Large-scale community project

[Liz Martins]

 Dear all



I’m involved in a large-scale community project in Bristol, UK, based on OS.
As well as local OS events across the city, it culminates in large (1500
people) OS event in February. I’ll put information about the project below,
if you’re interested.



No doubt I’ll be coming to the list quite a few times over the next months,
but just now I’d really appreciate some help about…



·         Whether anyone has a large event coming up (in the UK or Europe)
that might be possible for some of our project team to attend

·         Whether anyone has done something like our project and is willing
to share any learning



And, starting to think about the process detail for the big event (which is
in a big theatre with additional breakout space in a large modern extension
so has limitations on flexibility)



·       We know we’re going to need masses of additional wall space and
wondering how best to achieve this - we’ve seen/heard of people using
portable stands, cardboard walls etc – what’s out there?

·       What about people signing up or not signing up – what’s lost if they
don’t do this and just go to the conversations? The ‘traffic’ is going to be
a challenge, and this would be one less thing to do.

·       Our plan is to have separate sections of wall for the different
session times – but within this, any thoughts about whether, given the large
numbers of people, it’s best to use a grid or free-form posting using
post-its?

·       Experience of using large video screen(s) so people can see what’s
going on the wall?

·       Thoughts about convergence in very large events?

·       Anything else that you think of that might be helpful….!



With many thanks in anticipation of help



Liz



Liz Martins

*lizmartins2 at gmail.com* <lizmartins2 at gmail.com>

+44 (0)7977 932066


*Bristol Open Space Project - Part of EY2010: European Year for
Combating  Poverty
and Social Exclusion.* *A Better Bristol For All*



The Open Space project is part of a larger European project (EY2010). Key
aims are to give voice to those experiencing poverty and social exclusion
and also to raise awareness of how we need to work together as a society
towards equality and inclusion. Bristol’s response to EY2010 is a series of
events and projects around the whole city under the heading of “Working
Together for Positive Change”.



The Open Space project,  A Better Bristol For All, aims to support better
contact and flow of creativity between local grassroots social and community
action groups within the context of the whole of Bristol.  Each
neighbourhood is being invited to put on an Open Space event to look at
local connections and creativity and then culminate in coming together in
February 2011 in one mass open space event. This will bring together the
ideas, creativity and inspiration that has been sparked locally, so that
Bristol comes together, to be more in contact, more creative, and move to a
Better Bristol for All.



The project starts with forming a project team of about 16 people keen to
learn about facilitating OS meetings and using it in their future work in
communities. The aim is to grow ‘OS’ facilitation as a resource for the
city. Most of these people are already signed up. There’s a one-day training
in OS for them in September with more during the project.



The flow of the project is to start with a central focus involving key
people, then out to local communities, and then back to the major event in
February. In October there’s an OS day with about 100 people from the
council and Bristol city neighbourhood partnerships, grassroots community
groups, service users etc. This event will provide the impetus for taking
the project out to the local areas. In Nov/Dec/Jan there will be 12 local
neighbourhood OS events across the city, funded by the project and
facilitated by people from the project team, working with local organisers.
Then, in February there will be the final big OS event bringing together
people from across the city who have been involved in the neighbourhood
events, and others, including from European cities twinned with Bristol.  The
key themes that come out of the project will be taken forward and presented
to local and national government.



I’m holding responsibility for the OS process, with my colleague Vivian
Broughton who had the vision for the project initially. We will be training
and supporting the project team and facilitating events ourselves or
supporting project team members to do so. The logistics, budget, PR etc and
everything else are being held elsewhere, though we will be involved where
it impacts on the OS process. Vivian and I both have experience of
facilitating OS, and Vivian was at the big 2000+ event in Germany
facilitated by HO and Michael P, but we haven’t done it like this before, at
such scale. We expect to be very surprised!

*
*
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