An Emerging Human Capacity…

This book describes a practice: Collective Presencing.
A collective practice, with many different elements.
Its purpose is to act – collectively – in more life-affirming ways, using the collective wisdom of the people gathered.
It is collective sense-making and meaning-making, integrating our diverse ways of knowing. Based on deep circle practice, it weaves authentic, individual contributions into a new synergy, needed for the many complex issues we need to address in our world. This book gradually unfolds and answers to the question: What becomes possible when we are truly present, together? Read more

Appreciation

Bonnitta Roy — founder of Alderlore, associate at Perspectiva, professor at Graduate Institute
“While, most people working in the field of collective practice focus on one or the other as separate domains, Ria has identified them as locations along a spectrum of skills that people can cultivate by participating in group process. … In this book, Ria has succeeded, both intellectually and through the wisdom of practical experience, in connecting the parts into a greater whole, which is the standard by which all the other styles should be evaluated.”
… read more in About the book

Julie Arts — senior faculty Presencing Institute:

“Ria’s book offers a lot of clarity about the path of ‘letting go’ and ‘letting come’, crucial in the process of innovation and change. … But for me the most unique gift of this book is ‘language’. Ria was able to give words to concepts that are intangible and/or that are so often used in the world of social change without having a shared understanding what they really mean.”
… read more in About the book

Samantha Slade — co-founder Percolab and author Going Horizontal:

“Collective Presencing, is a critical piece of writing that helps us begin to really see this realm of the subtle the human species carries as a gift. …
If you work in co-creation and emergence, or aspire to, then this book is for you. It helps you see what you might already be doing well and amplify it. It helps you have a view on the field that is so elusive to name.”

… read more in About the book

About the author

Ria Baeck likes to explore terrain where her inner senses tell her there is potential to be uncovered. Always scanning what’s new in work, collaboration and co-creation, the question: “What is the next bit of potential that is ready to take form?” is always alive in her. In that way she is a track-finder for many to follow.

Ria also loves to understand why the things are working as they do, and how. Always digging one step deeper; discovering what is essential in how we deal with complex challenges, individually and collectively. In that sense she is an illuminator who likes sharing her fresh questions and insights with others. Read more

E-book + pdf download

In the end, we aim for a beautiful, printed version of this book on Collective Presencing. For now, we are delighted to share this e-book and pdf (for a spiral bound version) on: What becomes possible when we are truly present together? We want to make the book available online, without any pay wall. Thousands of hours were given to figure out the underlying principles and articulate them in this book. Everyone involved in this process believed it would make a difference in the world, and now we joyfully offer the product of that work as a gift to the commons. Download

Events

See our Events page for details about:

  • Weekly open drop-in calls at the Stoa, (and, separately, francophone ones!)
  • 6- or 8-week ‘Deep Dive’ group

Resources

Below some snippets from an interview in 2017. See more resources on our dedicated Resources page, or on our Youtube channel!

How it all began! Where the original spark came from that led, eventually, to this book.
How one type of circle practice came to its end, and another level was intuited.
There is always more potential, in individuals, in teams, in larger systems – and the unfolding isn’t linear