Wonders of Nature
This salon is the first in a series where we focus on one category of Concopia Cards every time.
Start out by reading this introduction out to the guests to give them an idea of why it important to explore the Wonders of Nature:
Then share the three ground rules:
1) There are no right or wrong answers
2) Allow time to think before answering
3) You are free to choose which prompts on the card to respond to
Divide the participants into pairs. In case of odd numbers allow one group of three.
Now share the first card to be discussed. As the host it’s your job to pair the guests and make sure nobody is left alone. We like to stir groups up so that they participants talk to people they wouldn’t otherwise have approached. If you’re hosting a larger group a simple trick is to use a very basic divider such as “Everyone who is born in a year with an even number goes in this direction and everyone born in a year with an odd number goes in the other direction. Now find your conversation partner within your group”.
When we do our Concopia Salons Nadja only shows the picture side of the card and shares a story or invites special guests stars to give a short talk that brings the card to life. When you do it on your own: read the text on the blue side of the card out to the guests first and then show them the picture side of the card and question.
Allow the guests to explore the card for 15-20 minutes.
Now repeat the procedure with new constellations of conversation partners for the final two Concopia Cards.
After the three conversations it is very important that you don’t ask the guests to share what they’ve talked about with the group. First of all - the conversations are confidential. Second: it’s hard to re-tell the magic that occurred in the moment to those who didn’t witness the conversation unfold.
We recommend that you wrap it up with a personal story about the Wonders of Nature and thank everybody for participating. But if you desperately want to open the floor for the group to share, pose a new question that is more like: “What inspired/surprised/taught you the most during the conversation” which allows the conversation partner to stay anonymous if they prefer while the person sharing can focus on what they learned.
Extras & Experiments
When we create the virtual salon experiences we always strive to add something extra to cards. For the Wonders of Nature salon we added three extra bonuses:
1) We started out showing a fragment of video where whales are forming Fibonacchi spirals in the ocean as it so beautifully connected two Concopia Cards on No1 WHALE FALL, No8 FIBONACCHI SPIRALS and No43 CONNECTING THE DOTS and hopefully inspired the guests to take the plunge into the conversations.
2) Then we had invited the researcher Erica Löfström from the University of Trondheim in Norway to be the special guest star of the night. Erica works at intersection between phsycology, computer science and design while ecploring how we can reconnect with nature. (Learn more about Erica and her research here) I first met her last summer at Folkedybet a festival on sustainablity arranged by Samsø Energi Academy (an amazing organization featured on Concopia Card No23 ACCEPTING MOONSHOT CHALLENGES). She and her Norweigian colleague Dag Svanæs introduced the idea of wearing tails to reconnect with the lost tails of mankind – and I was stunned to feel the changes in my body movements the second I started wearing the tail. And the word tailbone has a had a whole different meaning for me ever since.
3) And quite spontaniously – when I saw he registered for the session – I also called on my awesome friend Paul Sheehan who has opened my eyes for the many wonders of nature and science throughout our 30 years of friendship, travels and intellectual cross pollination. To have him give a short spontanious lecture on roots and funghi. This included a fascinating introduction to the Scunk Cabbage - a thermogetic plant. So warm blooded that it produces significant amounts of heat.
When we closed the call Jan Rasmussen – who participates in the conversations while I do the hosting and Rasmus Holm is the tech wizard – wrapped the evening up saying: "It's pretty amazing way to spend a Sunday night: learning about warm-blooded plants and the times when humans had tails while getting to talk to three amazing strangers."
We want to thank everybody who joined the salon – at this early stages it makes a huge difference for us that you show up from so many different parts of the world and engage in the conversations. And for all of you who couldn’t make it: We hope this blogpost inspired you to host you own Concopia Salon on the Wonders of Nature.
