Data collected for the research project: The Having of Meaningful Conversations in a Liminal Time

This data was collected from a series of four fortnightly conversations with a group of participants for the research project: The Having of Meaningful Conversations in a Liminal Time, in submission for the unit Professional Project (102163) for completion of the MEd (Social Ecology) at Western Sydney University. The dataset consists of four audio files of recorded conversations, written transcription notes and reflective responses from participants. The conversations covered topics such as the times we are living in, the concept of liminality, community, the interface between the human/non-human; where and who are the elders, the having of meaningful, thoughtful dialogue and how rare it is. This project employed co-operative inquiry to facilitate the having of meaningful conversations. Consistent with participatory action research, the conversations followed a planning–action–reflection cycle that emerged from and informed the reflective process, refined the co-researchers’ understanding of the experience and highlighted the themes of concern and interest discussed in the group. The intention is that the project will contribute to the field of Social Ecology by illuminating the potential role that the having of meaningful conversations have in community building and in fostering pertinent collective and individual meaning making. If the having of meaningful conversations in a liminal time can contribute to viable individual and collective epistemological and ontological understandings about the state of our world and our place in it, there are implications for such practices to be used more widely.