Taiwan Presbyterians, Politicians and Aboriginal Leaders

[Larry Peterson]

After the wonderful experience of WOSonOS in Taipei (thanks Gail and all)
described well by both Gail and Suzanne here, I led a four day journey the
following week with OST as the centre.  The first two days were a two part
Open  Space with about 30 people - political and church activists.  Their
theme was to find vision and strategy for a vibrant and independent
democracy in Taiwan.  Day 1 focused on the "what" of the next 3 years.  In
Day 2 the space was opened again focusing on "how" and lead to action
planning and first steps.  Some clear actions emerged including some broad
based OST events to engage more Taiwanese in these important conversations
with, I believe, some real recognition of what opening a space means.  They
are well connected enough in the political party that they just might pull
it off.  One was a former cabinet member.

 

I had led an OST workshop 2002 with a broad based group, and an earlier
workshop in 96, and was pleased to find that they were using OST for a
variety of conversations, including community conversations in response to
the impact of the Typhoon.  (I also had heard of similar stories at WOSonOS
from the NGOs.)  The aboriginal leaders who joined the political and church
leaders for day 3&4, an OST "facilitators" learning journey, had all
experienced or led at least one OST conversation.  All of these events were
in Mandarin or Taiwanese and working with a translator (a Ph.D. with
Canadian expertise in Mad Cow disease and conflict management) who was
certainly more than a translator was a delight.   It was clarifying to have
a few moments between each sentence as it was translated.   The video I made
for Thomas and Eva on self-organizing systems and Wave Riders was an evening
event and some were keen to have it translated into Mandarin.  The
Presbyterian Church staff who set up and managed the computer room were
amazing in preparing reports and a CD.  Obviously they had done it before.

 

These folks, after having lost the last election, were ready to move beyond
ideology to opening space for engaging conversations.  Aboriginal leaders
from the mountainous regions were looking for ways to engage tribal
societies in more open conversations in the face of climate change,
earthquakes and typhoons.   I've been traveling to Taiwan since 1986 (when
Marshall Law was still in effect) and the culture has become more open,
energized and extremely productive.  The transit system and high speed
trains far surpass Canada and anything I have seen in the US.  Many people
truly understand hosting and respect for "elders", both at WOSonOS and the
second week.  People are extremely friendly and helpful throughout the city.
The number of young people is overwhelming compared to Toronto and all feel
safe to ride transit.

 

So, in the haze of my body again shifting night for day, you can see I had a
great time too and wanted to share some more of the story.

 

Larry

 

 

Larry Peterson & Associates in Transformation

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 <mailto:larry at spiritedorg.com> larry at spiritedorg.com   416.653.4829
<http://www.spiritedorg.com/> http://www.spiritedorg.com

 

 


* * ==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU ------------------------------ To subscribe,
unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about
OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist 


*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20091026/bd276cbc/attachment-0015.htm>