You, Me, We, Together
Download this as a PDF Circles of Hope
A Circle of Hope is a small group of people who meet regularly to support each other, make sense of things, and take practical action to build a kinder, more cooperative world, and a livable future for all.
Building a new economy based on cooperation and kindness is a huge task, but one we must surely undertake. Around the world, millions of people are already working on it. To achieve it fully we are going to need a huge global citizens’ movement – a global Circle of Hope. It will need to be large, but it must also include spaces where ordinary people can participate. We can do this by forming local Circles of Hope with our friends and neighbours.
This is a very wild strategy, to believe that a global movement can grow from first one, then a hundred, then a million local Circles of Hope, when there is as yet no global coordinating body. The urgency of the time is great, however, and we need to start somewhere. So why not in your own home? The movement to abolish slavery began with a handful of Mennonites and Quakers in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1688.
Likewise, the first meetings to form labor unions happened in the 1640s when tailors, shoemakers, printers and weavers met secretly in London to set minimum wage demands, organize strikes, collect dues, and help their members during disputes, leading to the first documented strike in 1667. All big things start with something small.
Starting a Circle
What will make a Circle successful?
A core group of three or more open-minded people who are willing to persevere for eight or more meetings.
A group agreement about how you will interact with each other and manage conflicts in a positive, constructive way. (See below)
A commitment to be a social circle as well as an action circle. To take time to get to know each other, and build caring relationships. If it’s not fun, it’s not sustainable.
A shared understanding of what your circle can achieve. (See below)
Steering clear of self-important people, and those who want to persuade you of the rightness of their views, whether it’s a fundamentalist approach to religion, a conspiracy theory, or some version of blaming immigrants for the woes of the world.
Getting Started
To form a Circle, find two or more people who will form your core. Ask around: “Has anyone read The Economics of Kindness, or watched one of the author’s talks?” and invite them to a potluck. Limit the size of your circle to twelve. Take time to prepare your thoughts before the first meeting. What follows are suggestions for the first 5 meetings.
For a successful meeting, you don’t need to be an expert facilitator—just someone who is willing to hold time, invite quieter voices in, and keep the circle moving – to hold the balance between the desired agenda, and what you want to get done, and the needs of the moment. If you are going to depart from what you planned to do, check with the group that this is okay. A group can lose energy if there is either a failure to follow an agenda, and things done, or (b) a failure to read the room, and where people are at. There are times when it’s important to push through, to complete an agenda, and times when it’s good to let it go, and pick it up again next time.
1st Meeting – Getting to Know Each Other
When you have eaten, move your chairs into a circle and tell people why you invited them. Share what forming a Circle of Hope would involve, meeting weekly or twice a month to make a difference, supporting each other as you take on new initiatives.
Invite people to share in four rounds, 2’ each for each round:
Round 1: Introduce yourself – who are you?
Round 2: What are your fears for the future? If you sometimes feel overwhelmed with anxiety, how do you cope?
Round 3: What are your hopes for the future? And what do you need to sustain that hope?
Round 4: On a scale of 0-10, how much does the idea of forming a Circle of Hope interest you?
For those who score 5 or more, are they willing to commit to an initial eight meetings?
If someone wants to pass, and not answer, reassure them that this is ok.
If someone becomes emotional, or distressed, agree as a group that you might be able to sit with it, and hold the moment, rather than intervening to make it better, which is the immediate impulse for people who are highly empathic.
If your meetings stall, slow down, circle the group to ask how people are feeling. Take care of each other before moving on.
Decide how often you want to meet, where, and whether you’ll do a full potluck or just nibbles and drinks. “Twice a month” is easier to put in diaries than “Every two weeks”.
Tell people about the next meeting – Making Sense of What’s Happening in the World, and invite them to think about their ideas.
Finish this and every meeting with ten minutes to ask “How did it go?”, and to gather suggestions for improvements.
2nd Meeting – Making Sense of What’s Happening in the World
Social Circle: share how you are each doing, and any news from your personal lives. Do this before every meeting. It will help you get to know each other, and stay together.
Share for 3’ each in turn: “What are the big ideas that enable you to make sense of what’s happening in the world?”, then open it up for discussion.
Suggest that in a month’s time you will discuss the book The Economics of Kindness, and invite people to read it. Go round the circle and ask if there are other books or talks people recommend, to widen your shared thinking.
Tell people about the next meeting – Creating a Group Agreement – and encourage them to read here, here, and here.
3rd Meeting – Creating a Group Agreement
Social Circle: share how you are doing, and any interesting news from your personal lives.
Take it in turn to share your thoughts about creating a Group Agreement, which will set down how you want to interact with each other. To say “be kind” is easy, but all sorts of interpersonal difficulties can cause conflict, such as someone who interrupts a lot, someone who is not good at listening, someone who talks all the time, someone who likes to assume control, or someone who doesn’t share what they are feeling. You will need to be willing to discuss these things, and not brush them under the carpet.
Include a clause about your group’s commitment to non-violence, while supporting non-violent civil disobedience against unjust laws or decisions.
Take it in turn to share the kinds of clauses you would like to see in a Group Agreement, with a volunteer writing them down. Invite someone to come to your next meeting with a written draft.
With regard to intimate or vulnerable details of your lives, you might want to agree that “What happens in the Circle stays in the Circle”.
If someone does become harmful, dominating, abusive, manipulative, or destabilizing, discuss how you will deal with it. Write your conclusions into your Group Agreement, with asking the person to leave as a last resort.
Think ahead to the next meeting – Local Action Mapping.
4th Meeting – Local Action Mapping
Social Circle: share how you are doing, and any interesting news from your personal lives.
Check in on your Group Agreement, to see how it’s going.
Use a flip chart to build a map that will show who holds power locally. What campaigns or struggles are happening to build a better world? What are the gaps that no one is addressing?
Think ahead to your next meeting – What Shall We Focus On? and the suggested ideas.
5th Meeting – What Shall We Focus On?
Social Circle
Use the meeting to discuss possible actions and initiatives (see below). Note the ideas people like, and those that have the most appeal. Discuss each for ten minutes, then settle on one, ideally something you can achieve within three months rather than three years. This will bring you together as a group and give you confidence to set larger goals.
Keep it simple. Delay talking about money and formal structures for at least 3 months, or until you need to.
Ask if those who have the skill and confidence would like to take it in turn to facilitate the meetings, so it’s not always the same person.
Name your Circle. Choose something unique that leaves room for other local circles, such as “Raven’s Peace Circle of Hope,” or “Westeros Circle of Hope”.
Think about what your focus will be for the next meeting, and if preparation is needed. End each meeting this way, thinking ahead to the next meeting, before your final meeting review.
Action Possibilities
Support an existing initiative to build something new or to resist oppression.
Join a political party, and work to influence its policies.
Support a candidate in an election, and work to get her or him elected.
Organize a conference to bring the ideas in The Economics of Kindness to a wider public.
Organize a private conference. Invite leaders from local non-profits and initiatives that are already working for change to discuss how you can work together to change the world.
Approach local organizations to see if they’d be interested in a presentation about Circles of Hope – labor unions, climate action groups, housing crisis groups, political parties, Rotary Clubs, school youth groups, ecological restoration groups, etc.
Choose a topic, such as affordable housing, and organize a conference to spread awareness of the solutions and mobilize support for faster action.
Invite friends and neighbors to a potluck and tell them about your Circle of Hope, to see if they might be interested to form their own.
Create a website, and/or use social media to share what you are doing.
Establish yourselves as an organized non-profit, to give your group staying power as people come and go.
Set up meetings with local politicians to build relationships, tell them what you are doing, and share big ideas.
Start a book club for people whose main interest is discussing books and watching videos about social, political and environmental change.
13 to 100 – your ideas!
Talking With Those Who See the World Differently
To make progress, we will need to reach beyond our comfort zones and listen to people with very different views. Researchers have found that one magic question makes people more willing to consider changing their minds: “I was interested in what you’re saying. Can you tell me more about how you came to think this?” See here and here.
Thinking Globally
If you’d like to share your experience in forming a Circle, I invite you to use the contact form.
Some Circles may last for years; others may feel complete after a season. If you choose to end, do so with purpose, and a final sharing. Ending well, with gratitude and reflection, is also a form of success.
If this takes off, there will hopefully soon be a website with a map of Circles, shared stories, regular gatherings (in person and online) and a coordination hub.
Guy Dauncey, August 2026