Dear fellow spaceholders, I am posting the below on behalf of Carol Hiltner from Seattle.
Warmly, Raffi Marina Tyasto is a world hero, bringing OST to government officials across Siberia, from her position as head of the International Department for Siberian Academy for Public Administration (SAPA). There is a Russian federal law giving vast new responsibilities to "municipalities," (which are akin to American "counties"), especially for participatory governance. Outside of the cities, these municipalities are really struggling -- frequently without internet for even the most basic access to implementation resources. SAPA does offer continuing education, and Marina persuaded her Rector to give her a few hours at the end of the courses for OST. And of course the officials are electrified! At this point, funding limits her to what she herself can do. This is where I come in. My spiritual calling is to find ways to globally disseminate the extraordinary indigenous spiritual/cultural heritage of Altai, an autonomous republic south of Novosibirsk (for map, see http://www.altaimir.org/russiamap2007web.htm). The first step is to support the Altai people to get a handle on the huge influx of tourists (seeking healing) into this rural region. With enthusiastic support from the people and government of Altai, I am networking like mad, collaborating with Marina and others on grant proposals. (I will be thrilled for any recommendations or contacts from OS list members!) We have also convened three OST strategic planning meetings for Altai (see http://www.altaimir.org/OSNov06.htm, http://www.altaimir.org/OSDec06.htm, and http://www.altaibooks.com/2006trekreport.htm) and will certainly have more. In May, I'll be back in Novosibirsk (from Seattle) for the Global Leadership Forum, for which Marina is a primary organizer, and for which she will be Opening Space for world leaders. Meanwhile, this coming summer, instead of making my usual trek to sacred Mt. Belukha, I have joined with Nina Goncharova of Siberian Center for Eurasian Projects, Jose Arguelles of Foundation for the Law of Time, and others, to make an international expedition to sacred places across Siberia, from Arkaim to Altai to Lake Baikal (see http://www.altaimir.org/2007expedition.htm). We will kick it off with the 11th "Education for World Citizens" Congress (see http://planet3000.site.voila.fr/A_letter_from_organizers_of_the_11_EWC_congress.html), at which I will be given the opportunity to "Open Space"! I am honored to have such a powerful tool as Open Space Technology with which to work. I will continue to share periodic updates. * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
