Lisa Heft (Vice President, Open Space Institute USA, past OSLIST Poet Laureate and Fellow, Columbia University Center for International Conflict Resolution and host, WOSonOS 2008) will be facilitating Open Space Learning Workshops in San Francisco on the following dates: May 28-30, July 21-22 and December 17-19, 2008. She will also facilitate this workshop in Atlanta, Georgia USA on April 9-10, 2008.

Co-create a theme, experience a several-session Open Space, taste how action planning works in Open Space, learn about all the pre-work (invitation, planning, design, theme, logistics, documentation), variations, ‘what ifs’, ‘when not to’s’ and more. You will also receive a copy of the “Open Space Idea Book”.

For more information, contact Lisa Heft.

The author of the Change Management Toolbook, Holger Nauheimer is going to present his training course, Be The Change, in Boston, April 4-5, 2008 (with a half day free presentation on recent trends in Change Management on April 3, 2008). See the conference flyer and registration page.

Veteran Novosibirsk (Russia) Open Space Technology facilitator Elena Marchuk writes on the OpenSpaceRu discussion group that
“a few more have joined the club.”

Elena just finished conducting a Working with Open Space Technology learning workshop as part of the Genuine Contact™ Program in organizational health and balance.

More than 20 participants completed the workshop commissioned by the Community Relations Department of the City of Irkutsk.

Elena notes that “as usual all the learning in the workshop was great.” The workshop participants experienced a mini-OST meeting with action planning on the topic of “Increasing our Effectiveness in Working with the Community.”

The City of Irkutsk asked Elena to conduct the workshop because “the city wanted to learn a method together with neighborhood groups and local NGO’s so that they could speak the same language and make headway in future collaboration.”

Good work, Elena!

Diane Gibeault écrit:

La Haute Ecole fribourgeoise de travail social de la Suisse vous invite à une formation Forum ouvert les 29-30 mars prochains en Suisse.

Forum ouvert : La démarche est peu à peu prise en charge par les participants et participantes. Le cadre discret de ce processus et la confiance manifestée aux participants suscitent une responsabilisation de chacun, l’émergence des intérêts réels et un engagement profond.

Vous apprendrez comment le rôle de facilitation diffère des autres modèles, quand utiliser le FO, des processus pour déterminer priorités et plans d’action, comment préparer l’organisation et vous ferez l’expérience d’un FO.

Diane Gibeault, facilitatrice professionnelle accréditée (IAF) a été formée (FO - Open Space Technology) auprès de l’auteur Harrison Owen. Ancrée sur une longue expérience en facilitation, elle se spécialise dans les méthodes participatives pour grands groupes et démarches de transformation organisationnelle.

Inscription : www.hef-ts.ch nelly.plaschy-gay(at)hef-ts.ch

Renseignements : www.dianegibeault.com diane.gibeault(at)rogers.com

Larry Peterson announces an OSonOS: Open Space on Open Space Gathering is scheduled for Friday, April 27 (evening) and Saturday April 28th, 2007, in the Toronto Area (Location to be announced).

What are we learning about the use of Open Space Technology? What ideas or theories help us understand it? Join us for Great People, Great Conversations. Costs will cover venue, food and materials (To be determined).

Mark Your Calendars. More information will arrive in about two weeks. This event follows directly the workshop that Diane Gibeault and Larry will be leading from April 25-27th, also in Toronto.

Email Larry for more on the OSonOS or the training.

Local OSonOS Toronto Planning Team: Meg Salter, Judy Gast & Larry Peterson

More About OSonOS…
More OSonOS Events…

Jo Toepfer sent this about an International Open Space Technology Training that is going to take place in Blossin / Germany (close to Berlin) from November 2 through 9, 2006…

Many of us experience our work, the organizations we are part of, our communities, even our countries and in fact the whole world around us as transforming at ever increasing speed. To effectively deal with the resulting challenges often perceived as chaos, conflict and confusion we need an approach that involves all interested parties with their insights, experiences, questions and wisdom. An approach in which we collectively focus on making organizations and communities places in which the human spirit can unfold and thrive.

Open Space Technology is such an approach. It supports systems of all kinds and sizes in unfolding the forces of collaboration, cooperation, participation, creativity and spirit required to come to action on the burning issues facing them. It provides a framework of time and space in which people self organize their learning and planning. In this framework everyone works with everyone else on those issues they feel passionate about and for which they are taking responsibility.

More about the training…

John Engle and colleagues have created a program, called Circles of Change, in Haiti which incorporates Open Space and another method they refer to as Reflection Circles. Nice to see their success featured recently at Haiti Innovation, a new Washington DC-based nonprofit which was started by former Haiti Peace Corps volunteers:

In the midst of a national situation that is violent and chaotic, it is indeed refreshing and stimulating to see how Beyond Borders’ small but vibrant alternative to the authoritarian schooling and leadership is taking shape in Haiti.

—Claudette Werleigh, former Prime Minister of Haiti and Director of the Life & Peace Institute

Circles of Change is one of several Open Space Initiatives that invite and encourage your inquiry and support.

If you are looking for an opportunity to support an Open Space event, and you live in or near New York city, Holger Nauheimer wants to hear from you:

“For a client in New York, we are going to organize a series of consultation workshops between end January and April 2006. Two of them will be probably in an Appreciative Inquiry format, while one will be an Open Space workshop.

We are looking for a workshop assistant, who will help us in all logistical matters before, during and after the workshops.

Experience, particularly in assisting Open Space Technology workshops would be an asset. The person should be based in NY city because we need to avoid additional travel costs.

We are however not looking for facilitators.”

Contact Holger at holger@change-management-toolbook.com