The 2006 NCDD conference will take place in San Francisco, California August 4-6, with pre-conference trainings on Thursday, August 3rd. If you are dedicated to solving group and societal problems through honest talk, quality thinking and collaborative action, we invite you to join us at this innovative gathering. The conference will be held at the Renaissance Parc 55, a beautiful hotel in the heart of downtown San Francisco.

Founded in 2002, the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation is a vibrant network of over 500 organizations and individuals who, collectively, regularly engage and mobilize millions of people across the globe around today’s critical issues. NCDD’s national conferences and resource-rich website are crucial to the development of this emerging field of practice.

The Second World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace, will take place at Seville in Spain from 19 to 22 March 2006.

The sponsoring organization, Hommes de Parole, is an international humanitarian foundation devoted to bringing groups of people from areas in conflict to neutral territory and establishing conditions for dialogue and joint creation of a new future.

The First Congress held in Brussels on 3 to 6 January 2005 was an historical milestone in Jewish-Muslim dialogue. Israeli Open Space practitioner Avner Haramati was one of the professional facilitators for the first Congress.

The Second Congress will bring together once more 150 Imams and Rabbis, among the most influential Jewish and Muslim religious leaders in the world, together with the presence of number of Christians, education specialists, observers and experts, to focus on:

* Promoting encounter and dialogue between Jewish and Muslim religious leaders in order to build trust and confidence for developing common projects in seeking common good.
* Creating an opportunity for religious leaders to use their influence in conflict resolution in various regions of the world.
* Helping religious leaders to challenge fanatics who are misusing religion.
* Creating structures and initiatives to continue practical day-to-day work in the most needed areas.

The Second Congress will pursue the aims of the First Congress and will strive to :

* Enlarge the existing network of religious leaders who are committed in this endeavour especially to seek participation of prominent Imams from Arab and other Muslim countries. The Congress expects a large international media involvement in order to create a positive impact on both political leaders and the general public.
* Plan actions to be implemented in the field of education and especially peace education through dialogue and honest conversations with others.

The first day consists of presentations and discussions on specific topics, and the second and third days will be entirely in Open Space, facilitated by Harrison Owen, with Michael Pannwitz and his crew.

May there be abundant peace and life, for us and the whole household of Israel, and the whole household of Ismail.

Democracy’s Challenge forums encourage citizens to think about what they can do to strengthen the relationship that a democracy demands between the government and its people. The issue book presents three perspectives on the problem, each of which suggests a somewhat different course of action.

Right now you are invited to take advantage of a limited time offer for free materials to use for convening a Democracy’s Challenge forum. The free materials in each set include 1 copy of the full-length Democracy’s Challenge issue discussion guide, 30 copies of the 8-page issue discussion-guide-in-brief, 1 copy of the moderator’s guide, and 1 video.

If you think you want to get involved in NIF or in the Democracy’s Challenge issue, or you’d like to help us get the word out about this opportunity, we encourage you to:

– Order your free set of Democracy’s Challenge materials by calling 1-800-600-4060, or to download the moderator’s guide or issue brief.

– Connect with the NIF network contacts nearest you. These network hubs, listed at www.nifi.org/network/index.aspx, provide trainings and workshops, organize forums, and connect NIF folks in their region.

– Sign up to receive NIF e-newsletters and stay informed about network activities. Email Patty Dineen with your name, email address, and mailing address (or just city and state) and ask her to add you to the NIF News email list.

– Look up moderator trainings in your area.

– Download “For Convenors and Moderators: Organizing for Public Deliberation and Moderating a Forum”

– Tell others about this issue, and share this invitation to join the NIF network.

via Sandy Heierbacher on the OSLIST

This in today from Lise Damkjær in Copenhagen:

One of my best OS-experiences was this summer doing an 2-day Open space with thirty 15-17-year-old youngsters from Denmark and Letvia (so they had to do it in english to understand each other).

Their teachers had decided that the theme should be “Democracy and the fairytales of Hans Christian Andersen” (He was danish…)

The first morning we told the youngsters, that we expected them to host an open space with their parents as participantsin the next evening – and that we expected them to work out 4 small plays about democracy and the 4 chosen fairytales to inspire the open space.

And then we introduced open space – and they got to work! Lots of work!

In the evening the day after when the parents arrived the 4 plays were showed and 4 of the youngsters introduced open space and the space were open!

In a chat with one of the young OS-hosts I mentioned that the adults were a bit slow in getting started. This 15-year-old boy reflected: “I think they are having a hard time – being in the same learning as we were yesterday…”

WOW – with these youngsters we don’t need to wory about the future!

More stories about Opening Space for youth and education in the OpenSpaceWorld.NET Workspace.

From Together to One (the main site, in Deutsch, is here):

What On Earth Can We Do Together In 7 Days? May 6 – 12 in Jericho, Palestine

Imagine an open space where people come together to create a vision of future community:

* A 7 day experiment to explore possible blueprints for civic life.
* A chance to come up with new ideas and fresh approaches.
* An invitation to experts and lay people alike to work on many aspects of community life.
* An exploration of the different layers of community life such as: ecology, economy, education, health etc.
* An opportunity to see, feel and experience the power of deep connection.
* A chance to experience the self-organising principles of the Open Space Method.
* An opportunity to experience different cultures in one of the oldest cities on earth.

From May 3 – 4 local residents and visitors will work together to beautify the city of Jericho. This is a good opportunity for participants attending the Open Space Conference to get to know the city and the people of Jericho prior to the conference beginning.

The Open Space Conference “What On Earth Can We Do Together In 7 Days?” will run from May 6 – 9. Using Jericho as a template, we will come together to find solutions to improve the quality of community life. The information and insights gained during the conference can then be applied to other communities worldwide.

From May 10 – 11 we will put theory into practice. The plans and strategies developed during the conference will come alive. All the events planned from May 1 – 12 will benefit the comunity of Jericho and its people but there is the hope that what we create together could become a blueprint for other cities wishing to improve their civic life.

Together21 founder Susanne Triner invites world-wide participation:

The Together21 project is on it’s way. I joyfully walk my talk with an open heart, with humility and courage. Many years ago I felt a calling deep within that said: “you will be dancing on seven continents”. I could not fully understand what was meant by dancing. Now I know: it was the invitation to express life like a joyfull dance.

Will we dance life together? I am looking forward to meeting you.
Susanne Triner

Together21 (Together to One)
From Humanity to Human Unity
P.O.B. 448
CH – 3074 Muri bei Bern
Switzerland
Phone (CH) ++41 31 952 55 53
Mail: st at together21 dot org

From Catherine Pfaehler to the OSList:

I will be holding space for the Swiss Gay Community together with Florian Fischer April 7 – 9 in Vaumarcus, www.schwulegesundheit.ch or www.santegaie.ch. If you wish, also take a look at our most recent internet posting, www.open-space-konferenz.ch, where my friend Irena and I are offering a week-end for female managers. I am happy if you recommend the latter to women in management positions who speak German (or French or even English), if you know any of those.

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.

A conversation from the Open Space listserv illustrates the power of online communities like the OSlist.

Allison Hewlitt writes:

I just wanted to send a quick note of thanks for the responses that I received from my earlier email requesting advice on whether or not to introduce OS as part of a larger conference. Deep down, I realise that I knew the answer but simply needed to hear it from someone else. So, a big thank you for providing the reassurance and support that was needed.

I also believe, but can’t prove, that the responses increased my colleagues confidence in using OS for half of the conference. Having told my colleague’s about the request that I made to this community and the supportive responses that were received, a couple of colleagues asked to read them. I am quite certain that by hearing other perspectives, they are also getting some of the reassurance that they need to trust me and trust OS.

Chris Corrigan responds:

Alison, you have pointed to a major benefit of this community and other online communities that are supportive of each other. Last year, as I was planning an appreciative summit on Aboriginal youth suicide, I put out a call on my weblog for folks who might be interested in bouncing ideas around. The responses I got, which included ideas from India, Ireland, the UK, the States and elsewhere were a huge boost for my client who suddenly felt connected and cared for in a way they had not experienced before.

“You mean people in India are helping us do this???”

There is so much to be gained by sharing and asking for help…pay it forward!

Is there a project that you are working on or a question that keeps resurfacing in your awareness? The power of opening up, sharing, and asking for help is unlimited… go ahead, try it!