What I learned from Co-creation experience in Taiwan
There is a face-to-face card game called the 2030 SDGs Game, on which the game logic of the Possible World Online Simulation was based.
I am a facilitator of this 2030 SDGs Game as well, but I am also a member of the master facilitators who provide training.
This time, we had the opportunity to bring this training to Taiwan.
In fact, this was the second training course in Taiwan provided in Mandarin, their native language, with an interpreter.
The standard training is conducted in English over 2.5 days, but due to the presence of interpreters and the fact that it was co-created with local facilitators, the training was one day longer, at 3.5 days.
For the record, the preparation for this training course began with an e-mail from a facilitator of the Taiwan team on February 13, 2023, more than six months before the event.
My personal focus this time was "co-creation" and how we watch over this.
I was most interested in how we could observe, relate, and embrace the various differences in values, culture, attitudes toward the training course, and the physical and emotional distance between the people involved.
Last year, I think I was often distracted by the fact that we had to implement the project with an interpreter and how to maintain the interaction with the Taiwanese team and the emotional distance between us and them.
This year, however, I was able to leave all of these things right there, as they were, and maintain a sense of involvement in the event without letting go or being absorbed by it.
I also managed to step away from the daily routine of reacting immediately with one part of my body, especially my head. I had everything there as they were, without denial, criticism, approval, or praise.
This allowed me to focus on specific details with the team I worked with on the course, always with a deep sense and awareness of the whole space. It also allowed us to share something quietly at times, without being obsessed with gruffly expressing it in words.
Another thing I learned was the connection of "mind, technique, and body", which is often quoted in martial arts. As we shared our intentions and talked about how to do things, but physically doing something together in silence, I was able to feel with all my being the appreciation and value of what was going on.
I was also able to share this awareness of mine without hesitation on the spot. I was also able to honestly put out what I was feeling at the moment, leaving my fear that it might not be conveyed because I could not put it into words well, right there. For me, the three and a half days were a repetition of such a process.
In the area of facilitation, various techniques have been established, and there are situations in which we can learn.
Sometimes, however, it may be worthwhile to look again at what intentions you have for the space, what is emerging there, and with whom and how you want to share it.