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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In the past few months I have had the opportunity
to introduce OS to planning processes </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>in a
local</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>government authority in Adelaide, South
Australia.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As a 'feeler' for this unfamiliar approach,
the CEO sugggested that OS be used initially to find out</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>what the residents of Marion, </FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>a city comprising several suburbs with greater
metropolitan Adelaide</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>with a population of about 80 000, wished to see
happen </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>in their proposed new cultural center.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What emerged was a total surprise to
the planners and architects. What they had deemed to be
important,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>as expressed in their planning document,
</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>such as a library and art gallery, was not
touched on in the</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>community consultations based on OS.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Instead, passion expressed by partipants was for
elements which could be construed as 'the heart</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>of the cultural center,' </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>such as a performing arts facility, a meeting place for
ideas, link with a local</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Aboriginal center, a drop in venue for young
people, </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>design of the external environs.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The chief planner commented in a closing
circle: 'This form of consultation has brought me into direct</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>contact with the </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>people who will be using the Center. I have learned much and
have greatly enjoyed the experience.' </FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Several major design changes were decided by the
elected members within a fortnight of the OS sessions and the people
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>of Marion notified accordingly and
promptly. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>More details are contained in the article
below. It was written by a journalist who came along as 'hired help' and found
himself</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>drawn to participate in the OS process.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>And what the CEO and others perhaps had
not appreciated is that a culture of conversation has transformed
not</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>only a planning process and </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>the assoctiated design of a </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>major
facility. It is now impacting substantially on </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>the whole</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>operations of the elected officials and of the
council staff. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What further magic will emerge?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Alan Stewart</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><B><FONT face=Arial size=4>
<P align=center>Conversing with passion</P></B></FONT>
<P>Discussions about the future of major community facilities and how they
should be used can easily become shouting matches as different interest groups
push and shove their views. </P>
<P>In such instances little is achieved other than a sense that everyone has
just wasted their time. There is no agreement or consensus, no positive "next
moves", and consequently no progress.</P>
<P>In seeking to finesse the design of Marion’s proposed Cultural Centre, and to
better understand how the community might wish to use it, Marion Council decided
to take a more innovative, non-adversarial approach - using a consultant
"conversationalist" as a facilitator.</P>
<P>The result was two public "conversations" held at Marion Council in late
February/early March, which are being followed by a series of Passion Café
meetings where people can present their views, passionately if they wish, about
the development of the Cultural Centre.</P>
<P>Meetings facilitator Alan Stewart, who describes himself as a
professional conversationalist, says the process he adopts creates a space in
which people feel secure in talking openly – conversing - on what they feel
passionately about and in telling their stories.</P>
<P>For most of the 60 or so Marion residents who took part in the first two
conversations, the experience was unconventional – but, by common consensus, it
worked. Views that might have been fiercely expressed and just as fiercely
contested in another environment were here considered calmly in an atmosphere of
mutual respect.</P>
<P>Perhaps more importantly, some of the more significant views expressed
already have brought about major alterations to the Cultural Centre’s
layout.</P>
<P>Far from being too little consultation too late in the piece, Marion
Councillor Wolf Bierbaum, who attended the second of the meetings, says they
were "quite timely" and had influenced the decision to include a 160 seat
multi-purpose theatre in the centre.</P>
<P>"We’ve learned that economic rationalism - that is, money – is not the only
rationale for this development. We’d been limiting ourselves because of the
budget, but that’s not always the best way to go," he said. </P>
<P>The lack of a venue to replace Pioneer Hall had been one of the most
consistent and strongest concerns. But there were many others: will there be
enough parking; will it be a place where kids will want to ‘hang out’; will rain
be captured from its huge roof; will it be welcoming; where are the outdoor
gathering spaces; will there be enough shade? </P>
<P>In short, will it truly provide a much-needed heart for the city – or will it
just be a library, a café, some meeting rooms, and not much more?</P>
<P>The relaxed, non-aggressive nature of the meetings encouraged people to speak
from their hearts, with passion. There to listen, and take part, were senior
council officers, planners and administrators, who were there, frankly, because
they wanted to be.</P>
<P>"The council should not be seen as separate from the community," said Acting
CEO Terry Bruun, who introduced the meeting. "It must be representative of the
community."</P>
<P>Councils all over Adelaide try hard to communicate with their residents,
usually with only limited success. Marion has sought a new path inspired by the
noted American economist and futurist Robert Theobald, who died soon after
visiting Australia late last year. Theobald was a champion of the Reworking
Tomorrow movement which, in the light of new social, political and economic
realities, challenges traditional structures put into place by
decision-makers.</P>
<P>The idea of consulting with the community in a conversational context is
aimed at making people more confident in expressing what they feel strongly
about, more positive, and creating a new "collective intelligence" on which
council can draw.</P>
<P>"I really love the collective wisdom that comes out, and the triggers that
provoke even more thought," says Wolf Bierbaum.</P>
<P>He was reinforced by Marion Council’s cultural planner Don Chapman, who told
one of the meetings: "The community is not only smarter than council employees
think, you’re smarter than we can think. It’s marvellous how lateral you can be.
The solutions are all there."</P>
<P>Although a series of Passion Café’s has been organised to continue this
important community conversation, it is hoped that the Cultural Centre itself
will become a venue for ongoing converse on community issues, and that the
process will step further into the community at more local levels.</P>
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