City wide Open Space May 30

Robyn Williams pov at iinet.net.au
Thu Apr 30 20:03:12 PDT 2009


Thanks for your interest Doug. 

The simple answer is that it was cobbled together at the last minute.

Sustainable September is a communication campaign which I kicked-off in 2003 to draw attention to a "community sustainability agenda" produced by a collaboration of peak NGOs to feed into the developing State Sustainability Strategy. At the time it was difficult to get media attention for sustainability so I initiated Sustainable September (more below).

Anyway the State Sustainability Strategy was subsequently launched in September 2003 with an International SD conference held at Notre Dame Uni in the funky port city of Fremantle, lots of character and cafes. My vision was to engage conference attendees and local community in a week long OS. I could 'see' people huddled in cafes, gesticulating, meeting at the pub, etc, a real hub-bub. I was flat-out with the broader Sust Sept campaign so the reality was a lot less noticeable. 

A small amount of local publicity, no access to delegates en mass, and no opening circle. However the Marketplace was set-up in the local library, convenors could pick-up a DIY kit - an envelope containing basic info, A2 paper for notes - and an invitation to the closing circle. So it worked in principle, conversations were convened, people returned their notes to the portfolio in the Library, and attended the closing circle.

With a bit more planning time, a few resources and some key players/promoters I believe it could really get some traction and I look forward to following Kai's event. And maybe it's time for me to talk to the Fremantle Mayor!

Sust Sept is itself a sort of Open Space, an invitation to demonstrate sustainability in action and celebrate the people who are making it happen.  www.sustainableseptember.net.au It's not-for-profit, unfunded apart from contributions (last year's budget was AU$1257), co-convened by some passionate and responsible people, and coordination is pro bono. It's now in its 6th year and blossoming!


Cheers, Robyn

Robyn Williams
POV Communication for Sustainability
V: 08 9331 8642
M: 0424 587 262
E: pov at iinet.net.au


-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of douglas germann
Sent: Thursday, 30 April 2009 9:01 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] City wide Open Space May 30

Robyn--

That sounds great--can you tell us more about how your first Sustainable
September came about? Whom did you invite? How did you go about making
the invitation?

Was it a standard opening and design, or were there nips and tucks?

Thanks, Robyn for jumping in on this. I think this is a good
conversation about using OS in community. Would like to hear from others
how they have done similar things....

And I hope Kai jumps in on this, too.

			:- Doug.




On Wed, 2009-04-29 at 15:45 +0800, Robyn Williams wrote:
> Hi Kai
> 
> Wishing you well for your downtown open space. 
> 
> I did something similar in 2003, as part of the inaugural Sustainable
> September which I co-convene. It was in Fremantle, Western Australia. I set
> up the Market Place in the local library with info packs & stationery for
> convenors so it was very self-organising. Convenors could return notes to a
> large folio - and they did - for others to read. About 40 people came to the
> Closing Circle. 
> 
> It wasn't much more than a tester and I'd love to do it again. I look
> forward to hearing about your project as it unfolds.
> 
> 
> Cheers, Robyn
> 
> Robyn Williams
> POV Communication for Sustainability
> V: 08 9331 8642
> M: 0424 587 262
> E: pov at iinet.net.au
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Harrison
> Owen
> Sent: Wednesday, 29 April 2009 1:53 AM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Re: [OSLIST] City wide Open Space May 30
> 
> Hey Doug -- Really cool! And actually there is a lot of good stuff right on
> the mayor's website. So I would guess the thing to do is to contact the
> Mayor -- which I am trying to do. And it turns out that Bruce Lundeen who
> may not be on the list -- but is definitely an Open Spacer started this ball
> rolling. I think this is truly exciting and just the best sort of use for
> OST!
> 
> Site says: "This Summit will have a brief opening that frames its purpose to
> the attendees. Then, individual attendees will be given the opportunity to
> propose a discussion topic for a breakout session later in the day. Within
> an hour, the entire day’s agenda will have been created by the people in
> attendance using this innovative meeting format called Open Space
> Technology. Downtown restaurants and public spaces will be used as places
> for breakout meetings throughout the day. These locations will have laptops
> that are linked to the day’s agenda, and which will be used to record the
> discussions and commitments from each breakout session. This information
> will be captured and shared with attendees via email and website.
> 
> ** This is NOT a “City of Harrisonburg” event. This is me, as mayor,
> convening a conversation. I know that’s grey, but there’s an important
> distinction. This isn’t “tell the Harrisonburg government what to do”, it’s
> “let’s all make this happen together." It is signed by Kai Degner (His Honor
> the Mayor)
> 
> 
> Harrison
> 
> 
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Drive
> Potomac, Maryland   20854
> Phone 301-365-2093
> Skype hhowen
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com 
> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
> Personal website www.ho-image.com 
> OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the
> archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of douglas
> germann
> Sent: Monday, April 27, 2009 8:57 PM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: City wide Open Space May 30
> 
> Hi--
> 
> Harrisonburg, VA is the site of this one-day Mayor's invitation OST:
> http://www.whykai.com/summit/
> 
> Anybody who can share more about this with us?
> 
> 		:- Doug.
> 
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