By Garry Sanossian
In November this year, Collective 2024 brought leaders of our network’s ministries together at Stanwell Tops to engage in Open Space Technology (OST) conversations centring around this convening question:
OST is a method of meeting which invites participants to set their own agendas and propose topics of conversation that matter most to them.
Anne Simpson, Network Ministry Co-ordinator and one of the key organisers of Collective, envisioned OST as a tool to foster empowering and meaningful dialogue across our network.
“We wanted to help our network have the conversations that matter most: those that are often hardest to have in community,” she said.
“OST is such an equalising process. It ensures every voice has validity, whether typically underrepresented or not.”
On Thursday afternoon, an electric energy surged in the room as delegates presented over 50 diverse discussion topics and wrote these on sticky notes on the ‘agenda wall’. Delegates then crowded around the wall to note down the conversation locations and time slots before dispersing to find and dive into their chosen ‘yarning circle’.
During discussions, all ‘yarners’ were equals, as convenors of conversations were instructed to facilitate contributions from around the circle to foster meaningful and authentic dialogue. A few simple principles guided this time, including that delegates were free to leave and join conversations as they pleased, seeking out conversations that stimulated them most.
This Open Space Technology method was facilitated by Michael Wood, an OST practitioner with over 20 years of experience.
“As the facilitator of the ‘Open Space’, I got the impression that people were engaging with the process positively. I sensed there was a lot of energy,” Mr Wood said.
“As far as I could see, people were having the conversations they wanted and needed to have.”
