Relational
Connectedness
October 11
The daisy model is a visual heuristic used to examine stories-in-tension.
a day of CMM
October 11, 2025 | online
CMM offers a space for designers to explore the question of how we would go about designing better social worlds through our communication, relationships, and the larger systems in which we are a part. While there is a strong component of mystery and emergence present in our ways of relating, the ways that our communication shapes our social worlds are not entirely unknowable. We will explore ways that systemic designers can enrich their work through greater communication design, and three questions: How did that get made? What are we making? What can we do to make better social worlds?
The dynamic processes of communication within systems.
consider your ability to create arcs of impact
Hosted by CMM Institute and the Systemic Design Association
1 day online
our communication is not entirely unknowable
co-creating social worlds
in relationship with others
looking at communication rather than through it
Facilitators: Friends of the CMM Institute
facilitated by Abbie VanMeter
Coordinated Management of Meaning
A global community of scholar-practitioners are committed to the practice of CMM as an emergent process of expanding understanding through exploration.
“The flexibility of CMM allows it to be used hand-in-hand with other perspectives and frameworks. CMM can enrich a systems thinking and design approach by offering a lens that enables practitioners to not only look at but also to talk about and affect the dynamic processes of communication that are at play within systems. The practice of CMM is naturally reflexive- enabling us to look back with the purpose of ultimately “looking forward,” using the language of “better social worlds” as a measure of our greatest imagination for what we might construct.” —Abbie VanMeter
RSD14-ONLINE
- This ticket includes all ONLINE sessions (October 3 to 21 inclusive) and livestream sessions from all events. This is a non-profit, professional gathering. The suggested minimum is 40 CAD; however, a pay-what-you-can option (starting at $1) is available to reduce financial barriers or for guests who are only joining one or two sessions.
let’s get CMMish
CMM is most valuable when it is used hand-in-hand with other perspectives and frameworks. The programme will:
- Explore how we might go about designing better social worlds, in terms of our communication, relationships, and the larger systems of which we are a part
- Discover ways to more mindfully coordinate between individuals and systems in increasingly complex social worlds,
- Consider ways to integrate CMM frameworks to understand and engage in patterns, contexts, and stories.
To learn more about CMM, access the Resource Hub.
Please feel free to select pay-what-you-can if you are just joining for the CMM day or at the invitation of the CMM Institute.
the responsibility to seek better communication with the purpose of co-creating better social worlds together
a theory of communication created by Barnett Pearce and Vernon Cronen in the late 1970s, and a global community of committed scholar-practitioners today
part 1
workshop 1
Relational Construction for System Designers: Designing Better Social Worlds
Sheila McNamee and Celiane Camargo-Borges
This 90-minute workshop introduces the Constructionist-Design Framework, an approach that blends social constructionist philosophy with design thinking principles. Instead of focusing on discovery, this framework emphasises creativity, innovation, and future-forming action. The methods Sheila and Celiane introduce are understood as facilitating generative resources sensitised to the very specific context of any given project. Within this logic, there is no ultimate “best” method or “right” way to design a project; rather, each approach will produce specific (and different) information. At its core lies the power of questions, because the questions we ask shape the worlds we create. Different questions open different pathways, generating new perspectives and new forms of knowledge. This is an invitation to experiment with generative methods and to translate this framework into your own context.
Additional context: Sheila’s Episode and Celiane’s Episode of CMMi’s Stories Lived. Stories Told. podcast.
part 2
interactive
Reshaping Democracy: Dialogic Systems Change with CMM and The World Café
Sergej van Middendorp and Flavio Mesquita da Silva
In this session, hosted by Flavio Mesquita da Silva and Sergej van Middendorp, we explore a difficult question of our time: how do we reshape our democratic systems to be able to deal with the polycrisis and metacrisis? We take the lens of dialogic systems change and specifically look at the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) and The World Café to explore perspectives and ways to address the challenges we face. After a brief introduction of the concepts and the sharing of some experiences with these by the hosts, we will invite the participants’ perspectives into our shared virtual space and explore the patterns that connect our emerging collaborative support network. We will try to reflexively balance the co-design of our session as a democratic dialogic design experience, while at the same time trying to bring forth new insights that help us go on together after our conversation ends.
Additional context: Sergej’s Substack post, Democracy for the Future, and video of Flavio describing the World Café format.
part 3
workshop 2
Inclusive by Design: Invitations, Individuals, and Impact
Abbie VanMeter and Mil Niepold
This 90-minute workshop will explore the urgent need for individuals to cultivate a greater sense of their own ability (and responsibility) to positively and profoundly impact the systems of which they are a part. Focusing on creating the conditions that empower every person to participate in the transformation of systems that are often designed to disempower, Mil and Abbie will offer concrete tools for incorporating inclusive practices into your design, facilitation, and communication. Utilising a ‘Communication Perspective’-which looks at communication, rather than through it—Mil and Abbie offer and invite reflections on stories of Mil’s experiences working at the intersection of Supply Chains, Climate Resilience, and Human Rights. By examining Mil’s stories on both the micro- and macro-levels, we will distil universally applicable wisdom for addressing the many interconnected issues of the polycrisis. We invite you to join this conversation as we learn to align interpersonal intents with systems impacts by considering the co-constructed nature of our social worlds.
co-organiser & facilitator
Abbie VanMeter
Executive Director, CMM Institute
Abbie VanMeter is Executive Director, Collaborative Innovations, at the CMM Institute for Personal and Social Evolution. She graduated with a degree in Interpersonal Communication from Ball State University in 2022 and has worked closely with CMMi ever since. She first learned of Coordinated Management of Meaning in Em Griffin’s A First Look at Communication Theory (this chapter) in sophomore year Communication Theory class; it resonated with Abbie enough for her to select CMM to use years later for her Senior Honors Thesis—a self-led creative project in the form of a short podcast mini-series.
What started as a short-term school project has now evolved into a fully formed, multi-season podcast, Stories Lived. Stories Told (SLST). New episodes are released every other week, and SLST has fostered a truly global audience, with listeners in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. In each episode, Abbie is joined by a different conversation partner to explore their particular stories, experiences, and expertise using a communication perspective. Abbie intends to model a practical application of CMM through these conversations and to engage in collective learning with her conversation partners as they co-create something new together.
In addition to the SLST podcast, Abbie’s other notable contribution to the CMM Institute is the CosmoParenting podcast, the latest addition to CosmoActivities.
ticket pricing explainer
3 ticket types
RSD14 ONLINE: Pay what you can, includes all online sessions (RSDX, Paper Talks, special events. Starts at $1, with a suggested minimum of $40 (Canadian dollars).
RSD14-TORONTO @OCADU: Supporter $400, Self-Funded* $250, Concession* $100. Includes all online sessions.
*Limited availability—for people who face financial barriers to attending.
RSD14-SYSTEMS(IC) LEADERSHIP RETREAT: $200 Toronto Island retreat includes lunch and refreshments. This ticket also includes all online sessions.