Common Cause values and frames workshops – Jo’burg and Cape Town

Common Cause is offering two full-day workshops open to the public — one in Jo’burg and one in Cape Town.

Please circulate.

This workshop is for people working on shifting societal behaviour relating to social and environmental issues – campaigners, communicators, organisers, social service professionals and leaders of organisations who want to strengthen long-term support for the issues they are working on and in so doing create a more just, sustainable and democratic world.

A large body of evidence shows that values are of central importance in leading people to express greater concern about social and environmental issues – whether this concern is expressed by changing aspects of day-to-day behaviour, by becoming politically involved, or by volunteering.

A common set of values, which we call compassionate values, underpin such social and environmental concern. Everyone holds these values to some extent – indeed the majority of people prioritise these values above all others.

Strengthening and giving voice to these values (and related mental frames) will help to create responses to a wide range of social and environmental challenges – from climate change to social exclusion. Indeed, it is difficult to foresee long-lasting and adequate responses to some of today’s most pressing challenges emerging without working to promote these values and related frames.

During the workshop participants will learn about the underlying research, before practicing how to apply this thinking to their different areas of work.

The attached pdf Overview document and the Common Cause SA website offer more information. To delve much deeper into the subject matter, visit the Common Cause Foundation (UK) website.

• Johannesburg — Friday, 28 September: note registration deadline. This event is hosted by GreenMatter, who are now opening their Fellowship Professional Development workshops to the public. See attached documents for more details and send the registration form to Mrs Neo Ntshobane at neo@greenmatter.co.za along with your proof of payment before 15 September 2018.
• Cape Town — Wednesday, 10 October: More information and registration here.

• This work stimulates an important and generative exploration about the values and viewpoints that create fertile ground for deeper and more lasting positive change. (Louise van Rhyn, Partners for Possibility)
• The work of Common Cause is key to the gear shift needed in addressing so many seemingly intractable environmental and social problems. (Patrick Dowling, WESSA)
• I wish we could stop the world for a while for all humans to learn to work with the Common Cause approach to values and for us to then reboot our society. (Gabby Harris, uShaka Sea World, Durban)
• In a world facing numerous challenging issues that require action with integrity, the Common Cause workshop is a powerful lens to stop, ‘look’ and consider the effect our values have in a local and global setting. (Cindy de Haan, SouthSouthNorth)

For any questions, please get in touch.

Best wishes,

Rob