Methods for Strategic Collaboration

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Comment by juanita brown on January 27, 2011 at 3:59am

Hi everyone,

I´m writing to you from Sao Paulo, Brazil where we have just finished an amazing gathering of the World Cafe Latino community from around the region.  

 

We were blessed that the key Latin American steward of Open Space, Juan Luis Walker was with us, as were Thomas Ufer and Tamara Rezende, stewards for Art of Hosting for Latin America, as well as key stewards from the Presencing Institute Latino group, and other "doorways into the common courtyard and magic in the middle" -- it was a very special gathering with great potential for now linking hearts and minds as well as "methods" to make a special contribution from Latin America to creating global cultures of dialogue and committed action.

I encourage all of you to go to the World Cafe blog space here on this site so you can see the day by day description, graphics and photos of what occured.  Zulma Pataroyo of Colombia, a steward of the Presencing Ning space did an amazing job of documenting this gathering which connected a range of methods.

 

With fond regards and gratitude for what is unfolding among the Latino friends of the World Cafe who are contributing in such a special way to the learning of our global community,

Juanita

Comment by juanita brown on January 12, 2011 at 6:54am

Dearest Christine,

 

Given the horrific events in Tuscon, Arizona and the national dialogue around "civil discourse" (or lack thereof) in our country stemming from the shootings of our US Congresswoman and others, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for the incredible leadership you have shown in your home state of Arizona, in spite of all the divisiveness and hate, to bring people together across the boundaries that so often separate us.

 

Your commitment to new forms of civil discourse in society across all differences is an inspiration.  Please know that there are many of us in the World Cafe community who are holding you in our hearts as you and others in Arizona (and our nation) begin the delicate process of healing and reconciliation.

 

With great respect and admiration,

Juanita

Comment by ank on December 12, 2010 at 2:52pm

I can maybe contribute by sharing more info on the largest citizens online jam in Dutch history.

The context? The ANWB (car/bike owners association) was challenged by the Minister of Transport to comment the proposed ROAD pricing Bill earlier this year

The consultation? The ANWB engaged citizens in two stages.

First it opened a mass-survey to which more than 400.000 citizens participated.  

Secondly, and  more innovatively, they engaged  more than 6000 citizens in the first mega jam in Dutch history.

 

These citizens participated over 7 moderated topical online Synthetron discussions of one hour. They debated the core of the matter, shared their written ideas and  opinions, explained the why of their arguments… started as a group to build a clearer picture on the arguments at stake.  The synthetron evolutionary discussion methodology helped them, without risk of group think or herding,   to openly discuss, listen, score and thus identify amongst themselves the arguments that matter. This instant quail quant result was further analysed  with the synthetron 3 step method in a 85 page report with 8  simple tables summarizing the insights in 3 forces, resistances, support and improvements/conditions.  The report helped was presented to parliament.

 

The CEO Guido Van Woerkom  quoted: “our members were happy as they found it easy and engaging to participate. And for us, getting a collaborative filtered outcome on such a large scale made the process very efficient and transparent. We got deep insight into what our members think, feel and why, on the different policy issues.”

More case  info,( www.synthetron.com/files/Anwb_case_EN.pdf ) , for the report  and national television coverage: http://www.synthetron.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&am... 

 

Our learning: If the topic is relevant and you are able to recruit 1000’s of representative  citizens e participation works: it is a positive rewarding experience for the participants and generates deep insight in what citizens  think and why: from resistance and support to forward thinking on solutions, alternatives and critical conditions.

 

Joanne

 

Comment by juanita brown on December 11, 2010 at 9:33pm

Hola Jose,

I'm so excited that you posted this article here, as members of this group are very engaged in citizen participation efforts using various methodologies for collaboration and engagement and I think your article will help provide a lovely context for some of that work.

 

With warm regards and best wishes for the holidays to everyone in this group,

Juanita

Comment by Jose Alvarez-Cornett on December 11, 2010 at 9:23pm

I invite you to read my essay "We are all bards: The problem and the solution". The essay opens with three brief quotes which taken together summarize the work.

Peter Block: "Citizens, in their capacity to come together and

choose to be accountable, are our best shot at making a difference.”

but Joseph Schumpeter reminds us that : “One does not make a difference unless it is a difference in the lives of people.”

We are the problem because we have collectively created the narratives that bind us and we are the solution because if the narratives we tell ourselves are obsolete, we can get together to co-create new stories that will produce more suitable contexts. We are able to do this because storytelling has been at the center of human communication, we love listening to good story and we are all capable of telling stories because, at heart, we are all bards!

And this is what British poet and painter,  William Blake, in "Introduction to Song of Experience" urged us to to do:

Hear the voice of the Bard!,

Who Present, Past, & Future, sees;

Whose ears have heard

The Holy Word

That walk'd among the ancient trees;

 

And here it is. We are all bards

http://www.theworldcafecommunity.org/profiles/blogs/we-are-all-bards 

 

JAC

 

 

http://www.theworldcafecommunity.org/profiles/blogs/we-are-all-bards

Comment by Christine Whitney Sanchez on November 30, 2010 at 4:01am

Wonderful, Wilfried! Can you tell us more about Open Heart Circles?

Comment by Wilfried Fink on November 29, 2010 at 4:51pm

My contribution is my knowledge in working successfully with Open Heart Circles at facebook

Comment by juanita brown on November 18, 2010 at 8:23am

Hi all,
I've also become really excited by storytelling and other creative methods (am attending a storytelling workshop here myself on Saturday)....and this conversation might also be shared with the other TWC group here on the on-line community dealing with creative arts and World Cafe.
Best to all,
Juanita

Comment by Chris Chopyak on November 18, 2010 at 7:21am

Cliodhna - I love the vision you have outlined here. I was part of a project In Golden Colorado in the US that was in part funded and hosted by the Orton Family Foundation. The program is called the Heart & Soul Community project. It has a similar objective as yours - and they are using storytelling to get into the nooks and crannies of the community. They have video, audio and written stories and the local govenment used this effort to help define a set of values that guide and drive leadership for municipal decision making. /check out www.orton.org and I am happy to speak/connect offline. :) Chris

Comment by Cliodhna Mulhern on October 27, 2010 at 12:04pm

Hello friends. In Lancaster UK a group of us who are active in the Transition Movement are exploring together how to encourage a culture of community dialogue about the wonderful world that awaits us after the oil years...We envisage a community conversation that gets into every nook and cranny of our community summoning up appealing visions of a better world...We are at the beginning of this adventure and would love to know what other towns and cities have carried our city-wide conversation processes...Imagine Chicago comes immediately to mind but there will be many more...we look forward to finding out about them...Big thanks to all, Cliodhna, Lancaster, UK

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