Bees and dandelions provide rich metaphors for our facilitation, community engagement and partnership planning approach. Catherine Rockandel's work engages stakeholders with different perspectives to ensure a rich cross-pollination of ideas. She is skilled at evoking participation, collaboration and creativity while honoring the diversity of the group and affirming its wisdom. This approach builds understanding and sustains the adaptive capability of people to engage in the process of change.

Partnership Methodology

Communities, organizations and institutions are linked through networks of social interaction. Connectivity is a key success factor for sustainable communities and organizations. Partnerships support connectivity by providing meaningful linkages that allow organizations to lever their mandates, goals and limited resources. They also create opportunities to share stories, define identity, and build networks of inter-linked relationships. Our partnership methodology utilizes facilitation to move the process from one of consultation to collaboration in the research, planning and implementation phases. This consensus-based participatory approach builds organizational and individual leadership capacity.

We get to know our clients and their history. We work collaboratively to facilitate shared learning, to clarify roles, purpose, and responsibilities as well as identify effective action strategies that contribute to organizational and community success. This work is informed by Catherine's interdisciplinary MA from Simon Fraser University that examined the transition and sustainability of resource dependent communities in British Columbia.

Process Design & Facilitation Methodology

Catherine Rockandel is a certified professional facilitator by the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) and has completed the professional facilitator program offered by the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA). As well she has undertaken training on facilitating dialogue on divisive issues. Catherine works to help her clients, their stakeholders and partners connect more deeply with one another, and with their common concerns and purpose.

She has a strong grasp and practice of the dynamics and "how-to’s" of the art and science of group facilitation. Catherine effectively uses core facilitative methods to design and lead large or small group processes. She maintains objectivity while reading the underlying dynamics of the group to help them by releasing blocks to the process.