[OSList] shortest OST ever (longish)

[Robyn Williams]

As a modest practitioner I facilitate/communicate/educate for
sustainability. Today after nearly 3 enjoyable/intense days of NOT open
space I had my moment, 30 of them actually. 

The culmination of a post-grad course in Education for Sustainability (EfS &
I was a student) was a conference of the 80 strong national cohort of
dedicated sustainability educators (sponsored by a federal department) and
another 50 folk from industry/government/academia/etc, plus an army (mo
better word) of wonderful volunteer trainees and other college support crew.
As Western Australian cohort rep I had suggested OST, for all or part, which
was assigned to a stream of empty rooms and no OST framework to enable their
productive use (I requested that the OST tag was removed). 

However leaders and lecturers of the organising colleges had worked their
guts out to offer an incredible gathering on a shoe-string. Great effort was
put into the format, the structure, the excellent guest speakers (mostly
piped via a recalcitrant Skype), the opportunity for graduates and others to
share their learning, and some fine and delightful meal times. It was
crammed with good stuff and by and large a good learning and social time was
had by all.

EfS principles were re-iterated - transformation and change, education for
all and lifelong learning, envisioning a better future, critical thinking
and reflection, participation, partnerships for change. And systems
thinking, in this context defined as,
 
"... an approach that encourages us to look at systems in an holistic
manner. It aims to equip people to understand connection between
environmental, economic, social and political systems, and gain
understanding by examining the linkages and interactions between the
elements that comprise the whole. Examining the 'big picture' allows us to
identify points of intervention to support constructive change."

Emerging from a shared concern that immediate and future action might be
short-changed I convened a rogue OS meeting in partnership with a younger
trainer: 'This is not the end - collaboration and networking in 2013'. The
45 minute opportunity turned out to be 30 minutes conscientiously counted
down by one of the right people! 10 people offered 6 topics, some combined
to create 3 conversations with outcomes, feedback and a closing circle.
Hahaha, 35 minutes and one session later it was over and we all felt better.

Still, as strategies were discussed, advocacy for orthodox structures arose;
'some people' might be uncomfortable without formal structure, chaos and
confusion may reign. A little later, at the closing plenary, a proposal for
the next EfS conference was called. The budget had been over $100,000 plus a
similar amount of in-kind contribution. Something similar will require a
travel/registration cost of AUS$1500-$2,000 per person.

If you've made it this far, thank you. I'll ask more questions about
including academic and industry experts in another post. They were very
popular, and mostly excellent.


Best wishes, Robyn

Robyn Williams
SeeChange
Communicate, facilitate and educate
for sustainability
M: 0424 587 262
E: pov at iinet.net.au
Fremantle ~ Geraldton