Listening Rooms
What is the purpose of the Listening Rooms?
Many Indigenous peoples value deep listening; a practice that requires inner quiet and stillness and is based on respect and reciprocity. Here is a short description from Judy Atkinson, a Bundajung expert in intergenerational healing and recovery from trauma among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people:
The Indigenous concept of Deep Listening describes a way of learning, working, and togetherness that is informed by the concepts of community and reciprocity. Leadership underpinned by Deep Listening involves listening respectfully, which can help build community. It draws on every sense and every part of our being. Deep Listening in community leadership involves taking the time to develop relationships and to listen respectfully and responsibly. It also means listening to and observing oneself (Atkinson 2001).
Following each panel, we invite participants to stay and participate in a listening room. Our vision for the listening rooms is for participants to build community with one another during the convening, and to emerge with relationships and connections that move us into a collaborative community in the future. In the spirit of reciprocity, we invite you to listen to one another with compassion and respect.
How will listening rooms be managed?
The listening room sessions will not be recorded or moderated by the convening organizers. We ask that you begin by spending a few minutes in contemplation, looking at or listening to what surrounds you, generating gratitude for how nature sustains you, and rooting in connection with Mother Earth. Some rooms may have a speaker, moderator, or organizer from the previous session. However, we have deliberately designed this session so that the relationship between designated experts and audience members is fluid and can be reversed. Please center Indigenous voices in your rooms and make space for others to be heard.
We suggest that each listening room “voluntelect” one person who can moderate the session with an eye towards time-keeping and representation. We suggest the following question as a way of initiating your conversation: what emerges for you from the preceding panel that can serve as guiding principles in your life and work?
What inspired the listening rooms?
We were inspired by the Australian Aboriginal concept of Dadirri, sometimes described as the intentional spiritual act of deep listening to be in communion with all of life. Here is a short video of Dr. Miriam-Rose Ungenmerr, renowned Aboriginal Artist and Educator speaking on what Dadirri means and how the act of deep listening transforms us and our relationship with the earth.