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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Ah Anxiety! I love it. You can tell your
client that for 22 years, opening space in all sorts of places with all sorts
of people, some of whom had recently been killing each other – Never have
I ever seen any physical violence. The conflict can become very intense,
particularly when it starts out intense – but there has never been a
situation which the people could not take care of themselves. I have never
intervened, nor have I ever needed to. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>As for stories, I presume you have a copy
of The User’s Guide (and if not SHAME ON YOU!) – The opening story
about an Open Space I did should be right down your alley. 225 Native
Americans, Federal Bureaucrats and State Officials (equal numbers) trying to
figure out how to spend 1 ˝ billion dollars for highways on tribal lands. Hot
issue! Most folks were predicting </span></font><font color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial;color:red'>Wounded Knee</span></font><font color=red
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:red'> one more time. In fact
people were so afraid of the potential for conflict that the meeting had been
postponed for 2 years while everybody tried to imagine some way to “manage
the conflict.” Finally they ran out of time, and the money (Highway Trust
Funds) was going back to the Federal Treasury if the parties (Feds, State, and
Native Americans) could not collectively figure out how to spend it. With 6
weeks remaining the love of money trumped the fear of conflict and we opened
space. Not a problem. Not even a little one.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Oh there was one problem, and you might
make your client aware of it. Seems like the Native Americans felt much more at
home in Open Space than all the rest (White folks). One Navajo Chief rubbed it
in a bit as we were leaving. He shook my hand, smiled, and said, “What
took you so long White Man?”</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Don’t like that story? How about the
50 Palestinians and Israelis in </span></font><font color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial;color:red'>Rome</span></font><font color=red
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:red'>? Now those folks actually
were killing each other before they got together. Was it </span></font><font
color=red face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:red'>HOT</span></font><font
color=red face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:red'>!? Definitely.
Did it work? Perfectly. For the details, go to –</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'><a
href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/opening_space_for_peace.htm">http://www.openspaceworld.com/opening_space_for_peace.htm</a>
</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>So have fun! Guaranteed to be quite a ride
and the big thing for you will be to remember to keep breathing. When things
get real tense – DO NOTHING except to take a (several) deep breaths, and
KNOW that the people will take care of the business. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Harrison</span></font><font color=red
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<div>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Harrison Owen</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>7808 River Falls Drive</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Potomac,
Maryland 20854</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Phone </span></font><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:red'>301-365-2093</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Skype hhowen</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Open Space Training</span></font><font
color=red><span style='color:red'> <a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/"><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>www.openspaceworld.com</span></font></a>
</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Open Space Institute</span></font><font
color=red><span style='color:red'> <a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/"><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>www.openspaceworld.org</span></font></a></span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Personal website</span></font><font
color=red><span style='color:red'> <a href="http://www.ho-image.com/"><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>www.ho-image.com</span></font></a> </span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>OSLIST</span></font><font
color=red face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:red'>: To subscribe,
unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: </span></font><font
color=red><span style='color:red'><a
href="http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html"><font face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial'>www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html</span></font></a></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>-----Original Message-----<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b> OSLIST
[mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>On
Behalf Of </span></b>Michael Wood<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Friday, November 30, 2007
12:31 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Help! I need a couple of
good stories</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>I have had some conversations with a potential sponsor
(an NGO with links to Government, Indigenous Communities and Mining Companies)
about working with some indigenous communities in North West Australia. The
theme relates, in the short term, to the dynamics and presssures of negotiating
with mining companies and longer terms themes of sustainability for
aboriginal communities.</span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>What I am picking up from
the sponsor is a huge (palpible) anxiety associated with the potential for OS
to get out of control. I've detected control anxiety with other clients, but
never with this intensity. There may also be some good basis for their anxiety.
They describe an emotional landscape in some of the communities in question as
being of extreme conflict. The conflict has roots in the following areas a)
anger at historic dispossesion of land by European Settlement b) anger and
powerlessness at current dispossesion by mining companies (i.e. "the land
will be taken anyway - so what does it mean to "profit" from
this?") c) anger between tribal family groups based on historic
tensions d) tensions associated with differences in law and custom e) anger
associated with "wedge politics", fuelled by the fact that HUGE amounts
of money are now up for graps from mining companies. The latter is
a really hot topic - the NorthWest of Australia is experiencing a
"gold rush" at present, except it's actually an "iron ore
rush", as China sucks in ore to make steel and f) the fact that in some of
these communities it is not uncommon to resort to physical violence to sort out
differences.</span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>One of the key concerns
of the sponsor is actually one of the physical safety of participants. i.e.
"if we opened up the kind of space you are describing, we could actually
just end up with a fight".</span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>I have given no
commitments to the sponsor that such a possibilitity might not exist. However,
I have suggested that some of the safeguards of OS are a) voluntary association
b) a topic which is of common concern to whoever shows up and c) the law of two
feet.</span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>The sponsor has asked if
I have any stories of OS being used in indigenous settings involving the kind
of powder keg dynamics described above. I said that I thought some work along
these lines had been done in indigenous communities in Canada and Nth America,
but that I would ask around and get back to them.</span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>So....I am asking around
via this wonderful email network.</span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>Does anyone have any
stories (either of success or warning) in circumstances similar to what I have
described above, AND which you would be willing for me to share with my
potential sponsor AND whether you may be willing to be contacted by email by
the Sponsor to seek more detail if required. As you can see - the stakes are
high - related to potential risk to people's safety! (and I don't discount my
own anxiety in all this. At a head and experience level I know that "OS
always works", but at an emotional level, the context sounds very
challenging.</span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>Many thanks!!</span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>Michael Wood</span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>Western Australia</span></font></p>
</div>
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