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Developing international networks and collaborations
to support MBI integrity
Intentions:
To create a ‘network of networks’: a container within which Mindfulness-Based
Interventions (MBI) training organisations internationally can meet together to:
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Collectively take responsibility for governance of the MBI field
Investigate the potential for forming an organised network which ‘holds’ and
disseminates a view on MBI integrity, and standards for good practice,
training and teaching competency
Build bridges and conversations within the MBI field to enable alignment
towards common aspirations
In Europe 13 countries are now participating in EAMBA – the European Association
for Mindfulness-Based Approaches and through this are collaboratively working
towards commonly agreed principles on standards. This initiative aims to build a
network which will do this work between countries and training centres
internationally. It will not replace any existing initiatives - the intention is that current
associations and networks will feed their experience and developments into this
process so that the learning can benefit developments on a wider scale.
The plan
- To convene/coordinate a series of linked meetings in parts of the world where
MBI training is happening facilitated by well-known trainers in the international
MBI field
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To use these meetings as an arena to investigate and gather views and
perspectives from a broad representation of international training
organisations
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To synthesise the material/perspectives generated from these meetings into a
proposal for furthering coordinated developments on international MBI
integrity
Three meetings are currently scheduled (fees charged cover venue costs, facilitator
expenses, and a small fee for facilitators who are freelance):
1.
Saturday 9th May 2015 9.30 – 4.30 facilitated by Florence Meleo-Meyer,
Willem Kuyken and Lot Heijke at De Zwanenhof in Zenderen, the Netherlands
(http://www.zwanenhof.nl/266/over-ons/) Please make your application via this link:
http://presentmind.net/international-mindfulness-meeting/
2.
Thursday 2nd July 2015 9.30 – 4.30 facilitated by Christina Feldman, Willem
Kuyken and Rebecca Crane, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Chester, UK. Please apply via
http://www.bangor.ac.uk/mindfulness/regform.php?id=513
3.
Australasia region: trainers in this region are networking together and are
contributing their perspectives to this development. If you would like to link with this
please contact Maura Kenny at the Mindfulness Training Institute Australasia:
maura@mtia.org.au
4.
Africa: June 2015 via virtual link facilitated by Patricia Lück and others from
the Institute for Mindfulness in South Africa. (patricialuck@me.com)
5.
North America, East Coast: Sunday evening, May 17 – 12 noon Tuesday,
May 19 at the CFM, in Shrewsbury, MA. Facilitated by Susan Woods and Saki
Santorelli. Please send an application email with responses to the eligibility
questions below to: susan.woods@outlook.com
6.
North America, West Coast: Friday, May 15 -Saturday, May 16 in Seattle,
WA. Facilitated by Steve Hickman, Tim Burnett and Catherine Phillips. Please send
an application email with responses to the eligibility questions below to:
shickman@ucsd.edu
Each meeting will include guided meditation practice as a way of facilitating
embodied inquiry and dialogue.
Eligibility for participation
Participants will be assessed as eligible for participation in this process through their
responses to the following questions:
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Which mindfulness-based teacher training organisation do you represent?
(please send only one representative from your training organisation)
Which mindfulness-based intervention evidence based does your organisation
train teachers to deliver? (We are only including training organisations that train
teachers in 8-session, internationally disseminated, programmes that originate
from Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction)
Are you willing to make a contribution to international integrity developments
beyond this meeting? Please detail any particular contributions you are
interested in offering. (Possible offerings include help with writing up notes from
meetings, communications, material formations, being part of a working party
etc.)
Do you adhere to good practice standards (e.g. CFM standards
http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/Training/Principles--Standards/ or UK Network
standards - http://mindfulnessteachersuk.org.uk/pdf/GPG4TrainersfinalOct2013.pdf)? Please detail how you and your organisation adhere
to these – are the standards visible and referred to on your website and in your
trainings?
Is your training organisation open to exploring the potential for integrating
assessment of internationally agreed competency standards for mindfulnessbased teachers within your program? Please detail any comments you have on
this proposal.
Anything else you would like to add?
Core questions that the meetings will investigate
- Would your training organisation be interested in contributing and participating to
an international network with rotating leadership (similar to the UN approach) that
has the intention to develop and sustain the MBI field going forwards? If so why?
- Would your training organisation be interested in agreeing, holding and
disseminating standards for good practice and assessment of teaching
competency within the field?
- What benefits might this offer to your work and to the wider development of MBI
work?
- What risks are there in developing a network of this sort?
- What principles, structures and processes would support an international
network?
- Any other perspectives?
We recommend that one person is tasked with taking notes during the meeting and
summarising them afterwards.
What will happen after the meetings?
This entirely depends on what themes, issues and views emerge through the
process. Workshop leaders will take responsibility for collating and summarising the
outcomes of the meeting and these will be pooled centrally. They will meet together
to review the process. At this point it should be clear if there are offers from the
ground to support potential next steps. Decisions will then be made on next steps.
If you would like to attend one of the meetings please follow the links related to that
meeting to apply.
If you want to ask a wider question about this initiative please contact Rebecca
Crane r.crane@bangor.ac.uk