Restorative Circle Training

Restoring relationships with self, each other, and the planet.

[Sold Out. To be added to the waitlist for March 2025 contact kellyfulker@gmail.com]

• Are you looking for better ways to connect, communicate, and collaborate across difference?
• Do you long to be supported as part of a dynamic, self-organising community of practitioners and change-makers? 
• Would you like to slow down, take some time and listen deeply for healing and transformation?

If you answered yes, join us for a three-day immersive experience for practitioners and community members interested in facilitating restorative circles for systems change. 

Facilitated by Kelly Fulker, this training is relevant to practitioners, community leaders, and change-makers who want to deepen their practice or develop new skills in relationship management for cultural change, community building, healing, and transformation. Kelly is an experienced circle practitioner with ten years of experience facilitating circles for community building, organisational governance, personal transformation, and collaborative co-creation. In 2015, Kelly received her training from Kay Pranis, a world-renowned leader and author on circle process and restorative justice. 

Details:

(Arrive 9.00 am for 9.30 start)

9.30 am to 4.00 pm, Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th November 2024.

The Lighthouse Circle Centre, Greenmount. 

Morning and afternoon tea are provided. BYO lunch

(Places are limited. Venue details will be provided upon registration).

What is Restorative Circle Process?

The restorative circle process is an intentional dialogue that creates a safe space to discuss difficult issues, improve relationships, and overcome differences. Grounded in the restorative principles of doing no further harm and working with people to set relations right, this process assumes equal worth and dignity. It provides an equal voice to all participants.

The restorative circle process is not simply putting chairs in a circle. Instead, it deliberately discusses how a conversation will be held to establish a robust container for communication, healing, and co-creation across differences. It is a powerful tool for collaboration and establishing self-organising communities and organisations. 

The restorative circle process is grounded in understanding the interconnectedness of all life. As a metaphor for how the universe operates, the circle represents the process of continuous change with no beginning and no end. It provides powerful insight into new paradigms needed for cultural change.  

Circle lineage

Tagish-Tlingit Elder Mark Wedge and others in the US and Canada gifted the circle process to Kay Pranis for use in the restorative justice movement. Together, they have become the world's most prolific authors on circle process and restorative justice. In 2015, Kelly had the privilege of training with Kay in Nashville, Tennessee, before being authorised to provide this training in Australia.

This circle process is highly adaptable across different cultures, situations, and practices. It can be used for community building, teaching, healing, conflict resolution, and co-creation—the applications are limitless. For the past two years, Kelly has been using elements of the circle process with Whadjuk Noongar Traditional Owners to co-create the Djarlgarro Beeloo Mulgang Beeliar (The River of the Three Peoples) (Canning Waterways) Restoration Plan. 

This training respects the First Nations wisdom traditions from which it emerged, and careful consideration is given to the types of activities included in the workshop.

Complementary tickets are available for Traditional Owner Elders. Please get in touch with Kelly for the access code. 

Topics covered include:

• Indigenous foundations and wisdom.
• The four stages of the circle process.
• The flow of the circle.
• The role of the circle practitioner.
• The seven elements of a circle.
• The importance of balance in circles.
• Circles as complex, adaptive human systems.
• Circle as a tool for self-organising communities and organisations.
• Practical experience preparing a non-conflict circle.

The Restorative Circle Process is a powerful tool for individual and collective transformation. It provides the container for insight, breakthroughs, and collective wisdom needed to solve humanity's systemic challenges.

This training is for you if:

• You are a dynamic practitioner looking for new ways to engage, co-create and collaborate.
• You are interested in natural, self-organising systems and how these relate to people.
• You want to deepen your understanding of the importance of relationships with self, each other and the planet.
• You want to experience ancient ways of connecting and being held in a community.
• You want to build your skills as a facilitator of intentional dialogues based on equal worth, dignity, and voice.

This training is not for you if:

• You want to inform, consult, or educate in traditional, hierarchical ways involving a one-directional information flow.
• You don't care about inclusion, participant safety, equal voice or equal dignity in your communications.
• You are not open-minded or willing to reflect on your personal growth and contributions as a practitioner.

Resources

Kay is the co-author of many resources, including Peacemaking Circles - From Crime to Community, Doing Democracy with Circles, The Heart of Hope, The Big Book of Restorative Justice and The Little Book of Circle Processes. 

More information:

If you have any questions, please contact Kelly Fulker at kellyfulker@gmail.com for more information. Please note that the cost of this training has been heavily subsidised to make it accessible to as many people as possible. 

Photo credit: Kelly Fulker