Dish of the Day 3 - Members Collaboration(s) and Building of Capacity

Welcome to this wrap-up of Day 3 of the APC Member Convening 2021! We are glad to see you back here, to be served the third Dish of the Day, cooked up collectively with all the diverse ingredients that this inspiring network brings into the kitchen.

🎵 Why not listen to some good music while you read the Dish of the Day? Remember that we are adding songs here throughout the week; please add your own! (pass: APCconvening / File: world-music-cafe)

Before jumping into the plenary, allow us to share Mary Oliver's poem "Don't hesitate", beautifully illustrated by nadege.

The plenary: Members collaboration(s) and building of capacity - The collective future of the network

Wednesday's plenary, facilitated by hvale, gathered 43 participants around the “Collective Future of the Network”. We explored member-to-member and member-to-staff interconnections, putting transformation and change at the core of members' joint initiatives. Example from countries and regions included Cameroon, Bangladesh, South Africa, England, and Europe.

After a few minutes of Qi Gong movement, members were invited to reflect on how APC has impacted the work that their organisations do in their country or region. There was a chunk of time taken up by technological glitches related to French to English interpretation, but also a lot of laughter, patience and a lesson (re)learned, as all of the participants and the tech team were collaborating on solving the problem. "This session is a perfect analogy for tech in the world: sometimes we just laugh and laugh and laugh", APC's Sheena Magenya said.

Once the glitches were solved, participants reflected on emerging themes and issues that they have experienced as part of the network. "I really appreciate the language diversity," Sylvie Siyam of Cameroon-based Protege QV noted. "I have attended meetings with APC speaking very little English and nobody ever said anything about it. I've always felt good and accepted."

Once the glitches were solved, participants mentioned the usefulness of grants for research, amplification, visibility, advocacy and other resource support. "Collaboration between members, including the participatory grant-making process, has been a wonderful learning experience," Sylvie highlighted. "It goes beyond the rhetoric, as it is really a learning and sharing process, an example of how collaboratively making proposals and decisions that gives an equal space to all members," Ahmed Swapan Mahmud of Bangladesh-based VOICE added.

The importance of self-care as collective care was also highlighted, especially but not limited to the pandemic. "A lesson that I need to keep remembering is that the role of health is central, and that out of health come the best strategies and most robust practices. I think that APC's focus on care through their "Closer than ever" work shows that, and I also see it in our organisation and personally," Sol Luca de Tena of Zenzeleni Networks noted. "We have the opportunity for activists to stop burning out, for us to pause, to reflect. And how do we do that in recognition of the power that we do have and what do we do in the next step? We should recognise the vulnerabilities which exist at the same time with joy and with laughter," APC's Jan Moolman added.

"We are always busy, to the full extent of our capacities, but we're always very conscious of our APC network and this gives us a broader perspective. We stay connected with the world and the bigger environment that we're working with, which is quite valuable for us considering what's been happening in London," Ed Maw of GreenNet stressed.

The relationship between time, space, location was also raised as a key issue. "The 'sweet spot of 12 UTC' is not so sweet for everyone, it's hard for all of us to be present at the same time, so we need to rely on the trust we have on each other," hvale stressed, sharing a practical example from the work of the Women's Rights Programme. "We had planned a feminist infrastructure workshop and realised everyone was tired, with the weariness that comes from two years of pandemic. We need to think of ways to engage that are hopeful, staying aware of care and accountable to the resources we have raised."  

"We should also realise that a lot of the work we do is still going on even when we are not 'doing' the work right now," Sheena stressed. "Change and action are long term, like plants that are still growing even when they are not growing 'taller'," she stressed. "Let's be like the trees: root ourselves and be still." 

"I am always humbled and feel affirmed when members speak about your connection with the network and what APC means for your organisations," APC's Executive Director Chat Garcia Ramilo shared. "I really like the picture painted about how members see themselves as part of this community."

The session ended with a turtle-drawing exercise on the drawing board that was beautifully and hilariously reflective of the points discussed. 

More highlights from day 3 here!

 

On Day 4 of our convening, we will have many diverse and inspiring sessions from 6:00 to 18:30 UTC organised by members Media Matters for Democracy, Open Culture Foundation, SPACE Kerala, 7amleh, Zenzeleni with Computer Aid International, Bytes For All Bangladesh, Andrew Garton, PROTEGE QV with CIPESA, Foundation for Media Alternatives, Fantsuam Foundation, Digital Empowerment Foundation, and Intervozes.

We will have two film screenings tomorrow! Starting at 9:00 UTC, you are invited to the last screening of the Tech Tales series, this time showing the film “Peer-to-Peer” directed by our dear individual member Andrew Garton (who will unfortunately not be able to join us). At 13:30 UTC there will be the visual storytelling session “Marginalised and Unconnected” by our member Digital Empowerment Foundation.

We will have one plenary at 15:00 UTC in Ama Waterfall: Members Collaboration(s) and Building of Capacity. This plenary will focus on the “Collective Future of the Network” and member interconnections, exploring member-to-member and member-to-staff intentional collaboration and building of capacity, putting transformation and change at the core of members' joint initiatives.

Please note that the session on Global Platforms, Algorithms & Slave Labor On the Job originally planned for Day 2 (Tuesday) will instead take place on Day 4 (Thursday) at 17:00 UTC in Mahu Museum.

Let’s also learn together about the online editing system Collabora, a great open source alternative to Google Docs, presented by Pangea at a pop-up starting at 11:00 UTC in Vos Cave.

If you'd like to see an overview of the agenda for tomorrow in your own time zones, please go to the schedule here.

Another special shout-out goes to the pop-up discussion session that will take place at 11:30 UTC in Vos Cave on self, collective and organisational ways of extending care where APC's Jenny and Cyn will be holding space for members to share the care choices that they have been engaging in along with their favourite practices of self, collective and organisational care.

If you feel inspired and have some spare time, please send us what you have learned about caring for yourself and share care strategies within the network at orgcare@apc.org.

Remember that if you were unable to attend the plenaries, we have set up a Mattermost channel that participants can join to participate asynchronously. Please feel welcome to add your thoughts and suggestions!

Almost there! There is a link to a shared folder here for you to upload content (e.g. previous work, posters, documentaries, etc.) (password: APCconvening).

Last but not least: the Best Futures Awards nominations are on! The Best Futures Awards are a recognition we share with one another. During these five days you will attend many sessions, speak and listen to many, many people. You will discover new ways of thinking, doing, resisting, resting and creating changes. We have thought of four main awards: Solidarity, Collaboration, Innovation and Creativity. Help us to choose the person, the collective or the organisation that you believe deserves one or more of them. When attending a plenary, an interconnections session or a pop-up, think about who you would like to acknowledge and share your thoughts with the Best Futures Awards committee. Also, if you would like to be part of the team of "talent scouts" to help us gather nominations, join us and let’s look around together. And yes, the Best Futures Awards have prizes! You can add your nominations for the Best Futures Award here.

And that's it for now! Come back here tomorrow for your Dish of the Day to catch up on anything you may have missed from Day 4!