http://www.global-arina.org/

Origins

ARINA arose as an organic response to individual, social, and global issues and their unmet needs for increased effectiveness and wholesomeness. Across all scales and fields of endeavor, we hear expressions of these needs in various forms: as clear statements of what’s needed but not available, as budding interests, as anger and frustration, as new actions in search of coherence (whether recognized or not), and as vague-but-real desires for new direction in existing action. ARINA is a conscious nexus of transformative action these needs have called into being—a deliberate, intentional hub of new forms of learning and acting in the world.

We created ARINA because our experience led us to recognize the kind of proactive approaches required to address 21^st Century conditions and challenges. From our many years' worth of diverse experiences as practitioners and our ongoing inquiries in a range of different fields and professions, we have accumulated a number of insights and convictions. These clarify for us a number of the necessary and sufficient conditions for healthy, integral, processes of systemic change and development. We do not pretend to have all the answers, and that is why ARINA invites you to co-create with us! We have a commitment to integral praxis and research, and to incorporating reflective inquiry in all endeavors. We also recognize patterns and processes—developmental, and others—that contribute to replicable ways to understand and address common human issues at multiple scales. ARINA is about the critical issues of the 21^st Century. It functions as an attractor to engage others who want to more effectively address those issues for themselves and the common good.

Our vision, mission, and strategy rest on a new paradigm – the integral paradigm. Paradigms are boundary-spanning, scale-spanning, and context-spanning – they can show up and apply to everything, everywhere. New paradigms can transform how we approach everything we do. Paradigms apply across all categories that divide humans and the issues that concern them. So, regardless of our location on the planet, our social or economic status, the context we work in, or the kind of work we do—or want to do—the integral paradigm can inform and transform how we function in personal, public, organizational, and all domains of life. And how we function has direct impacts on our effectiveness in this complex world.

Mission, Vision, & Strategy

ARINA’s mission is to model, teach, research, publish, promote, and institutionalize holistic, integral understandings and processes that are incorporated into efforts to address complex issues within individual, social, and global needs. Its service area is the planet, and its tax-exempt purposes are the public good (charitable), educational, and social scientific research.

Its vision is a world increasingly populated and served by integrated individuals and organizations that have the internal and external resources to be effective change agents in their chosen endeavors and settings for development and transformation of critical issues at the individual, group, civic, organizational, institutional levels, at local to global scales.

Our strategy to realize this vision is to create and foster a growing, comprehensive network that affords its individuals and organizations needed resources and integral new means of attaining, enhancing, and supporting their efforts to effect enduring, systemic change. Individuals and organizations participate in this network as Associates.

Mutual Engagement & Commitment

ARINA’s commitment is to be creative, effective, integral, transparent, and continuously researching its experiences, formally and informally, in order equip and partner with others who intend to be the change they want to foster in our world. Whether an effort carries the separate-sounding tax-exempt purpose of charitable, educational, or social science, every ARINA endeavor is for the public good. It makes as many resources as possible free to the public, and those who pay registration fees for learning experiences serve greater populations than themselves. By design, participatory and other forms of action research engage, educate, and equip diverse populations. Our commitment is to extend the reach of integral work where it is needed—everywhere possible!

Likewise, we hope that individuals and organizations of any kind that Associate or Partner with ARINA covenant to engage new ways of thinking and acting with a commitment to learn and use them, and thus build new capacities. We commit to doing our best to communicate how and why our philosophy, principles, and praxis are crucial, in a very pragmatic way, for making a qualitative difference in your, and our, effectiveness. Often, however, explanations are just not enough. With appropriate supports, experience is really the ultimate teacher. Active engagement with ARINA requires a commitment to acting, researching, and integrating those experiences in the context of an expanding network of Associates, and sharing the learning broadly!

Inaugural Year ARINA Associates

Inaugural Year Associates are pioneers who will help ARINA refine its notions of the most user-friendly, relevant forms of Associate orientation, benefits, learning, and engagement. We pay special recognition to Inaugural Year Associates as the important pioneers they are, by publishing this permanent list of their names and countries (with permission) right here.