The Nambi Managers Forums were designed to be facilitated based on the principles of Aboriginal learning circles that are over 30,000 years old. A yarning circle enables a person to speak respectfully from differing worldviews while contributing to the knowledge that each participant brings to the circle. It comes from the Aboriginal collective learning practice that builds respectful relationships, preserves and passes on old and newly-formed cultural knowledge.

Weaving the participants' stories and knowledge places, the focus is on finding new ways to grow sustained learning and development of each participant at their own pace that enables mutual understanding, promotes healing and reduces misrepresentation and misunderstandings.

A place for learning

The Forum was named Nambi (Worimi Aboriginal Language) translating to “a clever place or learning place”. Permission was gained from a Worimi Traditional Landowner for this auspicious learning occasion for Aboriginal Maternal and Infant Health Services (AMIHS) / Building Strong Foundations for Aboriginal Children, Families and Communities Program (BSF) Managers, ensuring that Aboriginal cultural protocols were respected and abided by.

In Aboriginal culture, a learning ceremony is a place where reciprocal learning takes place. All participants then have a responsibility to pass this new knowledge on to other people as the power of the knowledge is to be shared, not kept by one person.