Learning together in a world that faces interdisciplinary challenges is a necessary but also difficult task. It means looking beyond information and what we think we know into what people can create together with more sense behind. Here, actually listening to what everyone has to say is quite important. And that actually starts with REALLY listening. To both ourselves and others, going beyond the mere information to real understanding. We, coming from university – a quite protected but also busy space – can prepare better for reality out there, also by becoming more aware about what it actually is that we are concerned about in order to also better communicate with others.
However, we live in busy times and sometimes we might feel everything runs a bit away from us and we just chase after it. Sometimes we are simply stuck with something and we do not feel change can come through us. Or we do not know how to stay in charge of our decisions in a challenge that we face. This also distracts us from paying attention to what we hear, think and actually mean.
Starting with listening better to ourselves, in this workshop I want to give you time to go more into contact with a challenge that you have and learn to listen better to it. Guided through this workshop, you can spend time on looking at it from another perspective, personally and in a group. So this is a student tryout!
This workshop is inspired by the Theory U developed by Otto Scharmer from MIT who draws on many theories that were developed in the last decades by people investigating leadership, collaboration, team work but also self-development and meditation. It will concern listening, appreciating silence and will also try out a bit more creative ways to get a new perspective on a certain issue that you are concerned with. By doing this, I hope to get more experience and find out what is needed to step confidently into the future with the skills to listen and really learn (rather than being stuck with data and information).
Why am I doing this?
I spent the last year at the TU actually with quite some concepts that are not too much established in all disciplines: facilitation and social learning between people. I learned a lot about how important it is to learn to listen and reflect in order to really learn something. I also experienced how valuable it is, to having people listen to your thoughts and concerns, really listen and how it can help your own development process (of an idea, of a solution to a problem, …). So, I would like to offer a workshop that helps us listening and also reflecting on what we are concerned with.
The workshop will last one-and-a-half to two hours and I would appreciate your opinion on it!
Raissa Ulbrich is a master’s student of Industrial Ecology at Leiden University and the TU Delft.
To register, please send an email to Raissa at ulbrich_raissa@posteo.de
