Co-Creating Community Agreements
Talking about consent, gender and sex can be hard. Community agreements can help keep the conversation productive for everyone.
It may be helpful to your group to come up with some mutually agreed-upon norms regarding how folks will interact with each other.
Keep track of these agreements and post them in a visible location in your space. We will share some examples we’ve used or seen used in the past.
Yours may look different – this is about you and your community!
GOALS:
Co-create agreements with participants to strengthen communication
Build bonds with each other
SUGGESTED GUIDING QUESTIONS:
What makes a good space for learning?
What would make this a safe and respectful space so that folks feel comfortable enough to share?
How do we show respect for each other in conversation?
What might get in the way of our learning today? How could we remedy that?
Does everyone participate in the same ways?
What might stop someone from sharing something personal here?
Can we make an agreement that would make them feel more empowered to share?
Who is in charge of enforcing these things if someone is not keeping to the agreement(s)?
GROUP AGREEMENT EXAMPLES:
Step Up, Step Back (no dominating conversation)
One Mic, One Diva (no side conversations)
Self-Regulation (we are all responsible for keeping each other accountable to our agreements)
Confidentiality (what we hear here, stays here!)
Respect (ourselves, each other, the space)
It’s okay to sit silently with your thoughts (participation is encouraged, but not required)
Be respectful with phone use
Welcome multiple viewpoints (invite perspectives that may be different from yours into the conversation)
Use “I statements” (share experience, avoid giving advice)
Work to recognize our privilege (gender, racial, economic, etc)
Take risks: Lean into discomfort (We are all in different stages of our journey. Challenge yourself to contribute even if it’s not perfectly formulated)
Own both intention & impact
Challenge with care (find ways to respectfully challenge others and be open to challenges of your own views) Break it down (use simple language, avoid jargon when possible)
Keeping Agreements
After making your own agreements, it may be helpful to create visual representations of each of them, on poster board, flip chart paper, or digitally. They can then be posted in the space, shared digitally and kept in the forefront of folks’ minds while in conversation with each other.