variety of values such as social equity, biodiversity, human rights, ecosystem health, civic engagement, and economic vitality.
WHOLE MEASURES IS DESIGNED TO: Create Alignment: Help organizations align their program priorities, decision-making, resources, and activities with values and practices that contribute to healthy, whole communities. Engage Dialogue: Elevate and inform dialogue – both within and across organizations – on the relationship between healthy lands, healthy people, and healthy communities. Support Collaboration: Create the foundation for more effective, reciprocal, and collaborative relationships, based upon a shared vision of success and common values. Guide Program Evaluation: Support the development of program evaluation systems that allow organizations and communities to measure impacts qualitatively and quantitatively over time. Measure Impact: Help organizations and change makers answer the question, “In what ways – positive or negative – do we affect the creation of whole communities? How can we measure those effects?
ABOUT THE WHOLE MEASURES WORKSHOP
The Whole Measures Workshop is a collaboration of Center for Whole Communities and the Interaction Institute for Social Change. The workshop is designed to introduce the concepts and values of the Whole Measures framework within the context of a leadership development and collaborative change training.
IN THE WHOLE MEASURES WORKSHOP, YOU WILL LEARN THE FUNDAMENTALS OF:
What it means to be a healthy, whole community Approaching your work from a systems perspective Embodying transformational leadership Convening and facilitating conversations that matter Using the Whole Measures evaluation tool Designing collaborative change processes, including answering these questions: What do we value, and what are the practices that advance those values? Who are the key stakeholders for this change effort and how do we involve them in decision-making? What is the ultimate goal of our change effort and what is the process we will use to get there?
After the workshop, alumni go on to explore how to apply Whole Measures with their teams and work initiatives, using the guidance of Whole Measures course materials, peer coaching with other participants, and, in many cases, ongoing engagement with CWC and IISC. The workshop experience is particularly well suited to those charged with engaging diverse stakeholders in community or organizational change initiatives.
TUITION: Early bird discount: $695 until May 31st! After May 31st: Non-Profit annual budget under $1 million: $850 Non-Profit annual budget over $1 million: $1,050 Foundation: $1,350
REGISTRATION: please visit www.wholecommunities.org/programs and click “register”. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WHOLE MEASURES OR REGISTRATION (INCLUDING SCHOLARSHIP INFO) CONTACT:
Tatek Assefa, Program Coordinator at Center for Whole Communities tatek@wholecommunities.org or 802.496.5690 About Center for Whole Communities, www.wholecommunities.org The Center for Whole Communities (CWC) fosters inclusive communities that are strongly rooted in place and where all people – regardless of income, race, or background – have access to and a healthy relationship with the natural world. About Interaction Institute for Social Change, www.interactioninstitute.org The Interaction Institute for Social Change (IISC) works for social justice and sustainability. We ignite the power of collaboration by building leadership capacity, fostering connectivity, and facilitating concerted action.