RTSC em Cabo Verde (english/deutsch/portugues)

[weber bernhard]

Dear collegues,

here below follows the englisch version of the german/portuguese-text I had posted yesterday to the Open Space-List and the Search-List. I am sorry for my thougthlessness. It's just that I am forced to switch between languages -german, portuguese, french, englisch here throughout my day, so I simply did not notice what I had done. Fortunately there was a rapid reaction from the net.

Since I have been a silent listener/reader of the list-postings up to now, I will start with some introduction:  

I am an austrian organization consultant (my basic academic education is physics, parallely I started with group dynamics training labs in the middle-70ies). Since 1994 I live and work in a nomadic cycle - beeing about 9-10 months of the year outside of Austria, mainly at the Cape Verde Islands, an arquipelago in the south Atlantic ocean, about 400 miles westwards of the african continent. This had been my dream for years and I am very happy to materialize that vision now together with Patriza Bitter, my wife, a comparative education specialist.

Between 1995 and 1998 I concentrated on a trainings program (projecto TransFORM) for national consultants/trainers for micro- and small enterprises in Cape Verde. At the final seminary "Identity & transFORMation of systems" I made some steps towards an introduction to cenario work, future search and exploration of the "space of solutions" (following some ideas of de Shazer). 

When I called all the folks related to the project together for a 2-days follow up three months afterwards, I took time by the forelock and opened the space for the 54 new graduates, the representatives of their future clients (micro-entrepreneurs) and the institutional partners of TransFORM. My design was not exactly a standard one, but it worked out well: they used the open space to explore the idea of a national network for micro- and small enterprises' consultants and of 10 regionally focussed consultancy groups (covering the 9 inhabited islands).

Since then they did the necessary implementation work an I am quite proud that the "ASSCONSULT" - Associacao dos Consultores/Treinadores para Micro-Empresas em Cabo Verde - reached meanwhile its legal status, which was not so easy considering the african-portuguese buerocratic processes here. It is one of my "prouds" because I had refused to define the future organization when the donor (the Austrian Development Cooperation) wanted to fix that point within the TransFORM-Objectives in 1994. My argument was: "we will do the training, the organization is up to them" and also: "how should I know the best organization strategy for 1998?". My beeing stubborn at that point in 1994 left the necessary space open for a successful auto-organization process in 1998.   

Now to my actual situation and the reason of this posting:

When ICASE (the Institute for Social Action in the Educational System) of the Capeverdian Ministry of Education & Science asked me to think about a RTSC-Conference in September 1999 with the general objective to discuss and refine their new strategy for the national school canteen program (financed by the WFP), a very sucessful program which produced some growing problems in recent years (so they started to get in trouble with the donor),  I was "electrified", beeing quite aware of the fact that the capeverdian canteen program is the main cause of a school enrolement rate of nearly 100% in basic education - unseen in any other of the LDC-Least Developed Countries of the world.

I asked Matthias zur Bonson if he knew any portuguese speaking RTSC wise facilitator, because the conference would be quite a big one due to the complexity of the national canteen program and I felt, that I would need somebody at my side. Matthias sent my question to his private Emaillist "Simultaneous Change with Big Groups". As a result Josef Oberneder from Linz/Austria asked me, if he should post my question at "l-org" (Learning Organization List). Then Michael M. Pannwitz from Potsdam/Germany informed me, that he had posted my question at the OS-List and the Search-List.

I was impressed: First of all by the rapid reaction of the net of nets and secondly by the reactions to my question. Some guys informed me that they hat informed others, some recommended other people, some offered to colaborate personally. 
At first the reactions came all from the german language zone, the information jumped then to Luxemburg and Bruxeles (EU), where some serious "information-milling" seemed to start, because I received then also reactions from Portugal and from Brazil. 

Since I was not yet inscribed at the Search List and the Open Space List at that moment, I am "blind" about this part of the information distribution process, so I simply want to thank everybody who was involved in that process.

Unfortunately the Cape Verdian Ministry decided then, NOT to realize the strategic conference, staying occupied by tactical manoevering instead.
But there was some sparkling around of the new concepts I had discussed with ICASE, because then the GEDSE (Ministry Cabinet for Studies and Development of the Educational Sector invited me to realize an "Introduction to methods for strategic planning an facilitation of group's and conference's work" at the Level of the General Directors.
This introduction - two weeks ago - raised a lot of interest in Simultaneous Change Interventions, especially the general Directorate for the Primary & Secondary Education and the Institute for Pedagogics (Teachers training) would like to explore the potential they see in OST.

Asking around to find portuguese speaking RTSC facilitators I got the impression, that there are neither introductory texts nor checklists or other written conference material accessible in portuguese language. 

If I am not wrong, there are very few people prepared to use RTSC, OST or Future Search Methods in Portugal or Brazil and absolutely nobody in the other portuguese speaking countries like Angola or Mozambique or any other african country outside South Africa. (If I am wrong, please inform me!)

As a result, I did a lot of text production and translation work during the last weeks, producing a text to orientate the folks at the capeverdian Ministry. Then I decided to react to the portuguese-text-deficit and "just go ahead", producing a text-frame, which could be useful for decision makers on one hand and could be a first step to a portuguese manual for consultants specializing in Simultaneous Change/Large Scale... Interventions on the other hand. 
 
Attached you will find the index of the text/draft, which I finished this week. My offer to all, who reacted to my question in such a selfless way (and can use a portuguese text): I will send you the parts of the text, you are interested in, by Email. 
(By the way: I also produced a preparation text in portuguese for the RTSC-conference which was not realized. If anybody is interested in it, its also accessibel). 

If I am right, and we are just beginning in the lusofone countries, I would like to start a "little market" for material exchange. I invested a lot of time and sweat (its rainy season here in Cape Verde and its really raining a lot this year, breaking the normal weather conditions in this -since 30 years - drought-striken Sahel country), perhaps somebody has portuguese material or knows somebody who has it. I am interested in everything in the areas of Simultaneous Change, Large Scale Intervention, Small- and Big group moderation, OST, Future Search, RTSC, Scenario Work, ...theoretical and practical stuff). I have collected already quite a lot of portuguese material about Consultancy in general, Organization Development, Consultants training, TQM,...in the last years so that is not my focus.   

Does anybody know of folks in Brazil who participated in OST, Future Search or RTSC Trainings and would be able and interested to work in that field together with me? I would like to offer such Moderation- and Consulting interventions in the lusofone countries.
In November I will go to Mozambique, looking around, how the market is and how the context should be prepared. 

My first experiences support the interpretation, that Big Group Interventions and visually orientated Moderations are very well fitting to the local tradition, at least in Cape Verde, where I could find a strong tradition of methods for visual codification/decodification processes in the sector of adult education due to a very sucessful alfabetization-program installed by Paulo Freire himself. On the other hand, I' ve got the impression, that the big-group-communication structures are not yet so badly demolished as they have been during the last hundreds of years in big parts of the United States and Europe.  So the local people are already "there".

In the institutional and corporate sector I see very traditional strategic planning approaches, though. That's also a chance, I think.

To finish with this long posting I want to repeat my thanks; the strong international resonance to my "simple question" to Matthias zur Bonson brought me a lot of encouragement.

Yours

Bernd Weber

-----------------------------------------------------
TrainConsult International
management & human resources
training, consulting & development GmbH

Praia Office       fon: +238 61 30 11,     fax: 61 30 77,      email: train at mail.cvtelecom.cv
C.P.740 Prainha, Praia, República de Cabo Verde
 
Vienna Office   fon: +431 595 43 46;    fax: 596 86 57,    email: train.int at train.at 
Gumpendorfer Strasse 88b/18, A-1060 Wien, Austria, Europe
-----------------------------------------------------


Sehr geehrte  KollegInnen, liebe Freunde,

da ich für Mitte September eine RTSC-Konferenz für das ICASE Kapverdianisches Institut für Soziale Aktion im Bildungswesen des Kapverdianischen Ministeriums für Erziehung und Wissenschaft bezüglich einer neuen Strategie des nationalen Schulkantinenprogramms des WFP geplant hatte, startete ich einen "Rundruf" auf der Suche nach einem zweiten "portuguese-speaking RTSC-wise facilitator". Ursprünglich fragte ich bei Matthias zur Bonsen an, aber dann ging meine Anfrage weiter über die Liste Lernende-Organisation von Josef Oberneder. Und Michael Pannwitz plazierte sie dann auch in der OS List und der Future Search List.
 
Die vorliegende Email ergeht an alle, die auf meine Anfrage irgendwie reagiert haben, sei es durch Weiterleitung an KollegInnen, durch direkte Kooperationsangebote oder durch Empfehlung anderer. Ich möchte Ihnen allen dafür herzlich danken.

Leider hat das Ministerium die RTSC-Konferenz dann doch nicht durchgeführt, doch irgendwie ist in der Kapverdianischen Bildungsbürokratie ein Funken übergesprungen. Jedenfalls wurde ich von der Planungsabteilung des Ministers (GEDSE/Gabinete de Estudos e Desenvolvimento do Sector de Educacao) zu einer Präsentation über "Strategische Planungsmethoden und Moderation von Klein- und Großgruppenarbeit" vor zwei Wochen eingeladen. Speziell OST ist dort auf grosses Interesse vor allem der Generaldirektion für Primar- und Sekundarschulwesen und des Pädagogischen Instituts zur LehrerInnenaus- und -fortbildung gestoßen.

Bei meinen bisherigen Recherchen gewann ich den Eindruck, daß in portugiesischer Sprache weder Einführungstexte noch Checklisten noch sonstige Konferenzunterlagen zugänglich sind. Wenn mein bisher gewonnener Eindruck richtig ist, gibt es zwar erste Schritte zu Simultaneous Change Interventionen in Portugal, in Brazilien noch kaum irgendwas, ganz zu Schweigen von Kap Verde (wo ich in den letzten Jahren allerdings schon in diese Richtung gearbeitet habe), Mozambique oder Angola bzw. andere afrikanische Länder ausser Südafrika. 

Ich unternahm in den letzten Wochen daher eine größere Text-Anfertigungs- und -Übersetzungsanstrengung und schrieb einen portugiesischen Text, der in erster Linie zwar für den Auftraggeber meines INTRO`s, also das Erziehungsministerium gedacht war, aber ich habe angesicht der geschilderten Mangel-Situation gleich weiter ausgeholt und einen Text produziert, der einerseits für potentielle Auftraggeber eine Orientierung und Entscheidungshilfe abgibt und andererseits Keim eines portugiesischen Handbuchs für ModeratorInnen darstellen kann. 

In der Anlage schicke ich Ihnen das Inhaltsverzeichnis dieses Texts und biete Ihnen - auch als Dankeschön für die selbstlose Hilfe, die von vielen Seiten kam - an, Ihnen jene Teile des Texts, die Ihnen interessant erscheinen, per Email zuzuschicken. 
 
Es gibt übrigens auch eine deutsche Fassung des Vorhabensdokuments für die nicht zustandegekommene RTSC-Konferenz (und eine etwas vertiefte portugiesische Fassung) , die ich Ihnen bei Interesse ebenfalls gerne zuschicke.
 
Am liebsten wäre es mir, eine kleine Materialientauschbörse einzurichten: Ich kann ALLES Einschlägige, (also zu: Simultaneous Change, Large Scale Interventions, Klein- und Großgruppenmoderation, OST, Future Search, RTSC, Szenarioarbeit, Change Beratung, OE,... ) in portugiesischer Sprache brauchen. Bis jetzt habe ich relativ viel Energie in die Materialerstellung gesteckt, vielleicht haben andere schon irgendwas und können mit mir "tauschen". 
 
Ich möchte übrigens auch längerfristig ein Partnernetzwerk aufbauen, mit dem gemeinsam ich bzw. meine Firma TrainConsult International in den nächsten Jahren im portugiesischsprachigen (lusophonen) Raum entsprechende Moderations- bzw. Beratungsinterventionen anbieten können. Im November schaue ich mich in Mosambik um, um den Markt zu sondieren.

Meine bisherigen ersten Erfahrungen sprechen dafür, daß Großgruppen-Interventionen und visuell orientierte Moderationen insgesamt sehr gut kompatibel mit der Kultur zumindest auf den Kapverdischen Inseln sind: Hier gibt es einerseits im Erwachsenenbildungsbereich eine entwickelte Methodentradition zu visuellen Kodierungs- Dekodierungsprozessen (aufgrund eines sehr erfolgreichen Alphabetisierungsprogramms, das Paulo Freire persönlich eingeleitet hatte), andererseits sind die Großgruppen-Kommunikations-Strukturen noch nicht so demoliert, wie in weiten Bereichen Europas und der USA. 
 
Im institutionellen und unternehmerischen Bereich dominieren hier allerdings sehr traditionelle strategische Planungsansätze. Darin liegt auch eine Chance, glaube ich. 

Abschließend also nochmals vielen Dank; mich hat die starke Resonanz auf meine "einfache Anfrage" bei Matthias zur Bonsen sehr gefreut und ermutigt.

Mit besten Grüßen

Bernd Weber
------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Estimados Colegas, caros amigos,

com a intencao de realizar uma conferência RTSC para o ICASE (Instituto Caboverdiano de Accao Social Escolar) do Ministério de Educacao, Ciências, Juventude e Desporteno no contexto do Programa de Cantinas Escolares (financiado pelo PAM) eu fiz uma pequena pesquisa por email para encontrar um segundo facilitador/moderador que tem experiências com Intervencoes RTSC. Inicialmente perguntei o Sr. Matthias zur Bonsen na Alemanha. Mas a minha pergunta dispersou-se atraves de demais listas de email: "A Organizacao que Aprende" (Austria, Josef Oberneder ), OS List e Future SearchList (Michael Pannwitz). 

Mando o  actual email para todos que reagiram em qualquer forma à minha pergunta, seja oferecendo uma colaboracao, seja propondo outros peritos para o trabalho, seja informando colegas deles. Queria apresentar os meus agradecimentos a todos. 

Infelizmente o ministerio decidiu para nao realizar a conferência. Mas a ideia "lancou faíscas". Fui convidado pelo GEDSE/Gabinete de Estudos e Desenvolvimento do Sector Educativo para fazer uma introducao/apresentacao sobre metodos de planificacao estratégica e moderacoes de grupos e conferências. Nesta apresentacao mostrou-se grande interesse na Open Space Technology OST especialmente do lado da Direccao Geral para Ensino Básico e Secundário e do Instituto Pedagogico (para Formacao e Aperfeicoamento de Professores). 

Nas minha pequena investigacao ganhei a impressao que quase nao há textos de introducao, checklists ou material para conferências em lingua portuguesa. Se nao me engano, ainda há só poucos actividades de consultores portugueses na área de Intervencoes de Mudanca Simultânea tipo Espaco Aberto/OS, Future Search/FS e RTSC, quase nada no Brazil e absolutamente nada nos outros países da Lusofonia. 

Por isso eu investi um bom tempo e algum suor (aqui temos tempo de chuva, e chove mesmo, pela primeira vez por anos e anos neste país do Sahel) para produzir um texto nao só para o GEDSE, mas tambem para outros potenciais clientes. Um texto que alem disto poderia ser um núcleo de um futúro manual para moderadores.

No anexo vôce pode encontrar o indice deste texto e a tabela de anexos do texto. Para "tirar desforra" a todos que responderam, queria oferecer partes do texto para os interessados deste grupo. Informe-me e eu vou mandar um email com as páginas que quizer. 

Apesar disto tem um Draft do Documento  de Preparacao da Conferência RTSC, que nao foi realizado; tambem accessível para os interessados deste grupo.

Eu tenho muito interesse de criar um pequeno mercado de troca de tais materiais. Até agora eu investí muito na producao de tais materiais, mas pode-ser que outros já tem textos em português e interesse de trocar.

Eu estou interessado em textos , introductorios ou teóricos mas tambem de fichas, checklists, listas.... para Intervencoes de mudanca simultânea, intervencoes de grande escala para a mudanca estratégica-organizacional, moderacao de pequenos e grandes grupos, Open Space, Future Search, RTSC, trabalho com Cenários,....). Qualquer material em portugues.   

A meio prazo eu queria construir uma rede de parceiros para oferecer tais servicos nos países da lusofonia. No mês de novembro vou para Mozambique, para lá fazer um sondagem do mercado. 
 
As minhas primeiras exploracoes deixam-me acreditar que tais moderacoes com grandes grupos com métodos de visualizacao tem uma grande compatibilidade inter-cultural. Aqui nas ilhas de Cabo Verde tem um tradicao forte de metodologia de Alfabetizacao (O grande Paulo Freire abriu pessoalmente este caminho nesta terra). Quer dizer, que podemos contar com uma metodologia amadurezida de processos de codificacao e de-codificacao visual no Sector de Educacao dos Adultos. Tambem tem uma tradicao nacional de comunicacao em grandes grupos que ainda nao é destruida como na maioria das zonas de Europa e dos Estados Unidos de America.  Mas no sector institucional e empresarial dominam formas de planificacao estratégica muito conservatorios. Nao é por acaso, que a implementacao das grandes planos e reformas mostra pouco jeito. 

Para fechar queria repetir os meus agradecimentos. A resonância alta que se exprimiu na grande quantia de respostas à minha pergunta para Matthias zur Bonsen deu me muito energia.
 
Com os melhores comprimentos
 
Bernd Weber
 



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/19991002/3161cf63/attachment-0016.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: ConteudoeAnexosdaIntroducao.doc
Type: application/msword
Size: 145408 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/19991002/3161cf63/attachment-0016.doc>