World Kindness Day
World Kindness is on the 13th of November. It’s an international movement to celebrate the joy of being kind to one another, by doing things big or small to help each other out, make each other laugh, teach each other something or support each other when things aren’t going great.
The World Kindness Movement seeks to create unity; the act of looking beyond ourselves, beyond the boundaries of our country, culture, religion and the realisation that we are citizens of the world. The purpose of the day is to practise and indulge in our commonality, and celebrate the ways we work together.
As engagement facilitators, we often navigate situations where the community is passionate, divided or uneasy with changes to policy, new developments, allocation of resources, changes big and small. It is a privilege to enter these discussions and witness the kindness community members show to one another to create meaningful and respectful interactions in these crucial topics. At Conversation Co, we spend a lot of time hanging out with and talking to the community. Engagement literally depends on the kindness and generosity of strangers, willing to participate, share their knowledge and experiences with us. On a cold, rainy day at a pop up, we’d be the first to tell you: a little kindness goes a long way!! We thought we would take this opportunity to celebrate the kindness that we’ve been shown this year.
To the man who helped me put up a marquee at a City of Casey Child Safety pop-up in the 80 km/hr winds, THANK YOU! You saved the day! – from Ella
To the folks at Reservoir Neighbourhood House, thanks for letting us join in on your cooking class, at a pop up for Darebin Housing. I love this recipe, it’s become a staple ! – from Alice
To the courageous participants who shared their experiences of a taboo topic and the participants who created a safe space for them to do so at the Knox Waste Management focus group- your kindness was felt, this is what makes me love community engagement – from Kathryn
To the Basin Community, rallying to prevent the sale of the Salvation Army Farm, thanks for sharing a sausage with the Conversation Co crew while we were consulting on the Rural and Green Areas Strategy and showing interest in our project! – from Cindy
To the PhD candidates and research students who gave up their time to contribute to our focus group, to improve the research experience for future students. Thanks, your willingness to share your knowledge for the benefit of others is greatly appreciated – from Kate
These are just a few shout outs for kindness from engagement activities this year. We know we can’t do this work without it, so thank you wholeheartedly for making this a wonderful industry to work in.
You can find more info about world kindness day here: https://www.theworldkindnessmovement.org/about-us-2/story/