Open Spaces for Public Engagement on Sustainability

Jeff Aitken tzimtzum at earthlink.net
Fri Jan 28 13:49:56 PST 2005


Sustainable Sonoma County, a nonprofit public education organization north of San Francisco, California, has developed a reputation for using innovative meeting methods as organizing tools. Our mission is to support local people to align their thinking and action with their deep desire for sustainability at local and planetary levels. See http://www.sustainablesonoma.org

SSC's latest venture is to organize a series of Open Space events as followup organizing meetings, after educational events that are sponsored by other organizations. For example, Richard Heinberg has been speaking about his latest book, PowerDown, a brilliant analysis of the coming "peak oil" crisis and suggestions for preparations which communities can make.

SSC offered an evening of Open Space a week after Richard's talk, and 50 people self-organized into 12 rich conversations with followup plans. After two meetings, 30 people have formed a local "post-carbon" working group aligned with the work of the Post-Carbon Institute, a nonprofit co-founded by Richard.

SSC is allying with other educational groups, including Daily Acts, Praxis Peace Institute, Sustainable Petaluma Network, and others to develop this Open Space project as a tool for public self-organizing.

The power of self-organizing around conversations that matter is well documented. It's exciting to see it happen with ordinary people who care about the future of their communities and our planet.

We are seeking donations to support this Sustainable Sonoma County project. Donations are tax-deductible in the US.

For more information, email:
Jeff Aitken
tzimtzum at earthlink.net

http://www.sustainablesonoma.org

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