By Alvina Hovhannisyan, Board Member of Paideia Alumni Association, Lecturer at Yerevan State University, and tutor of “Jewish study week” annual seminar project in Armenia. With the help of an ROI Micro Grant Alvina attended “Shifting Thought Shifting Action” in Berlin in February 2013.

I am very grateful to ROI community for making possible my attendance to the amazing gathering “Shifting Thought Shifting Action” in Berlin.

The participation in Shifting Though Shifting Action conference was really an inspiring and unique experience for me. From the first moment when I signed up for the program a certain image of the event had been formed in my mind full of excitement and expectations. But my impression was far beyond my expectations the moment the conference started.

The professionally organized sessions, chai talks, group discussions and networking conversations provided a vivid atmosphere of connectedness and spirit of an amazing community.

This conference gave to the professionals, representatives of different communities a valuable opportunity to share their experience in building and maintaining communities, to express their concerns and get recommendations from each other.

The journey from the past to the future through personal stories, statements and questions created a real bridge between generations and people from different places confirming the statement of one of the chai talkers “Community is not a place, but space”. It is a space for self-expression and self-identification for every member of community who can be a leader without formal right to lead but possesses the authority.

Open space discussion platform revealed the range of concerns and challenges facing Jewish communities and integrated the participants into fruitful debates.

Skill sessions offered a big range of instruments from the theoretical or conceptual approaches to highly practical recommendations in community building process.

Everyone is a member of a network - personal, performance or strategic but sometimes the borders of those networks are not clear and therefore new communities are created based on common values and interests.

Communities are functioning through financial means. On one hand the fundraising is an essential way that makes the community alive with events but on the other hand the fundraising itself can be a platform to create a community where everyone has his contribution for the sake of other, and it’s not just a donation but an important gathering around warm soup table.

While leaving Berlin, I felt the important impact of the conference on me.  Beforehand a meeting had been planned with Paideia community members where I was supposed to present Alumni Association, its objectives and vision.  During my presentation in Stockholm, I realized that after the Berlin gathering I became more confident in my approach in community issues and therefore my later activities got more motivation and inspiration