WHAT IS IT?
The Values-Based Partner National Convening will bring together members of the national Values-Based Partner (VBP) Network to engage in hands-on workshops and critical dialogue that will strengthen and cultivate relationships, and catalyze collaborative and regenerative action in 2022 and beyond.
**PLEASE NOTE: This event is by invitation only. If you are a Values-Based Partner and want to invite anyone, please inquire with Sweet Water before inviting someone info@sweetwaterfoundation.com.**
The Values-Based Partner National Convening is a 2.5-day convening that culminates in SWF’s Fifth Annual Juneteenth Celebration.
VBP National Convening | Wednesday, June 15 - Friday, June 17th
SWF’s Fifth Annual Juneteenth Celebration | Saturday, June 18th
WHO IS COMING?
The Values-Based Partners Network consists of individuals and organizations that are committed to regenerative practices that center the history of our land and society, and the lived experiences and wisdom of people on-the-ground. Values-Based Partners are Solutionaries within their neighborhoods and/or within organizations and represent many different geographies. To date, the VBP network spans: Detroit & Ann Arbor, Michigan; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Ithaca, New York; Kansas City, Missouri; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Tucson, Arizona; and Wayne, West Virginia.
The National VBP Convening will engage ~100 attendees from across the country with a focus on:
Members of the Values-Based Partners Network;
Local Youth and Young Adults such as RND Research Interns, Fellows, and Apprentices; and
Select individuals from the extended VBP Network (partners of VBPs)
SCHEDULE
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3:00 - 5:00p | Welcome Reception with Registration & Tours (OPTIONAL)
The SWF team welcomes attendees to get acquainted with The Commonwealth and pick up registration materials. Convening programming will start on Thursday.
Full program is available here (PDF). -
Thursday will start with an Opening Ceremony + Offering and end with a collective reflection in the Thought Barn. After the morning ceremony, three sessions will offer explorations and engagement across five flows: 1) Arts & Culture; 2) Agriculture; 3) Carpentry; 4) Critical Connections & Dialogue; 5) Culinary. There will also be open spaces for people who want to break out of the sessions to make art, reflect, and/or connect with others individually.
Overview of Thursday’s schedule (for a detailed schedule, click here):
8:30 - 10:00a | Breakfast & Opening Ceremony + Offering
10:00 - 10:30a | Session 1
11:30a - 12:30p | Light lunch break
12:30 - 2:00p | Session 2
2:00 - 3:30p | Session 3
3:30 - 5:00p | Daily Debrief & Second Lunch -
Friday will start and end with collective session in the Thought Barn after which, three sessions will offer exploration and engagement across five flows: 1) Arts & Culture; 2) Agriculture; 3) Carpentry; 4) Critical Connections & Dialogue; 5) Culinary. There will also be open spaces for people who want to break out of the sessions to make art, reflect, and/or connect with others individually.
Overview of Friday’s schedule (for a detailed schedule, click here):
8:30 - 10:00a | Breakfast & Morning Convening
10:00 - 10:30a | Session 1
11:30a - 12:30p | Light lunch break
12:30 - 2:00p | Session 2
2:00 - 3:30p | Session 3
3:30 - 5:00p | Convening Closing & Second Lunch -
On Saturday, June 18, Sweet Water Foundation will host its Fifth Annual Juneteenth at The Commonwealth, welcoming hundreds of community members to create, build, and celebrate freedom and community.
Planning for this year’s celebration is still in the works, but the Juneteenth Celebration will transform The Commonwealth into a vibrant festival atmosphere with live music, food, dance, public art exhibits, vendors, basketball, arts + crafts, and more.
The celebration will be open to the public — and kids are welcome! The public RSVP is available here.
Session Flows
Thursday and Friday sessions will take place across the five flows. A summary of each flow and the open spaces available are detailed below.
There will also be OPEN SPACES availlable if people want to break out beyond the main sessions. Spaces will include a Library/Reflection Space; and space for Arts + Crafts.
ARTS + CULTURE
Hands-on arts. We’ll install public art on site to the activate the alleyway between the ThinkDo House and the Civic Arts Church. SWF will share the photo cut-out and collage process to [re]imagine different physical spaces and [re]member how people and space come together. Bring digital or printed photos of your team and sites you are working on. It will also feature a Drum Circle workshop and set up for Juneteenth Arts + Crafts engagement.
AGRICULTURE
Hands-on work based on what the crops are telling us (weeding, seeding, transplanting, pruning), alongside preparing for Friday’s Farmers’ Market to introduce people to the market flows. This session will also always include dialogue; one particular area to be covered will be how SWF supports year-round growing and harvesting.
CARPENTRY
Begins with a hand-on process to deconstruct “waste” to reclaim wood from items like pallets and crates. it will also involve making furniture from reclaimed wood, and teaching basic carpentry skills in the process. On Friday, we will move from building furniture to activating spaces with furniture in preparation for Juneteenth
This flow will center dialogue about “wastes to resources”, and what material trends each person is seeing within their locations.
CRITICAL CONNECTIONS + DIALOGUE
These are the conversations we think are critical to have while we’re together. This flow will be video/audio recorded for sharing after the sessions. It will feature conversations about mental health + reconnecting with the land, [re]search from SWF’s “Communiversity”, dialogue around the writings of Grace and James Boggs, guidance around the collective process of building and arming the hood, a guided tour of We the Publics… and exchange around cultivating intergenerational movements.
CULINARY
The culinary flow will center food prep for the VBP Convening and Juneteenth event, along with a cooking demo embedded into each session. We’ll go through a farm to table process -- so you’ll be harvesting directly from the farm in season.
Logistics
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All activities will happen at Sweet Water Foundation’s The Commonwealth, located at:
5749 South Perry Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60621
If you are driving, there is street parking available on site.
If you are taking public transportation, view the system map here:
You can take the CTA Red Line or Green Line train to the Garfield stop. The Red Line is about ½ mile from The Commonwealth; the Green Line is almost one mile from The Commonwealth.
You can also take the bus. The #29 Bus with service downtown will drop you off 1-minute away from the Commonwealth; the #55 Bus with service to Hyde Park and Midway Airport will drop you off 5-minutes away. -
Click here to access the list of accommodations close to The Commonwealth. If questions, please reach out to Kate or Jia.
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You are welcome to bring kids/young people. Where there is no official programming for kids on Thursday or Friday, kids are welcome to be in tow, joining you during the different VBP Convening programs.
The earlier you can share details about who you are bringing, the better -- this will help us see if we have the capacity to build out events for kids during the VBP Convening.
On Saturday at the Juneteenth celebration, kids are welcome! We’ll have several kid-friendly activities. -
Our meals will be farm-to-table, reflecting the seasonal foods grown at The Commonwealth.
We’ll start with a light morning breakfast, followed by light midday lunch, and will have a more substantial lunch in the afternoon. Vegetarian and vegan options will be provided. If you have specific dietary needs, please reach out to Kate or Jia.
If you can, please bring a reusable water bottle with you.
What to Bring / How to Prepare
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On Thursday morning, for the opening ceremony, individuals and/or groups are invited to share a (short) offering to represent where you’re coming from. This could be a book, soil, seeds, something spoken (poem, intention, memory), a movement, or anything else relevant.
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As part of the VBP Convening & VBP process of learning together, we aim to build out a living library for the duration of the Convening, that will stay with us through an online library after the Convening.
If you have books or other forms of media to share, please bring them along. If they are digital, send them to Jia or Kate for either printing for the Convening or adding to the online library.
Only one copy is needed -- and you are welcome to take it home with you when the Convening is over. -
We will host a cut-out and collage process that shows each Values-Based Partner in each other’s work -- and can also be a collage to [re]imagine new visions of vacant spaces that are within your stewardship. If you are able to bring in photos of people in your community, any designs of furniture or spaces, and screen grab photos of lots that you are working on.
Bring printed photos or send them digitally in advance to Kate or Jia. -
We’ll have a Seed + Recipe Exchange at the Convening. You are welcome to bring seeds to share, with details around where they are from, what they produce, how they grow.
We’ll have envelopes so you can split the seeds for sharing.
In addition, we’ll have a recipe exchange. Please bring either physical or digital copies of the recipes; this could also include guidance around food storage, seed storing, or food preparation. -
Please wear comfortable working clothes that can be used for any combination of activities that may come up. This is especially true for the Agriculture, Culinary, Arts + Culture and Carpentry tracks, and if you are able to help in preparation for Juneteenth.
We suggest bringing clothes that are suitable for warm weather -- and any sun protection you may need (hats, sunscreen, long sleeve shirts, etc). -
Our hope is that with care and attention, we can make the Values-Based Partners National Convening healthy for all of us. Please see our COVID-19 protocols below:
If you’re inside, wear a mask.
If you’re outside, we encourage all of us to wear masks; though, it is your preference.
If you’re feeling ill, please stay home.
if you test positive for COVID-19 during or after the Convening, please let us know so we can communicate with other attendees.