Taos Institute Europe (TIE): A Collective Dream | |
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Taos Institute Europe was originally created to bring constructionist ideas and practitioners together across our diverse continent. After a quiet period, six of us have decided to meet again and revive our collective dream. While we may not yet fully understand what this emerging movement will become, we feel ready to share the kind of space we are striving to recreate—a space that is playful, collaborative, and deeply relational—and one that we hope will continue to grow.
To give you a glimpse of this space, we engaged in the Exquisite Corpse exercise: a collaborative writing activity where individual contributions come together to form an unexpected yet meaningful collective whole. This is the kind of space we would love to design within Taos Institute Europe: exquisite, ever-evolving, both individual and collective, a space that nurtures community while honoring our unique interests. It is a place where creativity flows, where ideas take shape through collaboration, and where the unexpected becomes a source of inspiration.
We invite you to join us in co-creating this space with playfulness to explore, experiment, and dream together.
We are sharing here with you the results of our Exquisite Corpse exercise as an open invitation to connect.
“Who are we? Where are we going? We are a group of enthusiasts—dreamers, doers, and explorers—united by curiosity and a shared commitment to creating a sustainable process for supporting and developing relationships amongst members of the Taos Institute community based in Europe. We embrace the journey, knowing that connection is our starting point.
To build this connection, we like to work with playfulness and curiosity. This helps us understand each other, build trust, and create a space where everyone feels like they belong. Through storytelling and shared experiences, we see each other's strengths and talents, weaving the fabric of our community. At the same time, we feel relationally responsible for our vulnerabilities and mistakes.
We like the idea of learning through action, embracing uncertainty, and allowing ideas to develop organically. Instead of following rigid road maps or well-known methods and dynamics, we invite all to co-create a future where creativity, kindness, and collaboration guide our way. We are aware that this takes time and commitment.
Like the branches of a tree, we stretch, grow, and adapt. Sometimes getting so close that we touch each other and other times taking distance from one another. However, we are generating shared rituals that help us stay connected.
So let’s welcome the unknown, step into this space with open hearts, and build on our shared dreams together. The future isn’t a fixed destination—it’s a journey we shape together.
We don’t know exactly where this journey will take us, but we know it begins with connection. With each step, each shared moment, and each playful exchange, we are shaping something meaningful together. Let’s continue to co-create this story—one that is open, relational, and filled with possibility."
We would love to hear from you! To join in, please visit the TIE group in the Taos Institute Commons online community (free), or contact Garbiñe Delgado-Raack (garbi_nau@yahoo.es) or Celiane Camargo-Borges (celianeborges@gmail.com).
Taos Institute Europe core group: Celiane Camargo-Borges, Giacomo Chiara, Hanna Copini, Garbiñe Delgado-Raack, Mark Hampton, Tomas Horak
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A four-week online course with 3 live meetings
May 19-June 16
9:00-11:00 am EST
Join us in this journey to explore how aspects of the world that are taken for granted are socially constructed, thereby opening space for alternative, more generative ways to engage in complex situations and relationships. In this course you will not just learn about social constructionist theory and practice but also connect it to the challenges you face in your own work and explore the tremendous positive impact that this paradigm shift can have on society at large.
The interactive course includes 3 live zoom meetings. Between meetings, participants meet with a conversational partners to discuss the material (articles and videos) and questions for reflection. Join our learning community to experience first hand how knowledge is co-created! Learn more.
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Your facilitator:
Celiane Camargo-Borges, co-author of Design Thinking and Social Construction
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Self-Paced Course, Start Anytime
What if there was no one "truth" but multiple, and all possible, realities? What if rather than resolving conflict, you could learn to appreciate and work with differing views? What if there was always a possibility to ask "how else could this be"?
We are pleased to introduce the Taos Institute's first online self-paced course! In six modules, each with 3 short videos and questions for reflection, Ken Gergen introduces basic premises of social constructionist theory and how they apply to professional practices in all domains as well as everyday life. Learn more.
Look out for an announcement later this month!
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Includes six modules with videos by Taos Institute Co-founder & President Ken Gergen! | |
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Loek Schoenmakers, The Netherlands
April 2, 1-2pm EST
In this free webinar series, practitioners from around the world showcase ways to co-construct more positive and hopeful futures. In this session, Loek Schoenmakers shares his experiences in applying social construction in educational settings, ranging from nationwide change programs in The Netherlands, to the transformation of research approaches in his teacher training institute, to school activities in which students learn from real life experiences how to deal with differences, make decisions together, solve problems and support each other as preparation for their participation in society. More details.
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You will be prompted to join, or sign in to, the Taos Institute Commons online community to access these events. It's free, quick and easy, and will give you instant access to events, resources, announcements, and a global network centered around social constructionist, relational, and appreciative practices. | | |
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March 19, 2-2:30pm EST
Whether you are new to the Taos Institute Commons online community or already a member (it's free and easy to join!), you are invited to this informal gathering to meet others in our global network to share stories of how you are applying (or hoping to apply) social constructionist, relational and appreciative approaches in your work and life. Stop by to say hello, we would love to meet you.
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Join with over 2300 members from around the world in the Taos Institute Commons online community (free) as we explore social constructionist, relational, and appreciative theory and practices. You will instantly get access to free webinars, free books, event replays, announcements, workshops and courses, special interest and language groups, and meaningful connections with others interested in creating more promising futures, one conversation at a time.
Join in the Taos Institute Commons — it's free, quick and easy, to become a part of our global family!
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TIE is a center of gravity for researchers, practitioners and other like-minded people in Europe, who challenge the known and frozen paradigms of understanding, to build a better world for tomorrow. Join the TIE group in the Taos Institute Commons online community (free) to meet other relational practitioners in Europe.
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TILAC serves as a regional and language hub to strengthen networks of cooperation and support among Spanish- and Portuguese-speakers; share and validate the unique knowledge and practices emerging from these regions; and contribute to the promotion of social constructionist thought. Join the Spanish or Portuguese group in the Commons (free), follow TILAC on Facebook or email tilac@taosinstitute.net.
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The mission of TIJ is to build a network of collaboration and support led by Taos Institute Associates in Japan; to create a forum for dialogue centered on theory, to gather interesting cultural practices in Japan, and to disseminate them both domestically and internationally; and to contribute to the dissemination of social constructionist theory by translating foreign literature and organizing seminars. Visit the Taos Institute Japan Facebook page to connect with TIJ.
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Taos Associates represent a network of more than 800 scholars and practitioners around the world, who have demonstrated exceptional talents, research, practices, and dedication relevant to the Taos Institute’s mission. You can find Taos Associates in your area on our website. TIAC is hosting two Virtual Tea, Story & Play sessions on April 15: 8:30am and 12:00pm — everyone is invited!
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The ICCP Network, co-hosted by The Houston Galveston Institute and The Taos Institute, is an interdisciplinary program that provides an intensive, in-depth study of postmodern-social construction-relational theory and the possibilities for personal, organizational, and social transformation. The next ICCP workshop will be held on March 14, 5:00-8:00pm EST (English and Spanish): Opening Pathways through Dialogic Collaborative Practices in Hierarchically Structured Systems.
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Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry
March 20, 2025, 12:30-1:30pm EST
This free webinar is to hear from and converse with contributing authors and guest editors of the November 2024 issue of the AI Practitioner Journal, Naturalising Appreciative Inquiry. Details
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The Now I See A Person Institute
April 6, 2025, 1:00-4:00pm EST
A panel of practitioners and consumers reflects on research, case studies, and lived experiences. We have found that viewing individuals as responding to real-life challenges rather than mental illness and focusing on resilience can help cease symptoms and promote thriving without interventions. Details
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Fundación Interfas
Starts April 29, 2025
The Interfas Foundation (Argentina), in collaboration with The Taos Institute (USA), sponsor a virtual diploma for professionals interested in expanding their understanding and skills of generative practices, the opportunity to learn a perspective and new resources that allow them to work with relational and dialogic creativity. In Spanish and Portuguese. Details
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JST Institute
May 31, 2025, 9:30am-4:30pm EST
When people are consumed by despair and a sense of forboden, the notion of reengaging with hope and possibility can be challenging and risk trivializing their experience. We will explore the key elements of an inspiring, liberating conversation that generates hope, restores personal choice, strengthens social connection, and contributes to personal agency? Details
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One way the Taos Institute carries out its mission to create brighter futures through social construction is by creating and disseminating a wide variety of resources for scholars, practitioners, and students interested in dialogic and relational approaches. These free resources span many disciplines and languages. To suggest a resource, email info@taosinstitute.net. | | |
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This month's feature: Justice in the Making: Relating, Participating, Communicating
In this groundbreaking new book, Taos Associate Robyn Penman, invites you to explore a new imagination of justice as something we make together in the dynamic process of relating and communicating. This new imagination exposes the inadequacies of conventional views of justice in both social and legal contexts and offers exciting new possibilities for co-creating a relationally responsible justice. Read more.
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The Taos Institute is a non-profit educational organization. We strive to keep our offerings free or at low cost to make social constructionist, relational, and appreciative ideas available to as many people as possible around the globe. Please consider supporting our mission of creating brighter futures through social construction by making a donation. For small, convenient monthly contributions, consider becoming a sustaining donor. | | | | |
