Collective Learning Conference
June 17-18, 2027
Birmingham, UK
Living the Questions: Navigating Complexity and Clarity
"I want to beg you, as much as I can, dear sir, to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."
- Rainer Maria Rilke
(Letters to a Young Poet)
What’s the invitation?
The CMM Institute for Personal and Social Evolution, in collaboration with the Birmingham Systemic Training Programme, invites you to join us in person in June 17-18, 2027, at Midlands Arts Centre for our inaugural Collective Learning Conference (CLC), where we will explore diverse applications of the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) related to this year's theme of Living the Questions: Navigating Complexity and Clarity.
We will spend two days of rich, experiental learning together in Birmingham, UK. Participants of the CLC will enjoy various workshops, presentations, and artistic installations that encourage exploration of translating theory into practice.
What’s the point?
Grounded in the belief that our communication creates our social worlds, and that better communication creates better social worlds, we convene this space with the intention of exploring what constitutes “better” for us right now.
In response to this stated imperative, the Coordinated Management of Meaning theory offers a ‘communication perspective’- a practice which can (if we allow it) positively inform every interaction we have. As we collectively endeavor to embody this ‘communication perspective’ in all areas of our lives, we desire to learn together with others who are similarly committed to creating better social worlds through better communication.
We do not pretend to have the answers; we only hope to explore the questions together now, so that- in the words of Rilke- "perhaps [ we ] will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”
Who is this for?
Our definition of communication goes beyond the simple words we say. Everything is communication; and communication is everywhere. So, if you communicate (hint: you do!) then this gathering is for you! This event will cater to all kinds of practitioners- both those who are already familiar with CMM at any level and those who are not.
What now?
At this time, we encourage you to fill out our interest form, so that we can let you know when our call for workshop proposals goes live. Further information on registration, accommodations, travel, and the event program will be forthcoming.
For anyone who is curious to get a sense of the themes we might explore during this gathering, we encourage you to take a look at the CMM Institute Substack here- and particularly our CMM 101 video here.