[OSList] How to shift a destructive "information-meeting" to a constructive dialogue meeting?

Sat Feb 20 12:19:33 PST 2016

Catherine - great to hear you mention Christina and Ann's work - a circle
methodology known now as The Circle Way. I have been part of a small circle
of people supporting the transition from being led by Christina and Ann to
being network and community held. Christina and Ann's work in the world is
continuing but their focus will be on their vision quest, nature work and
writing work. You can read more about this shift in their December
newsletter here <http://peerspirit.com/resources/the-circle-tale/>.

*We have a new website for The Circle Way <http://www.thecircleway.net/>*
which has resources, videos and more - and we are excited for this site to
grow and support the next generation of Circle Way practitioners in the
world.

Cheers,
Amanda

--

*Join me at these upcoming workshops:*

*The Circle Way - Whidbey Island, Washington - August 17 to 22, 2016
<http://www.learnthecircleway.com/>*

*Art of Hosting Meaningful Conversations and Participatory Leadership -
Bowen Island (near Vancouver BC) November 13 to 16, 2016
<http://aohbowenisland.weebly.com/>  *

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

*A circle is not just a meeting with the chairs rearranged. A circle is a
way of doing things differently than we have become accustomed to. The
circle is a return to our original form of community as well as a leap
forward to create a new form of community. ~ Christina Baldwin*

On Sat, Feb 20, 2016 at 11:42 AM, Catherine Pfaehler via OSList <
oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:

> Dear Thomas
>
>
>
> It sounds so similar to everywhere… What comes to my mind is a peer spirit
> circle-meeting instead of these information meetings, with concentric
> circles like in Open Space - as for an Open Space meeting, the time given
> for the first meeting seems too short. Open Space could set in in a later
> stage and help integrate. We’ll look at this idea more deeply with two
> colleagues here. Have you come across peer spirit circles? Ann Linnea and
> Christina Baldwin have published widely, see www.peerspirit.com.
>
>
>
> A wonderful opportunity indeed! Thank you…
>
>
>
> Best, Catherine Pfaehler
>
>
>
>
>
> Catherine Pfaehler
>
> lic.oec.HSG
>
> Open Space Begleitung
>
> Burckhardtstrasse 2
>
> CH - 3008 Bern
>
> Telefon +41-(0)31 - 536 05 31
>
> Mobile +41-(0)76 - 488 15 46
>
> c.pfaehler at open-space-begleitung.ch
>
> www.open-space-begleitung.ch
>
>
>
> Le Livre Blanc sur le Forum Ouvert est le fruit de la collaboration de 10
> facilitateurs du monde entier. Téléchargement gratuit sur
> www.forum-ouvert.fr
>
>
>
>
>
> *Von:* Thomas Herrmann via OSList [mailto:oslist at lists.openspacetech.org]
> *Gesendet:* Donnerstag, 18. Februar 2016 11:34
> *An:* 'World wide Open Space Technology email list'; 'GC list'
> *Betreff:* [OSList] How to shift a destructive "information-meeting" to a
> constructive dialogue meeting?
>
>
>
> Dear friends in Open Space/GC-list
>
> I have decided to focus my time and energy, as much as possible, to
> contributing in a critical area here in Sweden. Last year we received
> 160 000 asylum seekers. Of course this means some challenges but also lots
> of fantastic opportunities. Many many people are engaging as volunteers,
> villages who have “been sleeping” for decades wake up etc etc
>
>
>
> One of the challenges is that neighbours often become afraid when new
> asylum camps are opened near where they live. Or homes for lonely refugee
> children (35 000 came last year). There are so many rumours going on, and
> shit is spread on social media – so many “normal” people are very much
> afraid from stories they heard – often false ones but also that single
> events create pictures in people’s heads.
>
>
>
> In my hometown one school which was being rebuilt to house lonely refugee
> children was burnt down L and we had many fires like that all over the
> country L
>
>
>
> What the authorities usually do when a new housing is to open is to invite
> the public to a “information-meeting” where they put some politicians, the
> CEO of the company running the camp, some officials from the municipality
> in front of a crowd of people who are worried and some are even outright
> hostile with racist ideas. You can imagine what usually happens… I was in
> one of those meetings a couple of weeks ago, it was horrible.
>
> I think the usual impact is:
>
> ·       Increased fear and hostility towards people coming to our country
> from war zones.
>
> ·       Increased mistrust to the politicians and municipality.
>
> ·       People at the front get more or less badly hurt.
>
>
>
> Not a very good result. In fact it’s outright dangerous to arrange these
> kind of meetings. But mostly they don’t know better. Which is quite
> surprising to me as there are thousands of trained facilitators in our
> country.
>
>
>
> Since some time I have been working with colleagues in our Open Space and
> Genuine Contact communities to create alternative ways to have such
> meetings. We have some good ideas but would also like to hear what comes up
> for you? Normally these meetings are conducted in the evening, length of
> 2-3 hours. Normally they are not well planned and not facilitated other
> than trying to control them. They are called “information meetings” which
> says a lot.
>
>
>
> So I’d love to hear your experiences, ideas, suggestions…
>
>
>
> Thomas Herrmann
>
> Open Space Consulting AB
>
> www.openspaceconsulting.com
>
> Ni når oss per telefon: +46 (0)709 98 97 81 eller Epost:
> thomas at openspaceconsulting.com
>
>
>
> Open Space Consulting AB är ett företag med STORA ambitioner att guida
> ledare, organisationer men även lokalsamhällen att nå sin fulla kraft för
> att infria sina drömmar. Vi bidrar med kunskaper och praktiska verktyg för
> att stödja er att finna er bästa väg.
>
>
>
> *Mer information*
>
> LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult
>
> Facebook Företagssida: https://www.facebook.com/OpenSpaceConsulting
>
>
>
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