The Taos Institute is a community of scholars and practitioners concerned with the social processes essential for the construction of reason, knowledge, and human value.

 We are a non-profit (501 c3) organization committed to exploring, developing and disseminating ideas and practices that promote creative, appreciative and collaborative processes in families, communities and organizations around the world.

We achieve our educational ends through conferences, workshops, publications, a PhD program, a distance learning program, newsletters, and web-based offerings. We work at the interface between the scholarly community and societal practitioners from communities of mental health, social work, counseling, organizational change, education, community building, gerontology and medicine. We develop and explore the ways in which scholarly research can enrich professional practices, and practices can stimulate scholarly inquiry.

November 16, 2009 at the AI World Conference in Nepal, Jane Magruder Watkins received the Lifetime Achievement Award, from David Cooperrider, for her history of excellent work in Appreciative Inquiry throughout the world.

Visit: http://collaborative-practices.com to read the journal and join the mailing list.

The Journal provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and stories from practitioners, researchers and scholars who utilize collaborative principles in their daily work and disciplines. This forum is intended to help preserve, produce, promote and value dialogical and relational processes and practices which generate new opportunities for collaboration -- toward contributing to greater success in our working and living together locally and globally.

The Journal is designed to serve as one part of a timely and valuable response by spotlighting important interconnected issues such as:

1) the juxtaposition of democracy, social justice, and human rights;
2) the importance of people's voices locally and globally; and
3) the fundamental need for professional collaboration.

The Journal is an open access on-line bilingual (English and Spanish) interactive publication. We invite your participation through the submission of articles and your responses through the Journal blog. And, don't forget to join our mailing list so that you can receive future issues and updates.

Brief Encounters from the Taos Institute are a way to share constructionist ideas with you.  Each month a member of the Taos Institute board of directors or an associate will share an idea or experience that might be an inspiration for you and others.

August 2009 by Dan Wulff - Brief Encounter

July 2009 by Dawn Dole - Collaborating on Summer Activities

June 2009 by Mary Gergen - Generative Conversations