Hello everyone, Greetings from Oz. First I must thank you all for the wonderful dialogue on open space which I have greatly enjoyed over the last few weeks. As an 'apprentice' open spacer, I haven't yet felt that I could contribute but I know that will change over time as my experience and confidence grows. It truly is wonderful to be a part of a worldwide movement of people making a difference (however small) by opening spaces and seeing the joy, excitement and surprise that emerges.
Later this week I will be opening space for about 80 people working in the environment with farmers to manage and look after our land and water and vegetation. These people are mainly young and enthusiastic but are often dragged down by the bureacracy of the organisations they work for. I am really excited about this open space - it feels right, the location is fabulous (in the country surrounded by the sounds and smells of the Australian bush), the weather is going to be hot - and I was asked by the organisers to use open space rather than having to convince them of the merits of the process. To bring this event to a close I am planning to use the process developed by Christopher Schock and J.F. Marechal in France that helps organisations see what on-going work emerges out of an open space event. In a nutshell, a rectancle is divided into four quadrants with the boundaries labeled as follows: right boundary is 'us/internal'; the left boundary is 'outside/external'; the top is 'spirit/meaning' and the bottom is 'practical'. Each title from the open space is placed in the appropriate quadrant. A circle in the centre links all four quadrants and a sentence or phrase is generated which reflects the ESSENCE of all four quadrants. It is the 'intention' common to all the divergent outcomes. I am planning to generate this on the wall along side the agenda and use it in the final closing to provide a focus and direction for on-going dialogue and action amongst the participants. Has anyone used this process and do you have any learnings/insights which you could pass on to me? Cheers, Viv Viv McWaters Integra Pty Ltd (Vic) 45 Valentine Street, Ivanhoe 3079 Victoria Australia Ph: 61 3 9499 9300 Fax: 61 3 9499 9300 E-mail: v...@thereef.com.au
