[OSList] Request for Government-sponsored Open Space stories!

[Amanda Fenton]

Hi Tricia,

A little anecdote to add to your back pocket. In November 2012 and February
2014 (just last week) I hosted an Open Space for
Governexx<https://www.facebook.com/Governexx>,
which is an interdepartmental platform for building leadership capacity
inside the Federal Public Service in Canada's government. Open Space isn't
new to the government in Canada (there are likely others on this list who
have stories), but it was the first time Governexx had used it.

In 2012 I was brought in very late to the planning process and the OS was
pretty short but enough to give them a taste. In 2014 we spent the morning
in a Collective Story Harvest (a process from the Art of Hosting) and the
afternoon in Open Space. You can see the Storify they put together from the
day here <http://storify.com/Governexx/blueskies-2014-governexx-forum>.

In our pre-work conversations for last week's event we talked a lot about
"action". There was an urge from the planning team to ensure that action
emerged from the Open Space, but when we explored it further the conditions
to support action were not in place. We talked a lot about mandate, about
what is possible is a 1/2 day OS and more... (Tim Merry has written a post
on this<http://www.aohbtb.com/1/post/2013/11/getting-it-done-strategy-capacity-and-mandate.html>
-
strategy, capacity and mandate). Where we arrived was the central purpose
of the day being about building relationships and connections, for people
to find their 'tribe', and to cross-pollinate ideas. And we spent time in
our pre-work process creating a harvest plan - in addition to the book of
proceedings - which they are now working on bringing to life.

Hope this is helpful - and like Harrison says there is no proof that it
can/will happen again :)

Cheers from a grey Canadian west coast morning,

Amanda

--
Amanda Fenton
participatory process designer and facilitator - hosting and harvesting
conversations that matter
amandafenton.com   Twitter: @amandafenton <http://twitter.com/amandafenton>
 Skype: amanda-fenton   C: 604.802.7498

*I've seen that there is no more powerful way to initiate significant
change than to convene a conversation. ~ Margaret Wheatley*





On Fri, Feb 14, 2014 at 7:34 AM, Tricia Chirumbole <
tricia at mojocollaborative.com> wrote:

> Hi all!
>
> This is part 2 of a request for fodder for my discussions with the new
> mayor of Pittsburgh, PA re: Open Space inspired civic engagement
> initiatives. They watched the video of the Harrisonburg, VA mayoral Open
> Space summits and said they were, "very cool", but apparently wanted more
> "proof".
>
> *The scoop: *Good news so far! I was in the Mayor's office last week and
> learned that they are very sincere about wanting to develop a civic
> engagement platform, and they even said lovely things like they don't want
> it to be top-down and they want participation in actual community
> development - not just feedback/town halls.
>
> They also mentioned early on that they could use "something like this" for *internal
> work* - citing low morale from the last mayor who left in scandal and the
> fact that some of the people have probably worked there for 30 years and
> never been asked their thoughts on anything.
>
> *Request: *They are interested in more examples of governments sponsoring
> this type of citizen-directed and designed civic engagement.
>
> Three specific questions: 1) How do we make sure people feel safe?; 2) How
> do we ensure that there are no repercussions for people sharing openly? (in
> reference to an internal Open Space); and 3) How do we get a diversity of
> people to participate?
>
> I gave responses to all of these that I think made sense, but *any
> references, videos, examples of government external or internal open space
> work * would be MUCH appreciated! I think any level of government in any
> country would do.
>
>
> Thanks so much for reading this lengthy epistle!  May you share and feel
> the love today and always :)
>
> Tricia Chirumbole
> Open Space Facilitator, Certified Scrum Master
> Mojo Collaborative
> www.mojocollaborative.com
>
> 571-232-0942
> skype: tricia.chirumbole
> twitter: @themojozone
>
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