Report from the field: OS with youth from 35 countries on the MDGs

[Diane Gibeault]

Félicitations

Wow ...ces jeunes qui s'inspire si rapidement du FO

...et cette idée que les gens se fassent des copies sur leurs clés usb quand le temps le permet...

Tu es pretes pour de plus grands défis encore 

J'ai essayé de t'envoyer ce message 2 fois hier soir mais la connection bloquait.  Je tentais de me rattraper dans mes courriels car l'acc``es est sporadique

Bonne journée



----- Original Message ----
From: Esther Matte <ematte at excellence.ca>
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2008 4:21:41 PM
Subject: Report from the field: OS with youth from 35 countries on the MDGs

 
Hello everyone!
 
After reading so many useful “reports from the
field”, it is now time I write my own, hoping it can be useful in some
way, however small, somewhere in the Open Space community.
 
I facilitated my first international event a couple
weeks ago, with 161 participants aged 15-35, with French as their common
language, who came from 35 countries to Quebec Cityto talk about how to contribute to the
achievement of the Millenium Development Goals (MDG). The complete report is
accessible on the Web through Oxfam-Québec Club 2/3’s Interférences
network, at http://www.interferences.net/images_upload/Recueil%20des%20discussions%20et%20ACTION_modifi%E9.pdf 
 
OS being what it is, the event was a success and youth
participating embraced the process and totally made the meeting their own. I
wish to thank Bhavesh Patelhere, who facilitated an OS on the MDGs and reported on this List a
few weeks before my event and was very generous in answering my questions.
 
The event was public, and organized jointly by the Institut
du Nouveau Monde, an innovative Quebecnon-profit organization devoted to citizen participation and civic
engagement, and Oxfam-Québec Club 2/3, devoted to engaging youth against
poverty towards justice and equality. It was part of a bigger event, the École d’été
de l’Institut du Nouveau Monde, which is a yearly event happening during
a full week during summer for youth aged 15 to 35. 
 
The École d’été seeks to enhance the level of
social commitment of youth through an interactive program combining education
and deliberations as well as artistic and playful activities. It features
conferences, roundtables and workshops every morning during the week, several
“parcours citoyen”, themed discussion/learning events, in the
afternoon, and festive activities and shows at night. 
 
Design
My OS was a “parcours citoyen”, thus
happening over three afternoons, from 1:30to 5:00. Not ideal, but OS being so flexible, it worked. 
 
Participants registered to the École d’été over
a couple of months prior to the event, having to choose one “parcours citoyen”.
So the invitation was sent to the registered participants, along with some
reading material.
 
The first afternoon started with a very short
presentation, summarizing the reading material, after which I opened the space.
Participants had a first 1h15 min. round of discussion and we gathered for
evening news. The second afternoon had “daily” news, two rounds of
discussion and a closing circle of the exploration phase. On the third
afternoon I explained the convergence process and then gave 30 min. to read the
Book of Discussion Reports and reflect on personal action plans. I then
reopened the space for collective action planning (1h) and presentations (50
min). 
 
Close to 100 topics went up on the Market Place, and
after combinations, about 35 discussions were left. The clients were a bit
worried during that chaotic 15 min. or so, but as usual, people self-organized
and all of a sudden, it was very quiet and everyone was at work. 
 
Computers and set up
We  had 15
computers at the Newsroom, a big expense for these non-profit organizations.
However, it was well worth it. I believe that a lot of the discussions would
not have been documented had we asked for handwritten reports. The younger
generation was raised with technology, and the computers ensured ideas and
action plans that emerged from very fruitful discussions were indeed
documented. Some participants asked for an Internet connection in order to do
research during a discussion. We didn’t have any unfortunately. 
 
As the room was used in the morning for roundtables,
we had to really rush to get the tables out and set up the room every day
during lunchtime. Thanks to a great bunch of volunteers, we got better and
faster every time. On the third day, it took us only 20 minutes! That being
said, I would not recommend it. 
 
Masking tape was not permitted on the walls, so we had
to use Velcro boards, with little Velcro tapes for the topic sheets. It was ok
because we could move the boards easily every night, but it was also very
linear – participants filled one board after the other, in very straight
lines, instead of putting up topics all over the place. Plus the boards took
more room, so it was that much less space for the group to look at the topics
on the Market Place. 
 
Paper use concern
Paper was a
big concern for the client, so the invitation suggested to participants to
bring their own USB flash drive. We only printed the reports for posting in the
room, and participants could get their copy electronically on-site. We put the
Book of Discussion Reports on all the computers in the Newsroom before the start
of the third afternoon, and participants made their own copies. It was very
easy, cheap and saved a few trees. The client also e-mailed the full report to
all participants after the event, and it will soon be posted on the Web.
 
Action planning
Since the event gathered youth from 35 countries, from Africaand Latin Americaas well as Europeand Canada, I was hesitant about action planning. My original intention was to
re-open the space for collective action planning for those who wanted to, and
personal action planning and sharing for others who would prefer that. But the
energy in the group made me change my mind: I re-opened the space for
“collective action or individual action that can be implemented in
different parts of the world”. And it worked great! I think about 30
actions went up on the Market Place, and after combinations, about 20
initiators were standing to gather people for their planning session. About 15
groups, some as small as two people and some much bigger, went into action
planning. My regret there is not having insisted enough on reminding the
“Whoever” principle for people whose action didn’t gather a
group. These participants joined other groups instead of doing their thing
alone. But then again, “Whatever happens…” The presentations
on action plans were very inspiring, and two groups created space on the Web to
continue exchanging and discussing after the event. 
 
Closing
Of course,
with 160 people, the closing circle at the end of the second afternoon took
some time. The client preferred to allow more time for action planning and not
having a final closing circle. It was the first time I did that. So, to avoid
an abrupt ending after action plans presentations, I invited everyone to think
of a person (or several) who had said or done something nice or helpful to them
during these three past afternoons and to go and thank them for that. The
surprise look on the faces in the circle, the eyes going up in thought and the
shift in energy from action planning to focussing on people and their personal
contributions to the process were fantastic! Still, some participants mentioned
to the organizers that they would have wished for a group closing again. So the
client and I both learned something about closing. I’m curious here:
anyone out there having experienced some similar concern and tried different
closings?
 
Participants’ comments
Comments from participants during the second afternoon
closing circle ranged from surprise at how well it worked to gather so many
people and create the agenda on-site, to how respectful and open the
discussions were and how it felt great as a 15-year-old to have a real
discussion, equal to equal, with a 35-year-old. One of the participants did not
find the process efficient and had difficulty with the chaos. The one sitting
next to him, to the contrary, found the process to be extremely efficient and
fruitful. When I left after setting down the room that night, those two were
having a great discussion together just outside the room. About chaos and
order? Maybe. I don’t know. But I had the feeling the discovery of each
other’s perspective inspired that discussion.
 
Participants’ process
integration
At the École d’été, it is customary to have a
general assembly at the end of the week where each “parcours citoyen”
presents a summary of what they did during the week and their conclusion. This
was explained by one of the organizers just before I re-opened the space for
action planning, inviting participants to volunteer for that task. 
 
When I re-opened the space, another organizer put up
that presentation as a topic for action on the Market Place. A few people
gathered with him and what they planned was is an 8-10 minutes mini Open Space,
complete with opening, examples of topics, computer reporting and examples of
action plans! So the next morning, they borrowed my temple bells, Principles
and Law signs, and did this mini-Open Space on stage. It was fabulous to see
how these young people made this process their own! The presentation was taped
by the client and I hope to get a copy. There is so little material in French,
I’ll post a note here if this tape becomes available. 
 
In conclusion
These young
people were thrilled at this other way of working as a group. I have no doubt
that some will use OS in their communities or professional environments  or
even get training. We gave participants a resource list referring to
Openspaceworld.org, Worldscape and Harrison’s books. 
 
After Bhav’s gathering in OS about MDGs not too
long ago, this one and maybe others facilitated by some of you on this List,
these young people around the world might just change the way we live on this
planet!
 
Cheers everyone!
 
 
Esther Matte
Discover - Engage -
Accomplish
New York: 212.755.0551
Montreal: 450.583.5849
www.excellence.ca
 
 
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