The first full day of Initiative Forum began early for some with yoga practice, then gradually for everyone in the breakfast hall.

When we found ourselves all gathered together again in the glorious Kulturhuset i Ytterjärna main hall, Liam and Arne, our hosts for the day, welcomed us back together and introduced the first plenary session: an open conversation with the esteemed Maori Grandmother Pauline E Tangiora.

Instead of a traditional lecture style, we sat on the stage together with Grandmother Pauline; children of earth around a fire of wisdom.

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Following the traditional Swedish fika (translates to some blend of ‘break’ and ‘coffee’), Jonna and Myrian helped us to get to know each other with some icebreaker (borderbreaker) games, story sharing and ‘energiser’ activities. Another exquisite piece of catering artistry later and we’re on to lunch cleanup again; with the ice broken we’re swimming in clear interpersonal waters.

Onto a fantastic suite of workshops exploring qualities of emotion, healing, groundedness, dreaming and activism in which the first seeds of sharing could really take root.

Afternoon fika, mingling and, for some, time for a quick rest, and then we were onto the last structured part of the day: Open Space. For any who aren’t familiar with open space technology, it is a curated space to share our own expertise with each other, and crucial to the co-creation process.

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Dinner, more football, inside and outside fireplaces and a living, curling choral celebration, and we’re being invited once more to the main hall for Florian (Fougue) powerful mixture of jazz-inspired piano and confident, throaty vocals. Phase two on the stage is effortlessly filled with the stylish Swedish rhymes of Vulvanas, and what is becoming a tradition, a DJ finished the night; more limb-flinging beats.

One last cup of tea, one last cinnamon scroll, a little mopping, a linger at the outside fireplace, and we began to scatter, satisfied with another full day.