South Wales Estuary meetup

A space for open conversation – everyone welcome!

What actually happens at an Estuary event?

• Glad you asked! An Estuary event is a two-hour conversation, but not just any conversation.
• Estuaries are where fresh water meets salt water, and ‘Estuary Conversations’ are a structured approach to help different people and ideas to meet and engage together.
• We especially welcome people from different ideological backgrounds, different religions, different political persuasions, different perspectives on current events.
• In other words, we appreciate intellectual diversity, and we really like intellectual honesty and free expression.

What is the goal of an Estuary conversation?

• Our goal is to listen and learn, and perhaps even learn to love.
• We use a protocol that encourages mutual respect and openness to new ideas.

How is the topic of the evening set?

• There is no pre-determined agenda. Nobody comes with a prepared lesson.
• In a rather unique democratic fashion, each participant puts a topic on the table, and then we decide together which topic(s) lend themselves best to having an interesting and productive conversation during that session.
• Each session is different, because each session begins with new topics, as shared by whoever is present for that session.
• So if you were to join us for any given event, you would be able to put your favorite topic on the table, alongside the topics of every other participant, and then we would decide together which topic seems most interesting to proceed with. It could be yours!
• Of course, no-one should feel pressured to contribute. You can always pass, and just observe what happens.

What topics typically come up?

• We like to deal with what we call the big questions of life, like morality, justice, or any other difficult question in the news today, but, to be clear, no topic is off limits, whether it is about religion, or personal relationships, or how to make friends.
• Estuary groups have delved into topics like abortion, mental health, homelessness, and even psychedelic mushrooms.
• On rare occasions even God makes an appearance (as a topic)!

Join us for the South Wales group in Treforest on the first Thursday of every month, at Parc Arts community arts centre.

Parc Arts is a roughly 25-minute drive from Cardiff and a short walk from Treforest train station. Tea, coffee and biscuits provided.