“There will be no community without first communing”
Now more than ever our communities are divided and polarized.
The possibilities for people to respond to events of the polycrisis depend upon their ability to improvise and learn together within their complexity. One way to tend to this ability to commune is through the Warm Data Practices.
Whatever your occupation, whatever you do in life, whoever you are, seeing complexity and trans-contextuality, looking for ‘symmathesy’ and warm data, embracing ambiguity and paradox (such as double binds), will stand you and those you touch in good stead to tackle the ‘wicked problems’ we now face as a society. Because of our conditioning, we are too often unwittingly part of the problem, despite our best intentions.
Diving deeply into the practices of being a Warm Data host, we are more likely to tend to the possibilities of ‘readying’ for change to meet the brokenness of the existing structures and systems. It’s not just how we are able to ‘act’ it’s looking at what and how it is possible to ‘act’
Being a Warm Data Host offers the possibility of seeing, feeling, thinking, and knowing differently.
And the Warm Data Practices are described as being ‘practices for a broken world’.
Join us in being trained by Nora Bateson in our Warm Data practices.
“There are unexpected possibilities that await in another order of parallel approaches. There is a territory of communication, relationships and daily living that allows for a total change—it is within reach, but not in the solutions currently being reached for.”
What are the Warm Data Practices?
Grounded in over a century of deep theoretical roots and a lineage of systems thinking, the Warm Data practices transform complexity science into an experiential approach of profound mutual learning and relationship building.
There are two warm data practices made for today’s fragmented and broken world—Warm Data Labs and People Need People (PNP) Online.
The Warm Data Lab is created to help release and revitalize sensitivity to the sacred processes of life that have been fragmented by the last several hundred years of history.
People Need People Online adapts this practice to offer uniquely rich and storied online communication, in contrast to the common experience of polarized and divisive digital communication patterns.
By shifting perspectives through a transcontextual conversational structure, the Warm Data practices:
addresses the fractures that have entered into the way contexts of day-to-day life are presented as separate.
allows people with no previous exposure to complex systems theory to perceive the systemic relational patterns, interactions, and interdependencies in their communities, generating a nuanced systemic understanding of their circumstances.
strengthens the collective ability within families and communities to perceive, discuss, and articulate the complexity of the issues they face.
inspires unimagined possibilities opening new ways of seeing, living and communing.
There is no goal in a PNP session or a Warm Data Lab as they are not about solving identified problems. Instead, they allow movement through many aspects of memory and perception that can alter the underlying assumptions about who I am, who you are, and what life is about.
These sessions have been designed to deepen the collective perception of complexity through personal stories, and professional expertise. Together these groups of people are building relationships that build relationships that build relationships— a vital ingredient of how systems change happens.
One of the most profound experiences of Warm Data is the observation that ‘Your story changed my story’, The joy of Warm data is that the how this change shows up are both completely unpredictable and profound. There is no way to know what will change, when, or with whom.
This is fundamental to the theory and the practice of Warm Data.
“The most important task of this moment is to generate a base of people who are eager to practice perceiving the complexity and interdependency in every aspect of our lives.”
About the online host training:
This training is challenging. It is a rich blend of theory and practice, both of which are essential to a deep grounding and upskilling to run the warm data practices. (People Need People sessions and Warm Data Labs).
As a certified host you’ll come away with the tools and knowledge to set up and facilitate groups going through the practices. This includes the structure, timing, and form of the sessions, troubleshooting, guidelines of what not to etc.
We will also guide you through the theoretical underpinnings of the Warm Data Lab & PNP practices.
The theories that will be discussed and explored include:
Patterns that connect. Bertrand Russel’s Logical Levels. Difference that makes a difference. Multiple description. Mutual learning and calibration (Symmathesy). Iterative multi-modal learning. Aphanipoiesis. Mind (G. Bateson). Systems and complexity theory. Ecology of communication. Double bind. Conscious purpose. Epistemological frames. Abductive process. Change in complex systems. Interdependency. Requisite variety. Schismogenisis. Transcontextual processes. Integrity, Improvisation/sense-making.
As a Warm Data Host, you will also:
Join an international community of Warm Data hosts.
Gain access to an online Warm Data platform to share insights.
Meet online monthly with other Warm Data hosts from around the world for practice session, organizing projects, contributing and have an open invitation to attend regular theory booster session, reading salons on Bateson and other materials.
When:
April 28th - May 19th, 2025.
The training is delivered online in 13 sessions over three weeks, including a special session for “Tech and Care” on May 6th, so 13 sessions in total.
Days:
The training takes place on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays,Thursdays and Fridays.
Time:
The training will take place 6pm-9pm (CEST)
Optional Discussion Groups:
There are optional discussion groups that take place on Wednesdays at 6pm-7pm, Tuesdays and Fridays’ at 5pm-5.45pm
Post Training Follow-Up:
As this course takes place online, there are two additional 3-hour booster sessions to support you running in-person Warm Data Labs.
There is also the opportunity to take part in a monthly practicum series that takes place every two weeks for three to four months.
ALL PARTICIPANTS MUST ATTEND EVERY TRAINING DAY TO BE CERTIFIED AS A WARM DATA HOST.
Course Fee:
€2300 (EUR) - Organisational / Supporter rate — The additional funds will allow us to offer more places at the Low Wage / Low Resource price point
€1800 (EUR) - Individual / Non-profit Organisational rate
€1100 (EUR) - Low Wage / Low Resource rate — A limited number of Low Wage/ Low Resource places are available at the discretion of the organizing team. If you intend to apply for this, please provide information on your circumstances and why you are applying.
About the International Bateson Institute:
We are a not-for-profit organisation, so there is limited abundance, and everything we have is being paid forward. As a general rule, we don’t charge for Warm Data Labs or People Need People sessions. Donations and grants cover all of our operational expenses and public-facing work.
We deeply appreciate everyone who chooses to join our course. The payment system is designed to balance economic accessibility, with those who have greater financial resources helping to support those with less. We trust that you can thoughtfully consider your own position within this global economic framework and contribute accordingly.
Our Organisational / Supporter rate will allow us to offer additional sponsorship places to those who otherwise would not be able to attend. Your generosity is appreciated.
“Nora’s goal is to apply mutual learning in living systems to effective responses to economic injustice, gender inequality, ecological destruction, and other challenges facing our modern world… [Warm data] is information about relationships... [The Warm Data Lab] avoids binary positions, such as right-left politics, or science versus mysticism.”