[OSList] Government community engagement

[Birgitt Williams]

I like what Harrison says and the conversations happen...either where they
don't make a substantial difference (out in the back rooms and parking lots
or on fb) or they do make a difference (in an OST meeting) where they are
visible and can be engaged in.

The situation even within an OST takes a different tone when money gets
involved. When people come from a prosperity frame of mind, they tend to
believe that there are enough resources including the coming money, to do
what is needed. When people come from a scarcity frame of mind, they start
getting into positionality about where the money is going to go.

One example that I was involved in was when a national church made the
decision to allow ordination of gay/lesbian pastors. Many congregations
left, taking their money with them in disagreement with the decision.
Others chose to express their upset by withholding money from social
justice efforts...and this church was dedicated to social justice work
within the country and abroad. For three years, there was a hold on
distribution of the remaining monies/income, and when a new idea came
forward the answer to spending the money was always a firm 'no'. The entire
situation was in bunker like mentality of scarcity.

Some in leadership asked me if I could do something to help this situation
along. I proposed an OST meeting and we used 'givens' that included 'any
topic that anyone wanted to move forward that did not require money from
the national church could go forward without further approval' and 'any
topic requiring money would go forward for a vote to determine if it could
go forward within a very limited budget that was made available...something
like $40,000'. We had a great OST meeting and it was the first breathing
space that the leadership of social justice within that church had in some
years. I could feel the breathing starting in the room. I had organized the
posting of reports on two different newswalls. One newswall was for reports
that did not require extra money, the other newswall was for reports that
did require extra money. If memory serves me right, 78 topics were posted
on the wall of 'not needing extra money' because the people in the
discussion knew how to resource that topic. Only 6 topics (approx) were on
the wall of topics requiring extra money. No vote was needed because the
$40,000 could fund all of them.

You can imagine the chagrin in that community of people. Holding their
breath for years, bunker mentaility, shell shock, lack of action....only to
discover that they could do much more than they had let themselves believe.

Only sufficient open space combined with passionate people, could have
achieved what transpired and followed.

Birgitt
*Birgitt Williams*
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On Thu, Jun 13, 2019 at 4:17 PM Harrison Owen via OSList <
oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:

> Eric… There is a marvelous chimera about… that somebody (anybody) can
> decide how much “space” to be opened. It is a simple fact of the matter
> that if “the issues” are in the hearts and minds of the people, they will
> be “there.” No matter what the organizers think, wish, hope. The People
> rule. And those issues WILL be discussed – perhaps as “Elephants in the
> room” – but they will be there. Believe it! There is a choice, however.
>
>
>
> Will all this be a “Back channel discussion” with all the narrowness,
> distortions and meanness that naturally accrues?  OR … will the people be
> invited to deal honestly, fully, and (perhaps) painfully with the real
> issues for which they have a passion and concern? Worst case scenario is
> that the “worst” happens. People talk Honestly! Truth. It will not fit
> nicely in a parliamentary resolution – but it will surely be the place
> where any formal resolution MUST start.
>
>
>
> Curmudgeonly Opinion from the Great State of Maine.
>
>
>
> Harrison
>
>
>
> *From:* OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On Behalf
> Of *Eric M. Kapono via OSList
> *Sent:* Thursday, June 13, 2019 12:18 AM
> *To:* 'World wide Open Space Technology email list'
> *Cc:* Eric M. Kapono
> *Subject:* Re: [OSList] Government community engagement
>
>
>
> Aloha all,
>
>
>
> Thank you Rob, Peggy and Birgitt for sharing your stories and
> perspectives. They give me great examples for my conversations with the
> County. Rob and Peggy’s examples, while very different contexts, are
> helpful when considering government community engagement at a large scale.
> And Birgitt, we are soon to discuss how much space the County is able and
> willing to open via the invitation, e.g., recovery of the region is very
> much an island-wide issue. As we get into details, I may be in touch
> directly.
>
>
>
> Mahalo nui! ~Eric
>
>
>
> *From:* OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On Behalf
> Of *Peggy Holman via OSList
> *Sent:* Friday, June 07, 2019 2:21 PM
> *To:* Open Listserv
> *Cc:* Peggy Holman
> *Subject:* Re: [OSList] Government community engagement
>
>
>
> I have a really old story of working with the Washington State Arts
> Commission. We ran 20 open space gatherings over 6 weeks on the “Issues and
> Opportunities for the Arts in Washington State". We started with a
> statewide gathering followed by 18 3-hour Open Spaces in towns and cities
> as large as Seattle and as small as Twisp. We ended with a second statewide
> Open Space that started with sharing the reports in multiple forms (paper,
> flip charts, closing comments on construction paper chain links (sample in
> picture below) then opened the space for action.
>
>
>
> The themes that WSAC took from the meetings to guide their work:
>
> *WSAC Strategic Themes*
>
> 1.              *Communities* thrive when the arts are integrated into
> civic life.
>
> 2.         *Connections* enhance our effectiveness when the individuals
> and organizations in the arts community work together across perceived
> boundaries of geography, esthetics and organizational scope.
>
> 3.         Arts are integral to the *education* and life of WA children
> and youth so that…
> 4.         *Promoting* the power of the arts in the lives of individuals
> and communities.
>
>
>
> It resulted in new funding for the commission, a change from being
> distrusted to trusted and many collaborations. I thought I had a write-up
> online but I can’t find it. I’ve copied it from a doc below.
>
>
>
> Peggy
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Washington State Arts Commission’s Strategic Plan:
>
> A Conversation about the Arts
>
>
> The Governor’s Call for Action
>
> In 1997, recognizing the value of arts to citizens, tourism, business,
> education and communities, Governor Gary Locke launched an initiative to
> strengthen arts funding in Washington State.  He appointed a Blue Ribbon
> Arts Task Force to review State support of the arts and recommend ways “to
> ensure that our cultural life remains strong.”
>
> …After a one-year review Governor Locke’s Arts Task Force called for
> strengthening WSAC’s role and developing a “thoughtful plan for increased
> funding.”
>
> With strong statewide support for those recommendations, the 1999
> Legislature approved a $750,000 increase to WSAC’s budget – the first
> budget increase the agency had received in a decade.  The funding increase
> came with the requirement that WSAC submit a strategic plan to Governor
> Locke and key State leaders by June 30,2000. This plan is the result of
> that charge, and the outcome of a planning process that stretched across
> the state.
>
>
> Planning on the Arts:  Voices of the People
>
> From the early states of this planning process, WSAC envisioned a *statewide
> conversation about the arts* that would strengthen the State’s arts
> resources and expand the impact and effectiveness of the arts for all
> residents of the state.   Through two statewide meetings, 18 community
> meetings, several meetings of the Washington State Arts Commission, an
> online forum and a dedicated phone line, WSAC recorded the views, concerns,
> ideas and dreams from people across the State.  More than 1000 people have
> been involved directly in the development of this plan; their testimony,
> stories, deliberation and reflection are the foundation for this strategic
> plan.
>
> In the statewide and community meetings, the format used was Open Space
> Technology, a process to enable large groups of people to explore complex
> issues.  Participants at each session recorded the discussion in a summary
> format that could be understood readily by someone who wasn’t there.  True
> to the spirit of Open Space Technology, the discussions were driven by
> passion for the arts and responsibility for the issues and opportunities
> faced individually and collectively.
>
> Excerpt from “Planning On The Arts: Washington State Arts Commission’s
> Strategic Plan”
>  Reflections on the process
>
> When WSAC first contacted me, their biggest concern with an open,
> “conversational” meeting format was that community divisions would drown
> out any possibility of a cohesive plan.  East vs. west, big organization
> vs. small organization, rural vs. urban; participants would focus on their
> own agenda and fight over a small financial pie.  In fact, just the
> opposite happened.  People came together and focused on their common hopes
> and aspirations for strengthening the arts throughout the state.  The plan
> became an occasion for an unprecedented commitment to inclusion of many
> perspectives. As a result, when sent out for comment, the plan was
> enthusiastically received; everyone found their voice reflected.
> Ironically, the fear of conflict was released so completely, that the
> significance of its absence was barely noted.
> Behind the scenes: Supporting the meetings
>
>  To support the 20+ meetings held by WSAC, a call was issued for skilled
> Open Space practitioners in Washington State.  More than 20 people agreed
> to participate.  They were convened for a train-the-trainer session that
> introduced them to WSAC, the process, engaged them in finalizing the
> meeting design, and provided them the logistical information they needed.
>
> Meetings ranged in size from 5 to 100.  Depending on the anticipated size,
> some practitioners worked in pairs, others alone.  They took their work
> seriously – every commitment to participate was honored by these
> practitioners. In addition, at the train-the-trainer, we agreed to share
> experiences via e-mail as the events took place.  The unanticipated result
> was a rich conversation among practitioners that enabled each meeting to
> build on the learnings from the ones that came before.
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> Peggy Holman
> Co-founder
> Journalism That Matters
> 15347 SE 49th Place
> Bellevue, WA  98006
> 206-948-0432
> www.journalismthatmatters.org
> www.peggyholman.com
> Twitter: @peggyholman
> JTM Twitter: @JTMStream
>
> Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into
> Opportunity <http://www.engagingemergence.com>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Jun 5, 2019, at 8:53 PM, R Chaffe via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>
>
>
> You might try “Irrigation  Futures” 2005  with QJ Wang the leader.  The
> work involved extensive use of open space over 8 months with focus groups
> meeting every second week.
>
>
>
> The scenarios developed have significantly changes the way the community
> conducts its conversations by being very inclusive and ensuring that there
> are more than one path to the future, then as the drivers change the
> community has already developed tactics to ensure sustainability.
>
>
>
> After the 2009 fires in Victoria where over 150 people were killed and too
> many whole communities and towns wiped out.  Where OS principles were
> followed the recovery has been much more sustainable and positive.  Note it
> is not an example of OS technology as being the only way or that the
> technology was used in its pure form far from it.  What we see now is over
> reaction by the public sector to establish infrastructure that is not used
> and has become a massive burden to the Local Government.  This was done
> using controlling techniques.
>
>
>
> After the fires in south west Victoria a couple of years ago it was found
> that the most successful process to gather and share data and information
> including gaining consensus was what they called a sausage sizzle.  It is
> OS principles in action.  Create a space that attracts people, leave it
> open so that any issue can be discussed, make sure the law of mobility is
> applied, create space for the bees and butterflies,  when it starts is when
> it starts when it is over it is over and what is done is all that can be
> done.  In this case the organisers ensured that at each sausage sizzle
> there were a number of people who could offer “expert advice” or support ie
> professional who were prepared to listen and from time to time interject
> topics for conversation.  From each event notes were taken to form the
> framework of community action.  I don’t think this has been written up but
> I have proposed the idea to Rotary International to be its basis for
> response to natural and other disasters.  The sausage sizzle site were
> close to the regular gathering point, in this case the local livestock
> market place.  A normal gathering site.  This is critical as it reflects a
> tendency to hold onto the past that has been destroyed by the “fire” in
> this case.
>
>
>
> In your situation I suggest it is perfect and would form the basis of
> training people in effective gatherings by teaching the OS principles,
>  which really are about listening to what is is in front of head of those
> who are part of the conversation.
>
>
>
> Please get back to me if you think I can help.  Note the Irrigation
> Futures Project was regarded as Exemplary by external evaluators
> principally because of the staff including me as the facilitator.  It was
> also said it would be very difficult to reproduce due to the need of a
> highly skilled team, the time allowed two years and the budget $4.5
> million.  We were dealing with and industry that was valued at over 2
> billion dollars annually with 85% of the products produced exported from
> Australia.  That is. VERY important part of the economy where the cost
> represented less than 1% of the annual worth.  Public bodies do not like
> spending money on facilitation even with this exemplary example.
>
>
>
> I also used open space to debrief Incident Management teams to being the
> process of healing and minimise post traumatic incident syndrome.  It still
> is one of the best ever and it was almost our open space.  The cost of
> fighting the fires and primary recovery cost in 2003 exceeded $100 million
> and impacted on 1/6th of the state of Victoria.  In this case only one life
> was lost and virtually no significant infrastructure was lost in Victoria.
> We can conclude it was a significant event that was well managed with
> minimal collateral damage!
>
> Regards
>
> Rob
>
>
> On 6 Jun 2019, at 12:54 pm, Eric M. Kapono via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>
> Aloha all,
>
> I’m looking for references to a similar situation (more below) where OS
> was the contributing factor of success, in particular to communicate to
> government and community leaders here why OS will get the results they need.
>
>
>
> The context is the community engagement piece of recovery efforts from the
> 2018 volcano eruption in Hawaii. I’m consulting with the County Recovery
> Manager, who has been convening other types of gatherings much of this
> year. Now that disaster relief funding is closer to being on the ground,
> the County wants to convene a larger, multi-sector event, to encourage
> development of community-based recovery actions. The County is also
> planning to have a Disaster Recovery Fund setup, which would field a
> competitive process for proposed projects, some of which may have convened
> in the larger event and decided there to collaborate on a proposal.
>
>
>
> As with other parts of the recovery effort, this event would be under
> public scrutiny. It may be the largest event they’ve held, and County
> leadership is worried of perceptions and actual results coming from the
> event. In other words, there may be tendencies to have more control over
> the design/outcome of the day, in which case OS wouldn’t be the chosen
> organizing framework, but something else they’re more at ease with or
> accustomed to. I do believe, however, those community-based recovery
> actions are what they want most.
>
>
>
> Do you have links or references to similar public sector gatherings using
> OS, under scrutiny, and producing anticipated results satisfactory to
> government and community, that I might share with County leadership?
>
>
>
> Mahalo!
>
> ~Eric
>
>
>
> Eric M. Kapono, CPF
>
> *Advancement Services*
>
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>
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>
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>
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