Report from the Gathering of UK Open Space Practitioners

[Martin Leith]

In August 2003 , Kerry Napuk and Eddie Palmer (partners in Open Futures)
travelled to Bramstrup in Denmark to take part in the Eleventh International
Open Space on Open Space.

While they were there, they realised that the United Kingdom is one of the
few English-speaking countries without some form of Open Space Institute.

When they returned to the UK (Scotland, to be more precise), Kerry called
Martin Leith to suggest that Kerry, Eddie an Martin jointly organise and
host a gathering of UK-based Open Space practitioners.

The idea was to bring together practitioners sharing a desire to develop
their Open Space practice and co-create the future of Open Space in the UK,
rather than  ploughing their own furrows . (if you are unfamiliar with the
expression  ploughing your own furrow , it means looking after your own
interests, without any concern for the wellbeing of the wider system.) Once
we d got people into the room we d get out of the way and let Open Space
work its magic.

Romy Shovelton became the fourth member of the organising group and six
months later, on 12 February 2004, the Gathering of UK Open Space
Practitioners took place at the Columbia Hotel, London.

Go to www.openspaceuk.com/gathering/invitation.html to see the invitation
and the list of participants.

32 people took part in the Gathering, including two who have yet to
facilitate their first Open Space meeting: two thirds of the people we
personally invited. Clearly, the timing of the Gathering couldn t have been
better.

The day began with people sitting in a circle and saying why they came to
the Gathering. (Kerry led that session.) Then Romy opened the space in the
traditional way - in other words, in the manner described by Harrison Owen
in his wonderful book, Open Space Technology: A User's Guide.

There were three rounds of Open Space and seven places to meet. These are
the 13 sessions that took place:

How to avoid the misapplication of Open Space (Convenor: Jim Wade)

Eddie Palmer would like to talk about government (national and local) buying
in more to Open Space, especially in fields such as community planning.
(Convenor: Eddie Palmer) This session spawned a project.

Conditions for creativity -  open up  organisations (Convenor: Michael
Schimmelschmidt )

Raising the profile of Open Space Technology: awareness, marketing and
co-operation (Convenor: Kerry Napuk)

Meet in Archer pub to reconnect (Convenor: Julian Greatrex)

Creating a demand for Open Space (Convenor: Malcolm Allan) This session
spawned a project.

Using Appreciative Inquiry (and other processes) to help organisations
create dynamic themes for Open Space (Convenor: Annette Zera)

Dead Moose Society: relevance to increasing demand for Open Space (Convenor:
Anne [Beauchamp?])

Where our clients  push  us - the positives and negatives. Do they help us
develop our practice? (Convenor: Amanda Bucklow) This session spawned a
project.

What are the core elements that would ensure this community s
sustainability? (Convenor:Terry Gibson)

Open action in individuals (Convenor:Alan Arnett)

Creating the Open Space UK website (Convenor: Martin Leith) This session
spawned a project - see www.openspaceuk.com/website

Open Space: not just a near-death experience. What happens after Open Space
(Convenor: David Firth) This session spawned a project.

After the third round of Open Space, Martin led a convergence and action
planning session. Go to www.openspaceuk.com/projects to see a list of the
six projects that were initiated during the action planning session.

The Gathering ended with a closing circle facilitated by Eddie, and a brief
thanksgiving ritual led by Romy.

The general feeling was that it had been an enjoyable and productive day,
and that another gathering would be very welcome. One of the six projects is
Open Space on Open Space UK. With the intrepid Kerry taking the lead on this
project, its highly likely that the date of OSonOS UK will be announced
before too much time elapses!

This report can also be found at www.openspaceuk.com/gathering.

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Martin Leith
www.martinleith.com | www.moversandshakers.com

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