FAQ

Here come the answers to your most frequently asked questions. If you don’t find what you are looking for, please reach out to engagedlistening@gmail.org.

Languages / Translation / Interpretation

While some sessions will be translated (please check out the holding groups pages to see details), the main language of our event will be English. If there will be enough people speaking other languages in our Sharing Council, we aim to open breakout rooms for them. 

We are aware of the colonial implications and are trying our best to find solutions. Being a small core team with limited funding, we currently do not have the resources to offer all of our content in multiple languages.

What are the sharing circles and how do I join?

You can read more about sharing circles here. Links to join them will be shared the day before the event and at the end of each Assembly section (when they are followed by a sharing circle). These circles are for anyone who has attended an Assembly section and anyone who joins will have space to speak. We’re not encouraging people to attend only the sharing circles.

They are important because in most of the Assembly sessions there won’t be space for Witnesses to participate and although we see witnessing as an important role, we also see the need for shared space to process and reflect on our experience.

Will there be live streaming?

Some of our sessions will be live-streamed to the general public on our website or facebook. We will announce which sessions these will be in the session description shortly. Watching will not require registration.

Why is the programme still changing?

We are currently finalising the programme to ensure a good flow between groups and figure out logistical challenges such as poor Wifi connections, language barriers etc. Please be aware that some sessions might not happen depending on local circumstances, in which case we will still be running our Sharing Council. 

Will there be a holding group for every country?

There will not be a local group for every country in this edition of the Sunset Assembly, but we are hoping to grow much bigger. If you are interested and have some time to put into organising a holding group in your region for the Sunrise Assembly in January, please reach out to engagedlistening@gmail.com

How were the holding groups on the programme chosen?

These groups have come together organically through personal relationships with those in the team. We hope to build processes that can include anyone who wishes to join, but need to do this wisely, step by step. If you would like to get in touch, please reach out to engagedlistening@gmail.com!

Who do the holding groups represent?

We're painfully aware that all of our groups include just a handful of people from much larger populations - and that they're necessarily missing many more than they include. Holding circle members speak only for themselves - neither they, nor their groups represent anyone else. We hope that in showing up in their full human-ness, even though they're only speaking for themselves, they can also express something essential about being human in these times.

We're seeing this process as a baby step in what will hopefully be a much larger and longer term process that we hope over time can include anyone who wishes. We don't know what this will look like and will need input from many different sources to build wise experiments that will help us learn.

Why do you ask if people feel ready and able to look after themselves on the registration form?

While we don’t know the exact content of each of our sessions, we will look at how the system is impacting us and our communities, and how we are resisting. We are expecting some difficult topics to come up and acknowledge that some speakers might have gone through a lot of hardship. As a way to be with these issues we encourage the holding groups to include embodied exercises. 

It is very important to us that you are aware and have a chance to come prepared. We are a small team and will not be able to offer active, personal support. Therefore we bring up the topic ahead of time and ask you to take appropriate care of yourself. We trust you to stay and leave depending on your needs and to ensure that you have the emotional and physical support you need while you're at the Assembly. 

The sharing circles will offer space for everyone who’s attended an Assembly session to speak from the heart and to be heard.

Here are some resources that might be supportive:

What’s next?

Assuming it proves to be useful, this Sunset Assembly is a first baby step in what may become a much bigger process. A Sunrise Assembly is planned for the 29/30th of January 2022. We're hoping that people who have been witnesses this time round may want to hold a circle in their own local community next time. If you are interested in this and have some capacity to help make it happen, please connect on engagedlistening@gmail.com.

What is Grassroots to Global?

We’re a tiny but growing team, mostly based in Scotland. Most of us work on a voluntary basis, developing experimental projects like the Sunset Assembly to explore how we can re-democratise democracy and create a new system of collective decision making that could replace the deeply flawed ones we currently have. Contact us on engagedlistening@gmail.org if you’d like to get involved.