When I boarded my flight to the U.S. from Edinburgh, I was not sure what to expect from The Gambrell Foundation partners convening. The agenda excited me, because it promised the opportunity to engage with so many different people. At the same time, it was so unconventional that it was hard to guess what sort of conversations we would be engaging in. That combination, incredible people and a very open approach to letting them engage with each other, seemed to create the magic that emerged.
Going into the meetings without strong preconceptions helped everyone open up to talk to experts and practitioners one might not have planned to approach first had the convening been organised more traditionally (for example, around narrowly defined thematic groups or networks). Within two hours of arriving, I learned that the work we do at d|part on people’s understanding of economic change in their communities linked closely to the work on individualism of colleagues based in a divinity faculty — an unexpected match for someone born in Magdeburg, East Germany (in the former German Democratic Republic), one of the least religious regions of Europe.
This was my second time visiting Charlotte and, once again, I was impressed by the huge degree of curiosity everybody seems to have, coupled with an openness to lean into that curiosity. You can feel it when people start talking to you while you have some food in a bar at night (my clothes apparently gave off a “European” vibe that was the starting point for long conversations over some great local beer). And that same passion for exchange was present throughout the entirety of The Gambrell Foundation convening. I think I started to really understand why the work undertaken is not just about supporting great initiatives in several places, but also why Charlotte is a special place to bring people together to develop meaningful exchanges.
When I normally get to join research, policy, or advocacy workshops and conferences, the goal is to narrow down focus and activity. The belief presumably is that this is what it means to be purposeful. What I found so inspiring during my time at the convening in Charlotte was that there was also a strong sense of purpose and a desire to drive positive change. But the approach to achieve this was not to narrow perspectives; instead, we were invited to widen them. And that is precisely what happened for me. Not only did I make unexpected research and knowledge-based connections, I also learned about initiatives from so many fantastic organizations that put theory into practice, showing us what change really looks like.
The key to creating this spirit was the passion to learn. Even in research-based advocacy and policy work, we are so often focussed on the talking points and the executive summary (or the summary social media post). Here, we were invited to engage in reflections and discussions that went deep and encouraged us to read whole books, because not everything can be communicated in a short policy brief. There was also no restriction on what sources learning could come from. Some were grounded in the deep experiences of local practice, some in work that involved greater abstraction from long-term study. Many organizations claim that they care about knowledge from various stakeholders, but most then proceed to prioritize dominant forms of expertise regardless. This was not the case here.
This enabled exchange across countries, which is so enriching. There was so much interest in work carried out in Europe and an openness to asking what aspects of good practices could be adapted to activities in the U.S. Being able to share some of our insights from Germany, the U.K., and other places across the European Union, was therefore a real privilege. We also felt that openness a few weeks prior to the gathering when my colleagues brought a group of young people from Düsseldorf in Germany to work together with their peers in Charlotte in our two-city project where young people co-create plans for better participation avenues locally.
But all these experiences also created a strong sense in me that there is a lot we can learn in Europe. Exchange is a two-way affair, and the convening really encouraged me to share with hopes of creating opportunities to let more people back home benefit from this wealth of knowledge and experience. European civil society could learn a lot about how such truly open approaches can enhance connections, the development of ideas, and the sharing of great practices. Personally, I left Charlotte with a strong sense of enthusiasm to engage in such exchanges going forward, and I hope to be doing it together with many of the people I had the privilege of connecting with during these unique and inspiring two days.