I have a credo you haven't lived if you haven't experienced open space once. It would be interesting to know:
what your haven't lived credo is

and if we believe it, why we don't advocate that all etacgers experience it and enable children to experience it at the first appropriate time

here's more on where open space can go to; originally the methoid focused on the world's biggest conflict issues, one space at a time; for that it needs the epople who come to give up 3 days uninterrupted time in celebrating listening poiwer of and with each other

I believe (know from very rehersal so far ) that a 10 year old can be intoruduced to a 1-day open space and from that moment on lunch hours, after-school activities need never be the same again

here's a bit more on where this evolution can go to; it needs editing as its part of a live conversation May 2006

Lunch for learning.
At a corporation like google or a school or children and family-caring community near you...


I am convinced -from one hour collaboration cafe formats we have trialled - this is a huge opportunity but only if we move up a level from open space and across to other structures

You (the 1500+ alumni of open space at OSlieste-serve) know more than me but 3 sub-system interfaces that fascinate me about open space are :
the invitation phase- will the people who come be the most passionate people about one specific context resolution?

the open space itself, which doesnt rush to answers nor to individual ownership since the innovation values are in the interaction web of flows

the interface after the open phase back to projects in the ordinary world's environments
hold those 3 interfaces and think of people in an organsiational structure:

they have 2 more ways to space and network; that inside the organsiation , and that they care about as bumping into social or communal needs outside

now suppose any person who wishes to is empowered by an organisation to nominate an issue they care passionately about exploring that is in some way related to work but potentially very laterally; will thye whole of the organisation network that person's inviation to a lunch circle in a way that the 10 people who mst passionately want to explore that issue turn uo at the same circle

where I have used the word organisation, it could be any association or network you belong to (most exciting of all are yout hubs becasue these chnage schooling forever and essentially multiply a network of montesorri type learning and co-mentoring circles until a teacher is liberated from examination books)

but the organisational structure is: do leaders or whomever's budget of resources and rulemaking open up the cultural roghts of the structure so that everyone is encouarged to buy into zeroising degrees of separation ar0und lunchtime invitation circles; there are for example half-way check points; the leader's pa could review topics before giving them the zero degree of separation approval to be an invitation post that goes to everyone
chris macrae wcbn007@easynet.co.uk
http://ninenow.blogspot.com/1999_12_01_ninenow_archive.html
http://collaborationcafe.blogspot.com

ps anyone around here know Bill Drayton of www.ashoka.org and www.youthventure.org - I have an odd feeling that the 2 most revolutionary people for humanity's common sense within 15 miles of the white house have been netowrking for 30 years without connecting with each other? Love to be wrong of course!

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More references to open space 1 2

Below, a story I heard today in the first Mayday lectures organsied by Sir John Whitmore for more than 20 years. The stories and the birth of the London branching of BeTheChange networks sounded so inspiring then. I later learnt That:
-great stories are not enough to enable all a network's participants to make the most of each other's connections with future change
-that the 2004 annual meeting of Global Reconciliation Network in Delhi was for me a much more permanetly moving network event
-that I would soon lose my younger but greatest networking mentor in London, who also open spaced the 3rd day of London's BeTheChange 2004 (see footnote)

I guess Abiola and Lynne Twist remain the most remarkable positive memories of that 3 day event.
Abiola Stories : including the lady with 2 mothers
Support a Women of the Commonwealth Network and require that the UN time share with such women leaders so that women's view of the world's local priorities has as much influence as men'sIn this thread you may want to debate:could the Independence of Africa's most richly resourced country have spun a different way, and if so what learnings can we map for other countries and critical periods in a nation's re-birth?how at the time of Hafsat Abiola's deepest adversity she united the wisdom flowing through the family trees of one of Nigeria's most love-the-people families (the Abiolas) and one of America's (the Twists)how much generations of the Abiola family gave and are giving to Nigeria, women's networks across the world - how are ( 1,,2,,3,,4) or might other networks that love people of every diversity collaborate with KIND?
# posted by macrae.nets @ 1:58 AM

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As a tribute to open spacer Colin Morley who died in London's underground bombings of 7/7/2005, here are the main chapter links at his weblog empowermentillustrated

what?
What's empowerment? Academics Be the Change Brands Community Building Creativity Cynics and Critics Dreams and visions Enlightenment Evolution Experts Fun Gurus Heros and heroines Leadership Links and resources My personal opinions News comment Open Space Practice of empowerment Service Profit Chain Sustainability Theory of empowerment Tools Types of empowerment
when?
April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003
Why?
Open Space Time to think Self Directed Work Teams Spiral Dynamics Community Building Ken Wilber Facilitation Participatory Appraisal Commander's Intent Process Work Andrew Cohen The Luck Project Holotropic Breathwork Motivational Quote Of The Day Types of Empowerment
why? not!
Bogus Empowerment Arguments against empowerment The end of empowerment Unions against empowerment Dilbert The Office
how?
Blanchard, Carlos & Randolph Boje and Rosile Conger and Kanugo W Edwards Deming Mary Parker Follett Gershon and Straub Dr E Goldratt Kimball Fisher Eric Trist

I spent much of Easter 2006 reading up on a correspondence course of Gandhi coordinated jointly out of USA and the University Mahatma founded in Ahmedabad in 1920

It turns out if my readers memory serves me correct that Gandhi was in London at 3 different time

he qualified to be a barrister at the Bar in London over 3 years in the 1880s/1890s

much of his legal career (which also eeolved into his first social/peacemaking revolituion) was spent in Natal S. Africa approximate later 1890s to 1920- as a consequence, every year or two he was on a boat between S Africa and India; on one occasion the voyage include a stop off in England; his boat landed the day after world war 1 was announced; typically he stayed for several weeks based in S. England and London

The third and last time Gandhi was seen in London was in a 1931 Roundtable conference on eductation convened at the Friends House! This last provides me renewed reason to google links between gandhi and London ; where I fiond relevant ones I will note them in posts below

here's one extract: Kingsley Hall East London is where Gandhi stayed in 1931 and today part of this place is the UK Gandhi Foundation; among other events they have been running an annual talk on Gandhi; these are soem of the speakers over recent years
Annual Lecturers 1985-2003 1985 ­ Prof Johann Galtung, Founder, International Peace Research Institute, Oslo. "Gandhi Today" 1986 ­ Jonathon Porritt, Director, Friends of the Earth. "Gandhi and the Green Movement" 1987 ­ Martin Ennals, Secretary General, Amnesty International. "The International Concept of Human Rights" 1988 ­ Prof Paul Blau, Austrian Green Party. "The Beginning of an Epoch: Time for the Great Peace Treaty" 1990 David (Lord) Ennals, Chair of the Gandhi Foundation, former Cabinet Minister. "Nonviolence in International Relations" 1991 ­ Dr LM Singhvi, Indian High Commissioner. "Gandhi Today" 1993 The Dalai Lama (Nobel Peace Prize 1984). "Compassion: ­ The Basis of Nonviolence" 1996 ­ Rev Donald (Lord) Soper. "Total Repudiation of Mass Violence the Only Way to Peace" 1997 ­ Prof Madhu Dandavate, Delhi. "Gandhi's Human Touch" 1998 ­ Mairead Maguire, Peace People, Northern Ireland (Nobel Peace Prize 1976). "Building a Culture of Nonviolence" 1999 ­ Bruce Kent, former Chair CND, former President, International Peace Bureau. "Time to Abolish War" 2000 Prof Adam Curle, Founder, Department of Peace Studies, Bradford University. "Mahatma Gandhi: the Master of Truth" 2001 ­ Dr Scilla Elworthy, Founder, the Oxford Research Group. "Gandhi's Legacy: the Vibrancy of Nonviolent Conflict Resolution in the 21st Century" 2002 John Hume MP & MEP (joint Nobel Peace Prize 1998). "An Eye for an Eye" 2003 Simon Hughes MP, Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London."India and Gandhi: Their Legacy to London"