What if conflict isn’t the enemy of community, but the threshold where real resilience is forged? In this moment of ecological crisis, political upheaval, and widespread disconnection, we desperately need communities that can hold both scarcity and abundance, both individuality and interdependence, both breakdown and breakthrough. This experiential workshop invites participants into a journey from isolation to connection through interactive games, embodied communication practices, and the innovative Commons Challenge—a resource-sharing simulation that reveals how our choices either regenerate or deplete collective wellbeing.

Through playful, hands-on activities, you’ll practice the essential skills that resilient communities depend on: recognizing needs beneath behaviors, communicating across difference with clarity and compassion, building trust through vulnerable action, and co-creating cultures of care rather than punishment. Drawing wisdom from over 12 years in homeless shelters and intentional communities—spaces where survival depends on getting this right—this workshop offers not abstract theories but battle-tested practices for navigating the tensions inherent in any community. You’ll discover that the same communication tools that help communities survive crisis also help them thrive in calmer times, and that resilience isn’t about being unbreakable—it’s about learning to repair, regenerate, and begin again together.