John Engle writes about some of the work done by his colleagues in Haiti where last year 48 school hosted Open Space meetings to bring teachers and parents together. In partnership with Concern Worldwide, our colleagues did open space meetings in 48 schools during the last two months. These meetings were organized so that parents could talk with teachers, which is very counterculture, about education of the students. It was an effort to integrate parents into the life of their children’s school and to help them in the critical role they play in their children’s formation. It was an opportunity …
Back in June, I hosted the Open Space part of a conference on reconciliation policy and practice co-sponsored by Queens University, the First Nations Technical Institute and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The harvest from that gathering is now online as an article about the event in Canadian Government Executive Magazine It makes for some interesting reading.
Johnnie Moore has a great post today that discusses how people act within three distinct forms of networking. Along the way he points out that in the above diagram we have too much A and B masquerading as C. IN the discussion he praises the establishment of seemingly redundant links in a network, which is something I am heavily in favour of as well. The more ways you have to work between people, the more creative you can be and more truly community you are. Johnnie rolls this into his observation of how people behave in Open Space …
Prince George, BC Four years ago less a month I was running a huge Open Space event here in Prince George, in fact in the building that right outside my hotel room window. Called “Seeds of Change” the event was a kick off for the urban Aboriginal Strategy, a community driven and led process intended to begin and seed projects that would make a difference in the lives of the urban Aboriginal community in this northern city of 80,000 people. One of the participants at that event was Ben Berland, who was at the time working with the Prince …
From my dear friend Peggy Holman: A few weeks ago, I spontaneously created a new form of convergence with a group of about 20. I think it can work well with groups of 60 or less, and perhaps with groups up to 100 or so. I was intending to do what I always do these days – follow the energy and re-open the space for what has heart and meaning for taking a next step. Instead, because the meeting was intended to both give the group a chance to bond as well as set priorities for their work, something …