On May 11, Amir and Petra from Perspectivity facilitated a meeting for debt counseling professionals in Amsterdam. The participants, each from their own organization, all participate in the Regular Payment program: a scheme of the municipality to prevent people from falling into overdue debts with the housing corporation.
Around 60 debt counselors, debt collectors and social welfare advisors gathered in the Tolhuistuin in Amsterdam to get to know each other and each other’s work better and to discuss the challenges for the future.
Inclusive and democratic conversation
The wisdom of the group emerged with Deep Democracy, among other things. In a ‘conversation on feet’, the participants spoke about the dilemmas in their work. In this way, different visions, views, and interests surfaced in a short time. The dividing lines between the functions crumbled and an in-depth discussion about underlying beliefs and dilemmas ensued.
The special thing about the ‘conversation on feet’ – a working method from Deep Democracy – is that everyone actively participates, while not everyone has to say something about everything. You stand next to or behind someone if you agree, and completely on the other side of the room if you don’t recognize a point of view at all. You can immediately see what others think of each statement. This way you get to the essence faster without unnecessary repetitions. This makes the conversation on feet more inclusive and more democratic than a classic conversation at the table.
More information
Want to know more about Deep Democracy? Contact Amir Nazar.