Consensus Organizing in Costa Rica!

Next summer, six SDSU undergraduate students will spend five weeks in Costa Rica teaching and practicing Consensus Organizing!  As part of the new six-unit study abroad course, called The Costa Rican Organizing Project, students will travel to the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica and volunteer with the nonprofit organization CEPIA (culture, education, and psychology of children and adolescents).  In addition to assisting with CEPIA’s daily tasks, students will work with a group of local teenagers to develop a new project at CEPIA to address an issue in their community.  COC Program Managers Drew Lautemann will teach the course, and students are currently being recruited from the A.I.M. for Law program and other programs of the COC.  We are very excited to expand our work to another region of the world and look forward to seeing the impact it has on our students and in Costa Rica!  Stay tuned for updates as the course develops!

Consensus Organizing and Technology

Who would have thought?! Consensus Organizing and technology lines are blurring as the COC takes on a new community based project in partnership with the San Diego Foundation. This fall the COC selected 30 leaders throughout the community to learn more about Consensus Organizing and how to gather the voice of those voices not otherwise heard in community outreach efforts. Equipped with an iPad2 leaders have the task of communicating with at least 250 residents in identified low broadband communities throughout San Diego. Some of these neighborhoods include: City Heights, Linda Vista, El Cajon, Logan Heights (Southeast San Diego), and College Area. Program Managers Jen Henry and Laura Cohen have been working diligently with all leaders for our November 30th launch date and will keep you posted on the exiting merge of technology and organizing!