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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Claudia – Great year indeed! And no matter what happens next (Good, bad, indifferent) the year was magnificent and thank you for sharing. The truly interesting thing to me is how the simple act of opening space wherever, however, with whomever, about whatever – effects the overall environment. When the times become tumultuous people naturally withdraw. Totally understandable response, but lethal over time. Just at the instant when being open to new and different possibilities, seizing opportunities, dreaming impossible dreams are critical for the renewal of a living society – blinders are put on and options are reduced simply because people do not or cannot perceive them. In such a context, relatively safe space and open eyes are truly revolutionary. I guess we tend to get hung up on the “hard outcomes” – plans made, projects initiated, etc – but for me the ripple-on effects are even more impressive. I will never forget my young friend Carol Daniels saying in the midst of such a moment, “You have reborned my hope.” I know, and I am sure she did too, that my role was limited at best – but the re-emergence of hope was powerful. I believe you and your friends have called forth a lot of hope. Thank you all for that!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Harrison<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Harrison Owen<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>7808 River Falls Dr.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Potomac, MD 20854<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>USA<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Camden, Maine 20854<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Phone 301-365-2093<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>(summer) 207-763-3261<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>www.openspaceworld.com<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#1F497D'>To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST Go to:<a href="http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org"><span style='color:blue'>http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org [mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Dr. Claudia Gross<br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, December 28, 2011 8:49 AM<br><b>To:</b> oslist@lists.openspacetech.org<br><b>Subject:</b> [OSList] Open Space development in Egypt 2011<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000099'>Dear All!<br><br>A great year is about to be over soon - and another wonder-ful year is ready to start.<br>In Germany, we call this period between Christmas and New Year "between the years" and this is exactly how I feel right now:<br>Having a look back on the TaDa's of 2011 (its high points, successes, joys) and dreaming about 2012 ;-)<br><br>It's the perfect time to have a look back on the development of Open Space in Egypt.<br>As you already have seen in Eslam Erman's post, the short movie about one of the OS events documents our work "live and in colour":<br></span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000099'><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l7iZ955QH8&feature=share" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l7iZ955QH8&feature=share</a> . It was so fantastic and encouraging to receive your great comments and feedback - highly appreciated! :-)<br><br>In total, 10 Open Spaces were facilitated (+ 1 happening on Dec 31st - insha'allah) on topics as diverse as "Egypt at the Crossroads", "Unity in Diversity"/ interfaith dialogues, refugees in Egypt, voluntarism, effective citizenship - just to name a few. Over 400 women and men from over 20 Egyptian governorates have participated in the events. They are still in contact by closed fb groups and are now working on the next steps initiatives they have identified.<br><br>Additionally, the website Open Space Egypt was created by Eslam (<a href="http://www.openspaceegypt.com/" target="_blank">http://www.openspaceegypt.com/</a>) and has its own fb group (<a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/257887974253169/" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/groups/257887974253169/</a>). Thanks to Ramy Mortada we have new great posters with the five OS principles, the law, butterflies & bumblebees and the final admonition in Arabic and English. We are currently in the process of translating more material as Arabic resources for the coming Open Space events. <br><br>To respond to the need of having Arabic speaking Open Space facilitators, I have trained a group of 13 who are now able to facilitate their own events. Right after this training, I was asked by others to repeat the training, so the basis of Arabic speaking facilitators will increase in 2012 again. The weekend after this training, the new facilitators already run their first Open Space on Informal Areas: two of them facilitated it and five were assisting them as a core team. Can't tell you how proud I was when I saw all of them making this event happen - it was a big and inspiring success! :-)<br><br>The development of Open Space in Egypt has gained momentum: The new facilitators are planning to organize more Open Spaces, we all want to increase the PR to attract more sponsors and interested participants, we continue our OSLEX meetings to have an exchange on our learning, and we keep on translating and developing useful materials to support the facilitators regarding their important work. <br>I personally believe it's just a matter of time until we start supporting other countries in the Arab world in facilitating their own Open Spaces ;-)<br><br>Wish you all a great year 2012 filled with health, love, joy and peace!<br><br>Warm regards from Cairo,<br><br>Claudia</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div></body></html>