Peace and Reconciliation Centre

UFV/Peace and Reconciliation Centre/Projects & Collaborations/Beyond Blankets/Before Beyond Blankets

Before Beyond Blankets

Before participating in Beyond Blankets, it’s helpful to understand what the session involves and how to prepare yourself for it. This immersive activity is emotionally and intellectually impactful, and we want participants and hosting teams to feel ready. Below, you’ll find practical details about logistics, setup, and outcomes to help ensure a meaningful and respectful experience for everyone involved. 

What to Expect?

  • Duration: Activity approx. 2-2.5 hours, with an additional 1-hour for set up and 30-minutes for teardown.

  • Facilitation: Guided by two professional facilitators from PARC (often university students), bringing expertise, care, and cultural knowledge to the session.

  • Materials Provided: All necessary materials are included. Please note, your team will be responsible for setting up and ensuring the functionality of any onsite technology, including audio systems such as microphones, as well as data projectors.

  • Optional PowerPoint: Enhance the experience with an optional PowerPoint presentation. If you choose to include this, your team will need to provide and set up the necessary equipment (e.g., data projector, computer/laptop, HDMI cable) and ensure it is operational. Our facilitators will supply the presentation on a USB drive or computer.

  • Outcomes: Develop deeper cultural awareness, empathy, and motivation to support resurgence and reconciliation initiatives.

  •  Invoicing: Invoices will be issued by UFV Finance after the date of service. 

 

About booking Beyond Blankets

 

This was an incredibly powerful experience that refocused my own commitment to truth and reconciliation.  The feedback from participants was incredibly positive. Experiential learning brought a new perspective to the content that most of us had not experienced before. While the content was at times difficult, it was helpful to go through this learning process as a group in a safe space. 
Your facilitators were fantastic and ran the session perfectly on schedule. I can assure you that we will be sharing praises for this exercise with others, and will look to work with you again for future programing.

  • – Arts & Culture Council

I wanted to reach out and say thank you again for including our members in this presentation. The feedback has been amazing, I heard that the presentation was visually stunning, emotional, important and beautiful. We appreciate your support and inclusion.

  • – Elder College at UFV

Frequently asked questions

Do participants need to bring anything?

Please bring socks as you will be asked to take your shoes off. However, it is not necessary to bring anything extra as all materials for the exercise are provided.

 

 

As the exercise does cover quite a few heavy topics, we invite participants to ground themselves beforehand by reflecting on the land they’re on (Stó:lō Téméxw) and reviewing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

We’ll hold space gently during the session and indicate what they can expect at the very start of the activity before they step onto the blankets.

 

 

Yes. There is an optional PowerPoint to accompany the exercise for some additional visual information.

If you choose this addition, you will need to provide a working technical setup that our staff can plug a laptop into.  

 

 

The best way to get the most out of this exercise is to enter it with an open mind and willingness to learn. We also ask that participants give their full attention to the activity by staying off their phones and refraining from eating and drinking anything besides water. A willingness for active learning and participation will provide participants with the best experience

 

 

Currently this exercise is recommended for adults in any workplace and profession. However, upper secondary school student groups (grade 10 and above) may also benefit from the exercise.  

 

Yes. While participants are asked to stand on the blankets for the duration of the exercise unless otherwise requested. Accommodations can be made for those who require it. Please talk to the facilitators before the start of the exercise if any accommodations should be made.  

 

 

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