The word “Narativ” may remind the narrative therapy. However for us it refers to telling stories in general as something important for all approaches filed in the postmodern family. Let us then introduce the Narativ fellowship by means of a brief story.

We have been engaged in spreading postmodern ideas and in the development of collaborative and dialogical practice already for several years. Our work started with the web www.narativ.cz, which was originally meant to be a virtual finger-post around the territory of postmodern inspired theory and practice in the context of work with people which was not very well mapped that time. The web also aimed at creating a space for virtual discussions and encounters. Thanks to the web there appeared a gradually arising, rich and heterogeneous social network that carried curiosity and desire to meet personally. So we organized the first “Narativ offline” in our favourite café. This event soon transformed into a regular monthly meeting that we call „Meganarativ“.

Since 2011 we have been organizing the education programme Possibilities of dialogue which belongs to the global network of programmes endorsed by the Taos Institute and Houston Galveston Institute both of which had been cofounded by Harlene Anderson, psychotherapist and lecturer who supports the Narativ fellowship since its beginning. Within the programme we have a chance to meet new interesting colleagues because its participants are people from various professions (social workers, psychologists, pedagogues, managers, lawyers, researchers, nurses and many others) with whom we may talk about our practices, start new projects and learn from one another. Within the programme we organize workshops for professional public lectured by foreign lecturers. As the Narativ’s activities grow broader also its membership proliferates. From the trio of founders we moved to the current ten members.

In certain respect the 2014 has been a transforming year for us. After a long hesitation we decided to establish our group as a legally recognized organization. For a long time we didn’t feel like doing so. We enjoyed all the merits of informality, boundlessness and a sort of creative chaos. However the decisive point was the possibility to organize events, especially the Horizons symposium, in a more transparent way. In addition this step has allowed us to clarify our modes of functioning and again agree on the basic visions and ways of decision taking. We hope however that we are able to keep certain level of the creative chaos also after the official registration of the fellowship.

The Narativ’s story may be still just at the beginning, at the same time on the other hand, we have already got over a lot. Not only abroad but also in the Czech Republic there is a dense network of professionals whose practice is inspired by the collaborative and dialogical practice. The Horizons symposium is then a unique opportunity to share experience and reflect the ways of development in these approaches.