Hi Jamie,
Just a word of encouragement and a story to support big dreams. I
opened space on my little island for a related dream. A group of
folks had a chance to buy 26 acres on which they wanted to create a
community commons. There had been a lot of informal meetings and some
structured facilitation, but nothing had really ignited it to the
point that needed to happen in order to produce the land use documents
needed to get approval from local gov. I offered to help with an OS
event. They went for it and we opened space for about 60 people over
3 days. I had a volunteer civil engineer (who wanted to get trained
in OS, so nice trade) to help with the mapping aspects and support
folks understanding of how various features might work together. By
the end of the time, they had a solid plan, an actual map that could
go to the government for approval, had identified community leadership
for all major projects--and--wonder of wonders--no insurmountable
conflicts! You have to understand that, like many small places, my
island has many longstanding feuds along with more recent hurts and
challenges. Folks were amazed at how many of these found some healing
during the OS and how others were not an impediment to collaboration
and progress within the open space.
That was four years ago. Now we have a thriving commons that is
steadily becoming the centre of community life here. The core group
has managed to move through numerous legal and financial challenges to
the point where the governance and maintenance of the commons is truly
held by the commons.
In other words, business as usual for open space.
Set your sights high, Jamie. Magic happens. Keep breathing, trust
who's there, and remember it's not about you ;).
Blessings,
Wendy
On 27-Jul-10, at 1:16 PM, Jamie Colston wrote:
Hi Everyone,
I am running a open space on the Sunday 15th August in Bath and
require some help. This will be the first open space I would have
run having only done a full day workshop on it. I feel happy being
able to hold a space and winging it to a certain extent and would
really appreciate some support in the guise of a co facilitator if
anyone is near Bath or feels like this is something they could help
me with. The project is a CSA and Transition Bath have just secured
a year memorandum of understanding for a 6.5 acre piece of land on
which to build community around this project with the aim of a long
lease on low rent if it works. My aim is to see what is there in the
community on the day and where it could go.
My details are below so please feel free to give me any tips or
offers of support.
Many thanks
Jamie x
Jamie Colston
Building a sustainable future through inspiration and action
H: 01225 851377 M: 07909 442006 E: jamiecols...@gmail.com
FB/Linked In/Skype: Jamie Colston Twitter: spearthwarrior
Blog: http://inserviceforsocialchange.wordpress.com/
Critical Mass Ride Saturday 26th June, (the last Saturday of every
month), 1pm, Kingsmead Square
Transition Bathford www.transitionbathford.ning.com
A member of Transition Bath www.transitionbath.org
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Wendy Farmer-O'Neil
CEO Prospera Consulting
we...@xe.net
1-800-713-2351
The moment of change is the only poem. -- Adrienne Rich
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