Help: Teens and OS
Michael Herman
mherman at globalchicago.net
Wed May 26 09:06:31 PDT 1999
hello jay,
here's a messy posting of the story that appears at
http://www.globalchicago.net/mha/stories/youthaction.html
you or these folks can call me at 312-280-7838 or brian reilly at
414-286-5616.
best for now, michael
=======================
Youth Action in Open Space
Sustainable Racine Project
Racine, Wisconsin
It was late October and too cold to be out without coats,
but there we were, pacing in the dark of a parking lot. My good friend
and
colleague, Brian Reilly (Program Officer, The Johnson
Foundation) was fuming about being accidentally locked out of his new
house. Personally, I was glad to have the time to talk, so
I kept pulling his energy back to his work and what he wanted to do with
his role in Sustainable Racine, a whole-community
redevelopment project in Racine, Wisconsin. Eventually, we got around to
his
passion for youth leadership.
As it turns out, Brian had been talking to a number of
young people in the community. He really wanted to get them together and
get
them more involved in the work of Sustainable Racine. We
went round and round in the parking lot...intentions, resources,
history,
opportunities, intentions, invitations, history,
intentions, opportunities...and finally to a plan.
Four weeks later we met again, for the first youth
conference, and first Open Space meeting, ever hosted by the Johnson
Foundation
at their Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Wingspread Conference
Center. Thirty-five youth, ages 12-22, came to participate in the
four-hour meeting. In true Open Space style, they
self-organized and self-managed an agenda of 14 of their most important
issues.
They captured hand-written proceedings and typed a contact
list so that they could keep in touch beyond the meeting.
Though their interests and proposed activities were later
clustered into six major areas for future work, the dialogue in the
closing
circle focused on an immediate opportunity for action and
recognition. A 23-site, all-Racine meeting was already scheduled for a
Saturday, about six weeks later. With that in mind, the
group decided to table their main interests and put all their efforts
into getting
as many of their peers out to represent the youth
perspective at the all-community meetings day. Everyone pledged to
contact at least
three friends.
An estimated 1,000 people showed up to participate the
multi-site dialogues, about 100 of those were youth. Another 3,000
people
watched on TV. Afterward, 12 out of 100 people selected
for the 'visioning committee' were under 25 years old.
This felt like the first success for the youth group, even
as they continued to debate whether they were a 'process' or an
'organization.' By choosing to call themselves 'Youth
Action,' they made sure that the debate didn't slow their activity.
Another
direct result of the first meeting was the emergence of a
'youth art' newsletter.
Going back to that first meeting, one of the major issues
for the group was skate boarding. So when the development of a new
skateboard park hit the newspapers, some members of the
group worked to inject their interests into the discussions of donors,
developers, planners and architects. In the end, the youth
involvement made the front pages of the local papers and the park
location
has been moved from its proposed industrial park site, to
a more desirable downtown park location.
In May, the group gathered for their second large-group
session in Open Space and returned to work on their six main issues:
art,
internet access, the construction of a youth center, skate
boarding sites, sexually transmitted diseases, and environmental issues.
They also added an important seventh issue: growing their
circle(s).
This second meeting was scheduled from 5:37p to 8:04p, in
an effort to remind parental chauffeurs that "whenever it starts is the
right time" and "when it's over it's over, and when it's
not, it's not." (The first meeting had run over by about 20 minutes, for
which
a number of folks apparently took some heat.) At this
meeting, the group grew to more than 60 members who recommitted
themselves to looking into similar projects in other
cities and to finding adults and other resources within the Racine area.
When they reconvened in July, still in Open Space, they
brought the fruits of their research and resourcing efforts and the
group
expanded to 75, including some new adult supporters. This
meeting was also significant in that two girls in the group did the
honors
of opening the space. (Brian had facilitated the second
open space meeting.)
These girls' leadership efforts and open space
facilitation work with the group also earned them an invitation to
attend a national
conference sponsored by the YMCA Earth Service Corps (a
cutting-edge youth led, adult supported, environmental- and
service-learning program). There, they knock the socks off
of an impressive gathering of youth leaders and adult supporters. Folks
were so interested in their stories and successes with
Open Space, that a block of time was cleared in the conference schedule
so that
the girls could demonstrate Open Space Technology. They
opened a small space there for the 100+ participants...a little too
small a
space, actually, for one breakout group that focused on
'race relations,' which could have gone on much longer than the
scheduled
time available.
Currently, it seems that this group is becoming an
important cluster of activity within the overall Sustainable Racine
effort. They
expect to keep meeting formally, in Open Space, every two
months or so, with lots of informal, supporting conversations in
between. A special meeting with an architect for their
proposed youth center is also in the works, with the support of the
Sustainable
Racine project office. Finally, efforts also are being
made to establish a Racine Chapter of the YMCA Earth Service Corps.
This story's come a long way from that cold parking lot
and Brian's three-paragraph invitation, last November. And it may be
just
beginning. If this is something you'd like to see happen
in your community, email Michael Herman, who can connect you with Brian
and the youth leaders in Racine. You might also be
interested in visiting the YMCA Earth Service Corps website or emailing
YESC
Training Director Charlie Murphy, who just happened to be
in Racine for the that first meeting in Open Space.
to Open Space Resources Page
UPDATE: August, 1998...this just in from Brian, via
email...
"Good news--open space as taught to Earth Service Corps
people by Dana and Becky replicates itself. I heard from a woman today
who has used it several times in Minneapolis! Funny. As in
funny-cool, not funny-ha ha..."
UPDATE: May, 1999
In April, 1999, three youth leaders attended one day of
the Chicago Open Space Training Workshop, where they shared their
learnings and questions with other leaders. This helped
them prepare for a presentation they made at the National Town Hall
Meeting
on Sustainability, in Detroit, Michigan, in May, where
they shared their stories and did a short demonstration of the Open
Space
Tech process. Work continues on the development of their
YESC chapter, currently the largest chapter yet established.
This piece may be copied and shared with others, as long
as it is copied and distributed in its entirety, retaining all of the
source,
contact and copyright information included below.
Youth Action in
Open Space
<http://www.globalchicago.net/mha/stories/youthaction.html>
by Michael
Herman
300 West North Avenue #1105;
Chicago, Illinois 60610
(312) 280-7838; email:
mherman at globalchicago.net
©1998 Michael Herman.
All Rights Reserved.
--
Michael Herman
...inviting spirit AND results in evolving organizations
Michael Herman Associates
300 West North Avenue #1105
Chicago IL 60610
312-280-7838 voice
312-280-7837 fax
mherman at globalchicago.net
The Global Chicago Network
http://www.globalchicago.net
Michael Herman Associates
http://www.globalchicago.net/mha
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