# Faial Community Day One of my favourite things about living in Pico, is that it's a part of an archipelago of nine islands - each with their unique energy, landscape, and opportunities. **Each island is a world, and together they form a galaxy.** I've recently had a pleasure to facilitate a **community weaving workshop** in Pico's closest neighbour - Faial island. This marks a significant step on the journey towards co-creating [Azores Regenerative Network](https://pico.microsolidarity.cc/azores-regenerative-network). Here's a part of the invitation: > The word "community" can mean many different things. It can be challenging to align on a shared vision. And it can be even more challenging to actually work together and manifest our dreams. Yet, it's hard to shake off the feeling that **creating together is not only more effective but also more fun**. How could we do it effectively, given the context of our beautiful island? > > The intention of this gathering is to **get practical and move our collective energy forward**. ## The Workshop Here's the outline: 1. Check in: *how are you feeling? why are you here?* 2. Theory: different community models; microsolidarity 101 3. Sharing: lessons from two years of implementing microsolidarity in Pico 4. Lunch break 🥑 5. Practice: [Community Council](https://michalkorzonek.com/community-council) - round of mapping & round of calls 6. Check out: *how are you feeling? what are you taking away?* I've delivered the workshop using *Cards* - an analogue collaborative meta game I've been developing over the last two years, inspired by [Zettlekasten method](https://zettelkasten.de/introduction/) and "*The Game*" developed by the hacker community, which I've been introduced to a few years back while living in [Astralship](https://astralship.org). {% embed url="" %} (If the tweet above doesn't load, [click here](https://twitter.com/michalkorzonek/status/1497572106590117891?s=20\&t=OHbFQh69b_mb9zSRvmLaGw).) Cards for part 2 in full display: ![Cards in display](https://3080105529-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MEJuKt7I24LViDDgmYH%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-e917f995f8b2f7ba70b0824be7cdee6bbbe4255a%2Fcards-dream-community.jpeg?alt=media) Compacted version to make space for part 3: ![Compacted version of cards](https://3080105529-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MEJuKt7I24LViDDgmYH%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-b1e6ea6911b83956e0542dc0fbf88813cef213d7%2Fcards-dream-community-compact.jpeg?alt=media) The story and lessons from Microsolidarity in Pico: ![Cards with milestones of Pico Congregation](https://3080105529-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MEJuKt7I24LViDDgmYH%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-7bc706761bab2ec95dddddefd2658e54ca2e1da2%2Fcards-pico-milestones.jpeg?alt=media) Note: Here are the [milestones](https://pico.microsolidarity.cc/pico-congregation/milestones) of our Pico congregation. ### Community Council [Community Council](https://michalkorzonek.com/community-council) is a modular community catalysing game. In this iteration we played two rounds. **Round of Mapping** showcased a few of the projects/crews open for participation that already exist in the island. A wonderful moment occurred when one of the participants asked if there's a Tai Chi group in the island, and that was the project that was just about to be placed on the map. ![Mapping existing crews and projects in Faial](https://3080105529-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MEJuKt7I24LViDDgmYH%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-313cc4c555853f9ca0fedd9e1d4735fe637388d9%2Ffaial-mapping.jpeg?alt=media) **Round of Calls** resulted in calling 8 projects, with 6 of them receiving enough energy to begin. The next step is for the callers to reach out to people on the "List of Connections" to arrange the kick-off meeting. ![Cards with milestones of Pico Congregation](https://3080105529-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MEJuKt7I24LViDDgmYH%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-200a0bf42f8250c1bb02c55ba3a772e87d24841a%2Ffaial-connections.jpeg?alt=media) **The main intention is to experiment with crewing and begin to build trust.** The success of the project is a secondary objective. The group also committed to **have a retrospective in three months** to reconnect and check on their progress. ## Reflections * **Despite of my emphasis on the importance of building trust within the entire congregation, none of the projects called aimed to bring *****all***** of the group together.** I'm considering tweaking the next iteration of Community Council for new proto-congregations to include a form of a sharing circle in order for the group to experience this format. On the other hand, building trust in small crews is also a very effective trust-building strategy, and the group committed to come back together for a retrospective. * **10 adults and 2 children attended the workshop**. One of the adults played with the children during the entire workshop. Note: Integrating children into "more adulty" activities is one of the challenges we are exploring in our [Pico Community Gatherings](https://pico.microsolidarity.cc/crews-and-projects/gatherings). * We begun the workshop 30 minutes late, which resulted in skipping one of the planned activities. **The punctuality-sensitivity is always a challenge in multicultural groups.** * **The workshop was funded by donations** with the explicit suggestion on the invitation: €15-65. We found €195 in the jar, which after covering the expenses was distributed between the facilitator, organiser, child carer, and the owner of the venue. * Fun fact: apparently one person decided not to show up because of the word "catalyst" I used to describe myself in the event invitation. Similarly, the signature "Love and Light" repelled another couple. This reflects the **two-fold purpose of the invitation: to attract people and to repel people.** At the end, whoever shows up is the "right" person to be in the room. ## Belonging & Meaningful Work Being a community catalyst, facilitating workshops and experiences, and supporting local businesses and projects to emerge is my **meaningful work**. Doing it locally creates a deep sense of **belonging**. In other words, it's a dream combination ✨. My personal challenge is to make this work financially sustainable. I invite you to **contribute with a small recurring donation via my** [**Patreon page**](https://patreon.com/michalkorzonek)**, and/or reach out to work with me on your project**. You can reach me via [twitter](https://twitter.com/michalkorzonek) or email: michal {dot} korzonek {at} {protonmail} {com} If you'd like to receive an occasional email with the most significant updates to this documentation, I invite you to [subscribe here](https://picomicrosolidarity.substack.com). ## Resources * [Twitter thread](https://twitter.com/michalkorzonek/status/1498665205647261700) for Faial Community Day * [Microsolidarity](https://microsolidarity.cc) - community building practice by Richard Bartlett * [Community Council](https://michalkorzonek.com/community-council) - a community catalysing game by Michał Korzonek * [How to Start a Sharing Circle With Your Loved Ones (and Why You Should)](https://betterhumans.pub/how-to-start-a-sharing-circle-with-your-loved-ones-and-why-you-should-8fa67d5b93aa) - an article by Silvia Bastos * [Sharing Circle](https://pico.microsolidarity.cc/crews-and-projects/sharing-circle) - documentation of the Sharing Circle in Pico, which became our proto-congregation