Elos Transformation in Community

Is it possible to transform the world we live in into the world we dream of?

With this simple question in mind, we decided to take action and ended up learning along the way. Still being students, we took responsibility for our own learning. We went beyond the role of simple receivers of knowledge and discovered that transformation is learned by doing. We discovered that transformation begins in your own attitude, in the way you live your experience. One must dive into oneself with a look of abundance, to find within challenges the best opportunities to develop.

We believe that the most valuable transformation happens in interaction with people in real life. The relationship with the other makes us learn about ourselves. We cultivate caring and empathic relationships, at the distance of an embrace, from eye to eye. We know that transformation gains more power and meaning when it happens in community. We believe in partnership, cooperation and coexistence. We value shared knowledge, shared doing and shared enjoyment. We celebrate diversity and build unity and trust among different people, so that the collective evolves to become community. We reestablish our connection with nature to recognize that we are part of the community of life. In direct interaction with the forest, with the seas and with the rivers, we encounter our own inner nature. We seek, in indigenous ancestral wisdom, the enhancement of human qualities that develop outside the mental, but within the physical, the emotional and the spiritual. Thus, we understand that transformation must take place integrated with a greater purpose, such as the realization of a dream shared by many. Then everything we do and learn is at service of building a wonderful world for all people and for the whole community of life. This construction is the transformation we are learning to do, and are realizing now! Because we know that when we launch ourselves in search of an impossible dream, when we persist even in the face of the unknown, transformation happens and realizing the best world we can dream of becomes possible.

Our path has been created since the year 2000, through working with communities and young people in Brazil and internationally. In all stages of this journey, we have invited people to discover their power to manifest and the pleasure of participating together in the realization of collective dreams. The name Elos, meaning “links” in Portuguese, is the synthesis of our work: in our vision, communities and businesses, adults and children, governments and civil society live side by side, work, and offer the most spectacular version of themselves to realize the best world for everyone. To realize the world we all dream of, we believe the path is transformation in community. We are living the process of community development, as well as developing tools and methodologies that drive the projects of people and communities around the world.

Everything we do is based on the Elos Philosophy, which seeks to create a scenario of abundance and recognize the talents and resources available to transform collective dreams into reality.

• The Gaze – WE learn to SEE ABUNDANCE where many see scarcity
• Affection -WE FOSTER KINDNESS before fear and judgement
• Dream – WE VALUE DREAMS as the best impulse to create change
• Care – WE PLAN TOGETHER, taking care of ourselves, of each other and of a common dream  simultaneously
• Miracle – WE WORK HANDS-ON, cooperating to make what we dreamed together a reality
• Celebration – WE RECOGNIZE AND CELEBRATE each individual contribution to the collective achievement
• Re-Evolution – WE EVOLVE ON THIS JOURNEY, propelling the construction of new dreams!

ESPAÇO ELOS: after 18 years of experience working with leaders, young people and the development of communities in Brazil and other countries, we feel it is time to deepen this work. We recognize that the greatest opportunities for learning and transformation lie in relationships, in direct contact, in doing together and in shared experiences. This is where inspiration for ESPAÇO ELOS (Elos Space) comes from!

WHAT IS IT?

• an area of 18,000 m² in the middle of nature, yet within the city of Santos, with an  exemplary project of sustainable architecture, capable of hosting programs and courses realized by Elos or partners, for up to 100 people.
• a learning and development center, for individual and collective transformation, based on the values of the Elos Philosophy and the diverse social technologies that support and enrich its practice.
• an epicenter that will bring transformation to Santos and radiate from city to the world! With the Espaço Elos, we will intensify our relationship with the Santos Region, especially with surrounding neighborhoods and communities, contributing to the social, cultural and sustainable development of the territory.
• a place to encounter and to find yourself, transform and transform yourself, dream and realize the world we all dream of!