Planning Stage

[marty]

Dear Friends,

I want to thank Michael Herman for making a connection that has led to my
first Open Space facilitation opportunity since my recent move to Dublin.

Below is a short story about the budding project and a request for help in
the planning stage.

The Situation

As repeated all over the globe, Dublin is home to some 'pockets' of severe
heroin addiction. Neighbourhoods of what were considered "model" public
housing projects built in the late 50s and 60s are today miserable places,
many slated for demolition, home to the many who lost their jobs in the
factory closures of the 70s onward. The men, especially, feel
disenfranchised and the once very "valued" sons, today are more often
"early-school-leavers" and prone to high rates of severe heroin abuse,
alcohol abuse, etc., etc. The Irish government set up a National Drug
Strategy Team involving numerous ministries (e.g. Education, Health &
Science, Family, Justice, etc.), initially identifying 13 areas of special
need (12 of which are here in Dublin) where local task forces now work
toward affecting positive change.

The Budding Project

The Canal Communities Local Drug Task Force has invited various local
leaders and network members to gather next Tuesday to plan a workshop to
involve all those involved in "the situation," from user to counsellor to
whoever is "passionate." In a very preliminary dialogue, the planner who
contacted me mentioned a possible theme of "Support for people to fulfil
their lives." She assumes that "support" may look like mentoring
opportunities, support structures, money, etc. In order to draw from the
wisdom of those who come (rather than asking for "more experts" to speak),
she sees that Open Space may very well serve as an appropriate workshop
process. That's where I feature (thanks to mentors Toke Moller, Harrison
Owen, Michael Herman and others).

The Planning Meeting & Request for Help

When we meet next Tuesday, October 16, I will be playing the role of
consultant, albeit warily, or, in any case, as the only participant with
some experience in facilitating Open Space. My feeling is that a profitable
planning meeting could include Storytelling. Glory Ressler shared with me:

  a.. "As a preparatory exercise for an Open Space Technology meeting.
In this case, storytelling is a way to assist in defining the theme and
clarify the 'givens'. You can use the stories of what needs to be achieved
and what factors must be considered to visually map the forces at work. This
is similar to a number of other approaches including Environmental Scans,
Mapping, etc. You can also work with the sponsor and the stories of the
organization as a vehicle for laying out the history, present conditions and
vision of the future. The benefit of taking a storied approach is that it is
informal and engages, more fully, the sponsor(s) you are working with.
Additionally, it provides information concerning the unseen forces at play
that might be difficult to discern otherwise."

I would greatly appreciate your thoughts, links, stories about similar
situations, etc.

Cheers,

Marty Giannini

mlg2010 at yahoo.com

+353 1 260 3465

Dublin

Ireland



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