Hello everyone!
After reading so many useful reports from the field, it is now time I write my own, hoping it can be useful in some way, however small, somewhere in the Open Space community. I facilitated my first international event a couple weeks ago, with 161 participants aged 15-35, with French as their common language, who came from 35 countries to Quebec City to talk about how to contribute to the achievement of the Millenium Development Goals (MDG). The complete report is accessible on the Web through Oxfam-Québec Club 2/3s Interférences network, at http://www.interferences.net/images_upload/Recueil%20des%20discussions%20et% 20ACTION_modifi%E9.pdf OS being what it is, the event was a success and youth participating embraced the process and totally made the meeting their own. I wish to thank Bhavesh Patel here, who facilitated an OS on the MDGs and reported on this List a few weeks before my event and was very generous in answering my questions. The event was public, and organized jointly by the Institut du Nouveau Monde, an innovative Quebec non-profit organization devoted to citizen participation and civic engagement, and Oxfam-Québec Club 2/3, devoted to engaging youth against poverty towards justice and equality. It was part of a bigger event, the École dété de lInstitut du Nouveau Monde, which is a yearly event happening during a full week during summer for youth aged 15 to 35. The École dété seeks to enhance the level of social commitment of youth through an interactive program combining education and deliberations as well as artistic and playful activities. It features conferences, roundtables and workshops every morning during the week, several parcours citoyen, themed discussion/learning events, in the afternoon, and festive activities and shows at night. Design My OS was a parcours citoyen, thus happening over three afternoons, from 1:30 to 5:00. Not ideal, but OS being so flexible, it worked. Participants registered to the École dété over a couple of months prior to the event, having to choose one parcours citoyen. So the invitation was sent to the registered participants, along with some reading material. The first afternoon started with a very short presentation, summarizing the reading material, after which I opened the space. Participants had a first 1h15 min. round of discussion and we gathered for evening news. The second afternoon had daily news, two rounds of discussion and a closing circle of the exploration phase. On the third afternoon I explained the convergence process and then gave 30 min. to read the Book of Discussion Reports and reflect on personal action plans. I then reopened the space for collective action planning (1h) and presentations (50 min). Close to 100 topics went up on the Market Place, and after combinations, about 35 discussions were left. The clients were a bit worried during that chaotic 15 min. or so, but as usual, people self-organized and all of a sudden, it was very quiet and everyone was at work. Computers and set up We had 15 computers at the Newsroom, a big expense for these non-profit organizations. However, it was well worth it. I believe that a lot of the discussions would not have been documented had we asked for handwritten reports. The younger generation was raised with technology, and the computers ensured ideas and action plans that emerged from very fruitful discussions were indeed documented. Some participants asked for an Internet connection in order to do research during a discussion. We didnt have any unfortunately. As the room was used in the morning for roundtables, we had to really rush to get the tables out and set up the room every day during lunchtime. Thanks to a great bunch of volunteers, we got better and faster every time. On the third day, it took us only 20 minutes! That being said, I would not recommend it. Masking tape was not permitted on the walls, so we had to use Velcro boards, with little Velcro tapes for the topic sheets. It was ok because we could move the boards easily every night, but it was also very linear participants filled one board after the other, in very straight lines, instead of putting up topics all over the place. Plus the boards took more room, so it was that much less space for the group to look at the topics on the Market Place. Paper use concern Paper was a big concern for the client, so the invitation suggested to participants to bring their own USB flash drive. We only printed the reports for posting in the room, and participants could get their copy electronically on-site. We put the Book of Discussion Reports on all the computers in the Newsroom before the start of the third afternoon, and participants made their own copies. It was very easy, cheap and saved a few trees. The client also e-mailed the full report to all participants after the event, and it will soon be posted on the Web. Action planning Since the event gathered youth from 35 countries, from Africa and Latin America as well as Europe and Canada, I was hesitant about action planning. My original intention was to re-open the space for collective action planning for those who wanted to, and personal action planning and sharing for others who would prefer that. But the energy in the group made me change my mind: I re-opened the space for collective action or individual action that can be implemented in different parts of the world. And it worked great! I think about 30 actions went up on the Market Place, and after combinations, about 20 initiators were standing to gather people for their planning session. About 15 groups, some as small as two people and some much bigger, went into action planning. My regret there is not having insisted enough on reminding the Whoever principle for people whose action didnt gather a group. These participants joined other groups instead of doing their thing alone. But then again, Whatever happens The presentations on action plans were very inspiring, and two groups created space on the Web to continue exchanging and discussing after the event. Closing Of course, with 160 people, the closing circle at the end of the second afternoon took some time. The client preferred to allow more time for action planning and not having a final closing circle. It was the first time I did that. So, to avoid an abrupt ending after action plans presentations, I invited everyone to think of a person (or several) who had said or done something nice or helpful to them during these three past afternoons and to go and thank them for that. The surprise look on the faces in the circle, the eyes going up in thought and the shift in energy from action planning to focussing on people and their personal contributions to the process were fantastic! Still, some participants mentioned to the organizers that they would have wished for a group closing again. So the client and I both learned something about closing. Im curious here: anyone out there having experienced some similar concern and tried different closings? Participants comments Comments from participants during the second afternoon closing circle ranged from surprise at how well it worked to gather so many people and create the agenda on-site, to how respectful and open the discussions were and how it felt great as a 15-year-old to have a real discussion, equal to equal, with a 35-year-old. One of the participants did not find the process efficient and had difficulty with the chaos. The one sitting next to him, to the contrary, found the process to be extremely efficient and fruitful. When I left after setting down the room that night, those two were having a great discussion together just outside the room. About chaos and order? Maybe. I dont know. But I had the feeling the discovery of each others perspective inspired that discussion. Participants process integration At the École dété, it is customary to have a general assembly at the end of the week where each parcours citoyen presents a summary of what they did during the week and their conclusion. This was explained by one of the organizers just before I re-opened the space for action planning, inviting participants to volunteer for that task. When I re-opened the space, another organizer put up that presentation as a topic for action on the Market Place. A few people gathered with him and what they planned was is an 8-10 minutes mini Open Space, complete with opening, examples of topics, computer reporting and examples of action plans! So the next morning, they borrowed my temple bells, Principles and Law signs, and did this mini-Open Space on stage. It was fabulous to see how these young people made this process their own! The presentation was taped by the client and I hope to get a copy. There is so little material in French, Ill post a note here if this tape becomes available. In conclusion These young people were thrilled at this other way of working as a group. I have no doubt that some will use OS in their communities or professional environments or even get training. We gave participants a resource list referring to Openspaceworld.org, Worldscape and Harrisons books. After Bhavs gathering in OS about MDGs not too long ago, this one and maybe others facilitated by some of you on this List, these young people around the world might just change the way we live on this planet! Cheers everyone! Esther Matte Discover - Engage - Accomplish New York: 212.755.0551 Montreal: 450.583.5849 www.excellence.ca * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
