ISI Declaration of Interdependence

“a Statement of Ideals which will continue to evolve….”

Declaration of Interdependence

We the members of the ISI, who share interest and care for one another and for the education and development of the communities in which we live, do hereby declare and pledge to honour our interdependence.

Declaration of Compassion

Equality starts here, with me.

I, as one of the Group, will treat everybody else in the Group in the way I would like to be treated. I will actively practice compassion with everyone, including those who are not like me. I will seek, first, to understand, then to be understood.

Declaration of Diversity

We are as one.

Our diversity serves the ISI. We learn from each other. We need and encourage diversity. We support, and are supported by, each other. Our strength and power come from our differences. I will respect each person’s right to be different from me, whether or not I understand or like the difference. I will not discriminate against members of the Group because their ideas, beliefs, and behaviours are different from mine.

Declaration of Development

Change begins with me.

I will respect each individual and support his or her development. We will delight in the prospect of new members joining us and we will work to incorporate their views in this Statement of Ideals. I will take responsibility for the shaping of the culture within the ISI.

I will make a conscious effort to encourage positive, constructive development in the ISI. I will support an environment which is free of hostility. I will make a conscious effort to intervene in behaviour that I find inappropriate by supporting open communication and by establishing common goals and common ground.

Declaration of Excellence

We strive for excellence.

I am proud of the contributions that all of us make to the ISI and to my own community. The ISI and I are valuable assets to the community.

I realise that I will not always be able to live up to this Declaration of Interdependence. However, all of us, working together through mutual inquiry and conversation, can contribute to make the ISI better, now and in the future, and to make a significant contribution to the larger community.

Continuing the Evolution of This Declaration

The ISI Declaration of Interdependence is a dynamic document, and your comment on it is very welcome.

Indeed, the ISI Transcultural Council (TCC) and the Transcultural Conversation Group recognised, with the very first Draft, that it very much reflected a Western perspective and that modification would be necessary before it, or something like it could work in other cultures. So as a first step the document was amended so that it’s status was described as “A Statement of Ideals which will continue to evolve…”

The TCC hope that it might be possible to work towards an International version of the Declaration. To move in this direction we need ISI members (and others who read this page) to undertake some research with it in their languages and in the context of their own cultures.

So for those from non-anglophone cultures we would be grateful if you would have the English version you have received translated into your local language and then discussed with colleagues in your first language, and interpreted in your culture and then amended as necessary for use in the local language and culture and then re-translated back into English and passed back to me to see how it has changed and whether or not an international version of the Declaration can be formulated.

Created by the ISI Trans Cultural Council, October 1995 and submitted for consideration by ISI fellows.

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