Community Agreements: A Template

From my time at the Rising Earth Immersion, I've compiled and synthesized some intentions and agreements that you might like to use as a starting place to co-create agreements within your own community. None of these are my own original ideas. I've tried to cite sources as best I can. Many of these ideas come from Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown. For terms like "connection", "belonging", "courage", "vulnerability", and "resilience", see the work of Brené Brown.

Community Agreements

Intentions:

• collective liberation (term coined by bell hooks)
  • Dream big.
  • Practice visionary fiction. (term coined by Walidah Imarisha)
  • Manifest the world you want to live in.
• care for each other
  • create sanctuary (belonging) & cultivate resilience

Agreements:

• radical self-reliance
  • ask for what you want/need

• radical consent & autonomy
  • power with NOT power over
  • both “no” and “yes” are always welcome.
  • use these words with integrity & encourage/thank others for doing the same
• radical honesty
  • tell the truth (trust & transparency)
• lean into tension & discomfort
  • stubborn loyalty - call-in culture NOT cancel culture (from Earth Church with Reverend Lynice Pinkard)
  • cultivate brave spaces (courage) & vulnerability (see Brené Brown)
  • sit with difficult emotions
  • name the dynamics in the room
  • be willing to show up and engage with the process
  • value creative solutions (see Decolonizing Non-Violent Communication by meenadchi)
  • use consensus process
• intentionally adapting & iterative
  • open to things changing
  • co-create
  • leave room for emergence (spaciousness)
  • check in regularly
• inclusivity & authenticity (not exclusivity)
  • bring all of yourself into every space you enter
  • honor & celebrate the uniqueness of others
  • let our circle of love radiate outward to include others
• hold each other (and ourselves) with grace
• practice gratitude

“Decolonization is a gentle but consistent process of interrogation.” (from Decolonizing Non-Violent Communication by meenadchi)

“The personal is political.”