[OSList] conversation & listening in Pittsburgh

[R Chaffe]

The current wisdom is that an open space is critical to allow people to respond to a change in circumstances (sometimes catastrophic some incremental).

In emergency response.  As part of my working life for almost 30 years I was a critical part of professional emergence response “incident management team” (the back room people who coordinate to action part of emergency response).  The critical component was listening to people and including them, or their needs etc, in the visible response.

Recently some work was done to evaluate the “best” way to support a community as they began the process of recovery from an emergency, in this case a very rapidly moving wild fire.  The key finding was a sausage sizzle where the community of concern could come and get a free sausage.  At the spot there was a person who was available to listen and pass on the latest news or processes regarding the recovery process.   He site often included a coffee.  So you have a pop up cafe where you can get the latest “news” or just chat.

The “just chat” is critical as the implication is that others are seriously listening and are seriously taking action to deal with issues and opportunities (now where have I heard that before?).

We might immediately recognise this as an Open Space hot spot.   The best part is it is not a hand out other than a cup of coffee and a sausage.  The reports are that these spots became critical gathering places and quite a challenge to retain the respect and openness.   This is where we can help.

The saddest site in recent memory is the survivors from a natural disaster returning to the same site for their hand out 25 years on.  

The lesson is the hot spots must remain just that.  The capacity and capability required to rebuild and move on must remain with the community.

It is so easy for others to compromise the open spot and corrupt the work to create interdependence.  This is the mission, should you choose to accept it, keep the Open spaces open! (I thin someone else has though of this phrase before me, tank you 🙏 )



Regards
Rob

> On 2 Nov 2018, at 11:31 am, Skye Hirst via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
> 
> Thx Lucas this is great!!!
> 
>> On Thu, Nov 1, 2018 at 7:51 PM Lucas Cioffi via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>> Hello Tricia,
>> 
>> I lived in Charlottesville during the race-based violence of 2017.  A few weeks afterwards, I held listening circles in the public space downtown.  Here are the notes and lessons learned that I and the other organizers compiled, and those notes might be helpful for your organizing.
>> 
>> To provide a sense of what this looks like here's a photo of the news coverage, and here is a blog post with photos of where I did something very similar in 2015 (opening space with 4 chairs).  Coincidentally this was right where the car drove into the crowd of people counter-protesting the alt-right rally in 2017.
>> 
>> Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your community.
>> 
>> Lucas Cioffi
>> Hastings on Hudson, NY
>> 917-528-1831
>> 
>> 
>>> On Thu, Nov 1, 2018 at 5:48 PM Tricia Chirumbole via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>>> Hi all!
>>> 
>>> My friends and I are holding daily conversation & listening spaces on the streets near the Tree of LIfe Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA where the mass shooting occurred this past Saturday .
>>> 
>>> We are looking to establish a basic set of agreements and intentions for listening and dialogue - both for alignment among our core team, and highlights to post on signs and website for our volunteers and those who stop by. 
>>> 
>>> We are promoting an open space to welcome people as they are , and want to provide compassion-fueled support and listening and avoid closing people down or getting embroiled in any negativity or political discourse.   
>>> 
>>> Any advice is most welcome :) 
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> -- 
> Skye Hirst, PhD
> President - The Autognomics Institute
> Conversations in Radical Self-Knowing
> www.autognomics.org
> @autognomics 
> 207-593-8074
> 
> "Nature ever flows, stands never still. Motion or change is her mode of existence."
> 
> - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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