The Symposium Launch

4th September 2020

David Glyn

Hola y bienvenidos todos i benvinguts, a tots

Hello and welcome, everyone.

This first word – Welcome – contains a link with the original theme of our Barcelona symposium.  I welcome you, but where, exactly, do I welcome you to? We come together and we are all alone.  We are all included and, at the same time, we are all excluded.

I cannot tell you the excitement and joy that I felt, when I discovered the range of people who have registered to be here. We are joined by fellows from Japan, from Rwanda, from the Republique Democratique de Congo, from the United States, Canada, from South Africa, from India, from Australia, from Israel, from Mexico, Brazil and Amazonia, Russia, Slovenia, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Austria, Finland, Switzerland, Ukraine, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Albania, Serbia and Pais Basco, Catalunya, Spain. I encourage you to explore the list of your fellow participants, seize the opportunities that this weekend offers us, to meet and make new relationships.

This is the possibility which is offered to us by the Web.  And, at the same time, when we can imagine that we are transcending the obstacle of physical distance, which separates us, the substance of the great globe of life, that is our world, disappears.  The vital experience of bringing our bodies together, to touch and speak and to see one another, to join together to demonstrate the power of our combined voices, is lost. At a time when we fear losing that world, we are losing part of ourselves.

This will be the condition of our symposium and, of course, it will create difficulties.  We have tried to make the process as easy as possible, but we know that many will be anxious, some will suffer moments of uncertainty and confusion.  I feel for you, because we have experienced this, as we have worked to arrive at this moment.

What we bring to the symposium is a common spirit, a readiness to meet and celebrate our differences, a recognition that, through sharing our experiences, new thinking becomes possible. Our symposia have always been sources of hope and development for us, in GASi. This is why many of us return, and why we are here, today.

Moving on, I would now like to introduce you to Peter Zelaskowski

Peter Zelaskowski

Bienvenid@s / Hola a tod@s. Desde luego, me gustaría estar dandoos la bienvenida en BCN y en vez de eso, estamos aquí. No puedo negar mi decepción. Hace 3 años y 9 meses que el comité organizador local comenzó el trabajo de poner en marcha un evento que fuera inclusivo, diverso, progresista y relevante. Sin duda, el simposio GASi debe proponerse integrar todas estas cosas. Conseguimos formar acuerdos de trabajo con dos organizaciones nacionales en España. Me complace decir que una de ellas, SEPTG, ha colaborado con nosotros en todo el proceso hasta hoy. Juntos batallamos duramente en reuniones incontables llenas de dudas, incertidumbre y desacuerdos, en 6 comités distintos que formaban una enorme y fea burocracia integrada por personas magníficas de todas partes.

Una meta fundamental del evento de BCN era mantener un bajo coste y mejorar el acceso al evento para colegas de España y de países con economías menos aventajadas. Esto se añadía al continuado objetivo a largo plazo de GASi de ampliar la base de miembros y crear una organización más internacional, diversa e inclusiva. Solo hasta muy avanzado el proceso, a principios del verano pasado, encontramos por fin una sede (o sedes) adecuada, incrustada en una vieja comunidad de gente trabajadora de la ciudad que representaba, tanto en términos de costes como de ubicación, el valor central de inclusividad. En paralelo, poco a poco, mientras nos esforzábamos en negociar y regatear para bajar los costes, se me hizo evidente que hay límites y que era bastante posible que algo propio en nuestros objetivos fuera imposible de conseguir. El hecho es que aunque lográbamos contener los costes, nunca me parecía suficiente. Los costes de participación (registro más viaje más alogamiento más… más… más…) seguían siendo excesivos. Como todos sabemos, fue una pandemia mundial la que nos enseñó cómo mejorar esto. Sospecho que este primer GASi simposio online en GA nos ha permitido mejorar la consecución de nuestros propósitos de enriquecer la internacionalización, la diversidad y la inclusividad. Las tarifas, incluso teniendo que hacer frente a los costes incurridos en los últimos años, son bastante más bajas y el acceso, a través de internet, ha mejorado sustancialmente.

Me siento orgulloso y sorprendido de lo que hemos logrado al preparar un evento puntero, en muy poco tiempo, con el apoyo especializado, amistoso, diligente y paciente de Kuoni, nuestra organización de gestión de eventos, para muchos de nosotros algo imposible de imaginar hace seis meses. Un evento en el que podemos encontrarnos en ningún lugar y en muchos lugares, lejos y cerca, en casa y en el trabajo, en un mundo con nuevos modos y códigos de reunion en grupos para aprender con urgencia… a través de la pantalla. ¡¡Bienvenid@s y a disfrutar!!

Ahora me gustaría presentarles a Luis Palacios, quien es el presidente de SEPTG

Of course, I wanted to be welcoming you to Barcelona but instead we’re here. I cannot pretend that I am not disappointed. Three years and nine months ago the local organising committee started its work of striving to put together an event that was inclusive, diverse, progressive and relevant. Surely, the GASi symposium must strive to be all these things. We successfully formed working alliances with 2 national organisations in Spain, one of which SEPTG, has collaborated with us all the way right up to today. We fought hard through endless meetings filled with doubt, uncertainty and disagreement, in 6 different committees forming a vast ugly bureaucracy.

A fundamental goal of the Barcelona event was to bring costs down and improve accessibility to the event for colleagues from within Spain and from countries less advantaged economically. This being in addition to GASi’s long-term and on-going aim of broadening its membership and creating a more international, diverse and inclusive organisation. It wasn’t until very late in the process, early last summer, that we finally found a suitable venue (or venues) embedded in an old working class community of the city which embodied, both in terms of cost and location, the core value of inclusivity. At the same time, gradually over time and as we struggled to negotiate and haggle to bring our costs down, it became clear to me that there are limits to this and that quite possibly there was something intrinsically unachievable in our goals. The thing is that while we succeeded in bringing costs down, it never appeared to me to be enough. The costs of participating (registration plus travel plus accommodation…plus plus plus) were still way too high. It took a global pandemic to teach how better to go about it. I suspect that this 1^st GASi Online Symposium in Group Analysis has allowed us to better achieve our goals of nurturing internationalism, diversity and inclusivity. The fees, even while still having to cover the costs incurred over the past few years, are significantly lower and, access, by dint of being online, is significantly enhanced.

I’m proud of and surprised by what we’ve achieved in putting together, at short notice, with the skilled, friendly, diligent and patient support of Kuoni, our events management organisation, a cutting edge event, unimaginable to many of us just six months ago. An event during which we can be together, in no place and many places, remote and near, at home and at work, in a world with new modes and codes of gathering in groups to urgently learn…through the screen. Welcome and enjoy!!

I would now like to introduce you to Luis Palacios, who is the President of SEPTG

 Luis Palacios

Hola, como Peter ha señalado, este symposium es muy diferente a los symposiums organizados anteriormente. Dos organizaciones, Septg y Gasi han sido capaces de colaborar en su organización. Por otra parte, se ha permitido el uso de dos lenguas, español e inglés. Pero, sobre todo, por primera vez, éste encuentro no es presencial y se realiza online. Probablemente, no hace muchos años esta situación habría sido impensable.

As Peter pointed out, this symposium is very different than pervious ones. Two organizations, SEPTG and GASi, have been able to collaborate in its organization. On the other hand, it will be able to use two languages, Spanish and English. But above all else, for the first time this encounter is not going to be face to face, it is going to be online. Likely, not many years ago, this situation would have been unthinkable.

Es mi primera experiencia como organizador en un symposium internacional. Me ha sorprendido el esfuerzo que se ha puesto, entre otras cosas con reuniones semanales durante meses vía zoom, y el clima de tolerancia y respeto mutuo que ha prevalecido en nuestros encuentros. Creo que estos dos elementos han resultado claves para que hayamos sido capaces de soportar la tensión del cambio y hacer posible la organización de este congreso.

This is my first experience as symposium organizer. I am surprised by the effort put into the organization, among other things. we attended weekly zoom meetings for months, and the climate of tolerance and mutual respect that prevailed in these meetings. I think, these two elements have been clue factors to allow us to bear the strain associated with change and to make happen the organization of this symposium.

I hope, our own experience as organizer group, in some way, will facilitate the development of the symposium. During these days, I suppose we may be surprised at this new way of meeting. Even, sometimes, it can bother us. But I trust we will be able to overcome these problems and to appreciate the advantages it offers. We have the opportunity that this encounter turns into a very special source of personal and profesional growth. Let’s take advantage of it.

Espero que nuestra propia experiencia como grupo organizador, de alguna manera, facilite el desarrollo del simposio. Durante estos días, supongo que nos sorprenderá esta nueva forma de encuentro. Incluso, a veces, nos puede molestar. Pero confío en que seremos capaces de superar estos problemas y apreciar las ventajas que ofrece. Tenemos la oportunidad de que este encuentro se convierta en una fuente muy especial de crecimiento personal y profesional. Aprovechémoslo.

Ahora me gustaría presentarles a Linde Wotton, presidenta del comité científico del simposium.

Linde Wotton

I remember experiencing the power of language very powerfully when I accompanied my 90 year old mother to Switzerland in order that she could attend a reunion of her classmates from senior school. When I was growing up in the UK, my mother had always been keen that we should speak English ‘properly’ and so did not speak Swiss German to us but I picked up a fair bit when we visited relatives every year. So when I joined the conversation with my mother’s school mates and one of them said I was a ‘richtige Bärner’ – a real Bernese, someone from the canton of Bern, it was an important moment for me. In one instant, through no virtue of my own, but merely of my accent, I was ‘in’, one of the group – because every one of the 22 cantons in the tiny country, whether German, French, Italian or Romansch speaking, has a different accent and patois.

Disculpe mi pobre español.

Durante los próximos dos días y medio lo invitamos a explorar este y muchos otros temas relacionados con los lenguajes de los grupos, a través de grupos pequeños y medianos, sueños sociales, presentaciones magistrales, el grupo grande de más de 300 personas, sub-plenarias, paneles de papel, una galería de carteles y talleres, muchos de los cuales están haciendo un uso extremadamente imaginativo y atractivo del formato en línea para incluir la experiencia corporal y las artes creativas, así como la palabra hablada.

Over the next two and a half days we invite you to explore this and many other issues to do with the languages of groups – through small and median groups, social dreaming, keynote presentations, the large group of more than 300 people, sub plenaries, paper panels, a poster gallery and workshops, many of which are making extremely imaginative and engaging use of the online format to include bodily experience and the creative arts as well as the spoken word.

As you are no doubt aware, the question of language between us will be approached differently in the different formats – simultaneous translation into English and Spanish is provided for this session and the closing one, as well as for the keynote presentations and discussions and for the large group. There are both English language and Spanish language sub plenaries and paper panels and many of the workshops are being delivered jointly in Spanish and English – and indeed several welcome any language. In the experiential groups the question of the power of language to include and exclude will be at the heart of the experience and we rely on the resources of the group to work with this – including, perhaps the use of smartphone apps such as google translate, with which many people are now familiar.

La elaboración de este programa, incluida la posibilidad de que los participantes se unan desde muchas zonas horarias diferentes, ha sido un enorme desafío para el Comité del Programa Científico, cuyos miembros, de España, Dinamarca, Grecia, Israel, Noruega y Serbia, me gustaría agradecer muy sinceramente.

Putting this program together, including allowing for participants joining from many different time zones, has been an enormous challenge for the SSPC, whose members – from Spain, Denmark, Greece, Israel, Norway and Serbia – I would like to thank very sincerely.

Sadly, of course, it has not been possible to include everyone who would have wished to present their work but we hope you will find other satisfying ways of contributing to our first online symposium. Needless to say, we will have made mistakes but hope that together we will find ways of working round them, or like jazz musicians, of improvising in order to incorporate them into the whole. Let me remind you that you can at any time contact the Kuoni staff who will be on hand throughout the symposium to able to help with any technical issues you might come across.

Finally, I would like to thank our team of three large group conductors, the paper panel chairs, the conductors of the small and median groups and the social dreaming hosts for taking on these roles in or new format.

I wish you all a very stimulating few days.