Venesa is Sinhala for ‘change’. Matram is Tamil for ‘change’. In 2012, Ferment Collaborate delivered the first
Venesa Matram Symposium in Hatton, Sri Lanka thanks to the fundraising efforts of people just like you! Now we embark on our second delivery of this important event, creating a space over 5 days for Sri Lankan facilitators to network, train, learn
and share skills, hosted by the Kaveri Kala Manram Cultural Organisation in Jaffna.
The theme for this year's Symposium is: Cultural engagement and social change - building inclusive, enterprising and innovative communities in Sri Lanka
The Symposium aims to create space for social, cultural and professional exchange by community workers, cultural facilitators and artists in Sri Lanka with a specific focus on involving and supporting young people to engage with the
event and with those attending from around the island. The Symposium directly responds to the reality of post war Sri Lanka by supporting grass roots facilitators to network, break down social, cultural, religious and geographic barriers, learn and share skills,
promote their work and by creating a space for imagining cross cultural, collaborative and creative approaches to community development.
Building from 2012
The 2012 Venesa Matram Symposium was a significant event in many ways for Sri Lankan community workers. With over 50 people attending from all areas of the island, the event provided a space for people to not only network and learn
about each others' work, but also created multiple opportunities for participants to break down misconceptions and stigma barriers that make collaboration and networking difficult in Sri Lanka.
The Symposium uses a mix of curated programming (keynote and plenary discussions) and Open Space organising. Open Space is an organising tool that prioritises the skills and knowledge of participants as the basis for forming a conference
or symposium program. By encouraging participants to engage with what skills, experiences and even questions about their work that they can share, and supporting them to host discussions or presentations by delivering facilitation training, the Symposium becomes
a social change space not just in terms of its outcomes, but also through its delivery. Open Space empowers participants to understand the Symposium as a space for both learning and sharing.
Coordination
Our Symposium Management Committee includes volunteers from Sri Lanka (Fr. Joshua Sivanganam - Director,
Kaveri Kala Manram Cultural Organisation; Trudy Juriansz - Global Ecovillage Network Oceania & Asia; and Barana Waidyatilake -
Regional Centre for Strategic Studies) and from Australia (Steph Vajda - Director,
Ferment Collaborate; Sumit Panjwani - community facilitator, Ferment Collaborate; Nilanjana Premaratne - doctoral thesis student; and Daniele Constance - producer,
Suitcase Rummage & The Edge).
As we near the Symposium dates (4 to 8 December, 2013) we are also developing a Young Producers Group who will be mentored in event production. This group will help with the detailed design of the event spaces and will assist in hosting
each session and documenting and evaluating the event.
Network building
The Symposium is a significant opportunity to build networks in Sri Lanka and for Australian community workers and the community development sector to contribute skills, experiences and resources to Sri Lankans. One of our major goals
in facilitating the Symposium this year is to explore opportunities for networks, collaboration and shared projects beyond the Symposium, not just between Sri Lankan agencies, but also with Australian agencies and practitioners.
Come along to our Venesa Matram Sri Lanka cultural
night on 6 November if you're in Brisbane to find out more about this campaign, the Symposium and our work in Sri Lanka.
Tickets available from the Changemakers Festival, which
this event is part of: http://changemakersfestival.org/event/venesa-matram-sri-lanka/
