Designing for Belonging with Susie Wise
How do we create spaces where people genuinely feel like they belong?
Join us for an interactive Flamekeeper Workshop with Dr. Susie Wise, author of Design for Belonging. Susie’s work explores how we can intentionally shape the spaces, rituals, roles, and experiences around us to create the conditions for belonging.
Together, we’ll apply these ideas to concrete examples in our own lives (ex. the groups, gatherings, or communities we lead), as well as to how the Contemplarium itself might create a deeper sense of belonging for our neighbors in its mission to create spaces for care of the heart and spirit.
Through conversation, reflection, and hands-on exercises, we’ll explore practical ways to help people feel welcomed, valued, and part of something.
Dr. Susie Wise is a designer and educator. She is the author of Design for Belonging: How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities (2022) and a co-creator of Liberatory Design. She has experience in education, tech and the social sector and is a long-time educator at the d.school at Stanford University. She lives in Oakland and works as a project design lead at Design for Emergence.
This session is part of the Flamekeeper Workshop series, and will be moderated by Seanan Fong, Founding Director of the SF Contemplarium.
🕕 Agenda
Arrive & Check-in
Fireside Chat with Susie
Q&A
Interactive Workshop
Afterward: optional information session and conversation about Neighborhood Flamekeepers — join us!
📍 Finding 550 Laguna
We'll meet in 550 Laguna (the corner of Hayes & Laguna). Once you arrive, go down the stairs to the basement level to enter space, check in, and please take your shoes off at the door.
We are grateful to partner with The Commons to host this event in their incredible space. The Commons is a modern-day town square for communal meaning-making, personal discovery, and self-expression in the heart of San Francisco. Learn more about The Commons here.
About the SF Contemplarium
Presented by the San Francisco Contemplarium, a neighborhood institution creating space for honoring our human journey.