Town Listening Projects: Listening to People’s Thoughts and Experiences on Gas Development
The Listening Project is a powerful organizing tool for nonviolent social change, especially useful in communities where conflict and disempowerment weakens efforts toward community development, justice, peace or protecting the environment. A listening project is an ambitious yet rewarding form of activism. It is rewarding because it is more about the process than the result, and there is much to be learned in the process, by both the listeners and the listened-to. One of the powerful qualities about the listening project is that is can be for something, not just against something. This makes it a positive, sustainable form of community engagement that strengthens communities making them more resistant to future threats and promotes the exercise of democracy at the most grassroots level.
The Listeners are citizens concerned about ways the natural gas extraction industry might impact our community but don’t want to force their ideas on others. They want to understand their neighbors and explore issues in ways that offer new ideas and solutions. Using non violent communication and active listening skills, they ask questions that are a non-threatening invitation to people to share their views on gas drilling and their community. If people’s opinions are listened to with respect, their suspicion of talking to someone who may have a differing viewpoint quickly evaporates. In a trusting environment, people can explore how they feel about issues in ways they might not have before. In addition, a Listening Project can promote honest dialogue in a community about a controversial issue such as Gas Development. It can help construct a sense of solidarity between neighbors and help people feel that they aren’t alone in their concerns over gas development.
There are no real “results” to a Listening Project, since it is focused on process rather than an outcome. However, during the course of a Listening Project, some interesting and important things can result, out of an organic process which combines the specific needs and values of the community. Some possible results are:
- Identification of problems and issues that people care about.
- Inclusion of often unheard or unheeded voices.
- Fostering the emergence and development of new community leaders.
- Generation of creative solutions for community needs and problems.
- Dissemination of issue-related information and determination of needs for additional information.
- Encouragement of personal growth as all involved consider new viewpoints and information.
- Formation of uncommon coalitions and alliances through which diverse viewpoints can resolve – rather than clash over – difficult issues.
- Promotion of insight, empathy, and understanding among people with conflicting views.
- Creation of long-term capacity for grassroots community building.
The Listening Project can lay the groundwork for future projects, actions, and communication around the gas drilling issue, depending on the needs and desires of the community that is listened to. For example:
- A Community Rights Forum. Article 9 of the NYS constitution guarantees citizens the right to protect their health, safety and well being. Hold a forum in your community and motivate people to take back their democratic right to decide what kind of community they want to live in.
- A baseline water testing coalition. Collective water testing can be significantly cheaper. Larger groups can work with pollution monitoring organizations and county health departments to write grants for streams, wetlands and wells.
- Creation of a video documentary project with themes like energy and environment, corporations versus citizens, rural voices etc.
- Town forums, educational events and community petitions.
GET INVOLVED!
Contact the Listening Project via Autumn for more information autumnstoscheck-at-yahoo-dot-com
We need human power. Ongoing listening projects need volunteers. Go door-to-door with other active people and listen to what folks are saying about gas drilling and their communities.
Attend a skill-share. We have people skilled in NVC (Non-violent communication), active listening and listening project logistics. Your group can request a training, and we also will offer periodic trainings for new LP (Listening Project) volunteers.
Start a listening project in your community. Our vision is to have a net-work of listening projects throughout the region, hopefully in every community that is facing drilling impacts. We can provide the following assistance for starting your own project: GIS map files of your community, training and skill-shares, model questionnaires (to be modified to fit your community’s needs), and ideas for logistics, filing and record keeping.
For background information on the Listening Project concept visit Rural Southern Voices for Peace
http://www.listeningproject.info/how.php
For background information on Non Violent Communication techniques
http://www.cnvc.org/en/what-nvc/nonviolent-communication
An interesting video project using the LP concept
http://americalistening.com
Rural Organizing: Listening Project Training January Series
Hope the new year finds you well. 2009 was an exciting year for activists working to protect their communities from exploitative drilling in the Marcellus Shale. Still, one thing that has come up time and again in our work is: “How can we do community organizing in rural areas?”
The Listening Project is a powerful organizing tool for nonviolent social change, especially useful in communities where conflict and dis-empowerment weakens efforts toward community development, justice, peace or protecting the environment. To read more, go to: http://www.listeningproject.info/how.php
We are excited to tell you about the January Listening Project Training Series! Each session includes a morning training followed by the chance to go out in the real world and practice what you learned. We hope this intensive day-long training will give you the tools you need to start a listening project in your own community. We also encourage you to do more than one: listening is surprisingly challenging, and you will no doubt have questions after your first time out. Each training is an opportunity to have a skilled NVC trainer address those challenges directly and put those solutions into action in a listening session.
Trainings take place at: Beckhorn Hollow Road, Van Etten, NY 14889. The contact is Autumn at 607-229-0230 or autumnstoscheck@yahoo.com
Please RSVP by Thursday January 21st, so we can coordinate logistics. Please let us know if you have a vehicle to use when we go out listening. We have a small grant and can reimburse for mileage. Bring a bag lunch, dress warmly but wear slip on shoes so you can go in and out of people’s houses easily. Please be culturally sensitive and don’t wear clothes with political statements. **It is not necessary to attend all trainings! However, you are invited to participate in as many weekends as you can—the more “listeners”, the better!**
*Sunday, January 24th
9am to 12pm Training
12pm to 12:30 Lunch
12:30 to 3pm Hands-On Active Listening in Van Etten
3:00pm to 3:30pm De-briefing Sunday
*January 31st
Help us finish Van Etten! 12:30 until done listening!
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