Practice forums
Quarterly
Participants and alumni across cohorts, comparing what is actually working. The most useful thing said in these is usually what somebody tried and abandoned.
Community forums
Where the agenda comes from the room.
Forums exist so that what one cohort learns does not stay locked inside it — and so that Ubuntu Gale hears what is not working while there is still time to do something about it.
The formats
Four kinds of convened conversation.
Listening sessions
At each cycle boundary
Held so that Ubuntu Gale hears what is not working while there is still time to change it. Convened by someone independent of delivery decisions, deliberately.
Partner roundtables
Twice a year
Delivery partners, funders and community organisations in one room, discussing where effort is duplicated and where nobody is working at all.
Programme briefings
Before each cohort opens
An open session for anyone considering applying — including the parts of the programme people usually find out about too late.
How they run
Five rules that make a forum worth attending.
- 01The agenda comes from the room, not from us. Attendees add items before and during.
- 02Every forum is minuted and the record is circulated — including the criticism.
- 03Listening sessions are convened by someone independent of delivery, so it is safer to say the difficult thing.
- 04Nothing is attributed to a named person without their agreement.
- 05What changes as a result is reported back at the next forum. A forum that changes nothing stops being worth attending.
Scheduled
Forums currently open.
BriefingIllustrative
Programme briefing: an open session
For anyone considering applying — including the parts of the programme people usually discover too late.
RegisterCommunity forumIllustrative
Quarterly practice forum
Participants and alumni across cohorts, comparing what is working and what was abandoned.
Live captions provided. Joining by phone is supported for anyone on limited connectivity.
RegisterCommunity forumIllustrative
Partner roundtable
Delivery partners, funders and community organisations discussing where effort is duplicated and where nobody is working at all.
RegisterCould you convene one?
Forum convenors facilitate the session and circulate the record. The role reports to governance rather than to delivery — that independence is the point.