We are living through a time of immense rupture.

Imperial wars, forced displacement and authoritarianism are on the rise worldwide. Trans and queer communities face growing attacks on their safety, dignity and belonging. At the same time, climate collapse, inequality and systemic violence deepen the wounds of imperialism and colonialism.

Everywhere, as the fractures of injustice widen and our pain deepens, those organising against these atrocities are finding it harder than ever to stick together. In this era of mass disconnection, the ability to organise across our differences is becoming one of the most urgent skills of our time. 

Civil society actors — activists, organizers, artists, journalists, educators, community leaders, neighborhood and land defenders — are on the frontlines of these overlapping crises. We are asked to co-create spaces of participation, healing and dialogue. But too often, our efforts lead to severing and fragmentation, rather than connection and coalition-building. We find ourselves in rooms where silence and fear dominate, where pain overwhelms and where the risk of othering feels dangerously high.

Facilitation — the role of guiding groups through conversation, conflict, collaboration and collective transformation — can offer our movements so much more than crisis management. It can bring ease as we approach the most difficult conversations of our time. It can make room for lightness without denying pain, for connection without demanding resolution. When practiced with courage, care and consistency, facilitation can go beyond a mere toolbox for dialogue. It can serve to shift the norms of how we share space and resources, collaborate to address shared challenges and relate to each other and to our world — helping us to foster joy, cultivate solidarity and grow collective resilience.

This course is an urgent invitation to rethink how we hold space, how we gather and how we care for one another in this era of collapse and courage.

Now is the time to: