The Practice of Peace: A Program for Peacemakers
New York City
January 15-18, 2006

Overview:

In a world splintered by deep and destructive divisions the search for wholeness, health, and harmony - Peace - approaches desperation. Deep fissures have appeared across the mosaic of humanity, and while the press may fixate on the larger divisions between nations, religions, and cultures, the story elsewhere is no less troublesome. Families, communities, businesses and organizations of all sorts and sizes display the destructive pathology of fragmentation, disease, and discord.
Our efforts in search of peace, although well intentioned and energetically pursued, appear destined to the fate of Sisyphus who was condemned to roll a boulder up a steep hill, only to have it roll back over him as he reached the top. It is not for lack of trying, but the Peace we seek always seems beyond our grasp.
Perhaps we are working too hard in the pursuit of something that will arrive all by itself, given sufficient space and time? Fond hope? Dangerous delusion? Outrageous possibility? Or – a workable reality requiring only that we give up our eternal (and illusory) quest for control?
Based upon the serendipitous and remarkable discovery of over twenty years’ experience with Open Space Technology (see http://openspaceworld.com/), the outrageous possibility comes tantalizingly close to being an established fact. Through thousands of applications in more than 100 countries, groups of all sorts and sizes (over to 2000 people) have discovered that hugely complex and conflicted issues can be dealt with productively in an environment of respect, hope, trust – and even a degree of intimacy and affection amongst prior sworn enemies. Even more remarkably, all of this occurs without prior training in conflict resolution or the intervention of an army of facilitators and mediators. Observably, it seems to happen all by itself. The people do it themselves with minimal to no assistance. Some have called it magic.
It has become apparent that the “magic” in this situation has virtually nothing to do with the technique of Open Space. It has everything to do with the fundamental power of self-organization that underlies Open Space, as indeed everything else. If we are to believe the growing conviction of the scientific community, it is the power of self-organization that accounts for the organization of the Cosmos and all its creatures, great and small. In a word, it is nothing new. In fact it has been there from the very beginning at the moment of The Big Bang, and ever since for the past 14,000,000,000 years.
In this program we will experience and learn to apply the powers of this age old force in our search for Peace. It would not be inaccurate to say that the elemental tools for effective peacemaking are already in our hands. We need only to use them.

The Program

The program will take place over 3-4 days. The first day will focus on fundamentals –specifics of conducting an Open Space event, including core principles, the planning process, when to use Open Space, role and behavior of the facilitator, and action approaches.
Each of the next three days will begin with a brief presentation by Harrison Owen designed to stir the pot and get things moving. This will be followed by a full day in Open Space, where the real work will be done as all participants share their questions, insights and inspirations, building their own Practice of Peace.

The focus for each day is as follows:

Peace and Peacemaking in Pieces - Peace considered and defined along with a sympathetic, though critical look at our present activities of Peacemaking. Conclusion: We’ll never get there going the way we are going.
Muddling Through - A brief consideration of the remarkable fact that after 14 billion years and multiple disasters we are all still here to complain about how badly things are going. All of which is to say that things have been working rather well under the circumstances, at least sufficiently well to enable countless generations to come to fruition and pass their wisdom and skills on to the succeeding generations.
Simple Question - How come? Proposed answer - Self-Organization rules! And if we can only learn to leverage the power that has brought us this far, we might make it all the way! It could also be that engaging in an effective Practice of Peace is less about doing something new and different - but rather simply doing consciously and intentionally what we have been doing all the time.
The Practice of Peace - The heart of the matter with the description of a Practice of Peace that has worked for many and will work for you. Peace begins at home with self.

Who Should Come?

If you live on a planet, reside in a nation, domicile in a community or work in an organization where fragmentation, dis-ease, and discord have reached levels toxic to your soul and you want to do something about it, this program is for you. Peace and peacemaking is often thought to be the special preserve of diplomats and professional negotiators, but Peace is too important to leave to the professionals. It is everybody’s business. Furthermore, when we have to call in the professionals, that is clear and certain evidence that we (all of us) have not been doing our job. Peacemaking is an everywhere, everyday, everyperson job.

Note: Although Open Space Technology and the global experience with Open Space are very central to this program, this is not (strictly speaking) an Open Space training program. Nor is prior experience with Open Space as participant or a facilitator an essential prerequisite – however, it will definitely help. If you are new to Open Space you will find it very useful to have read or at least skimmed, Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide (Harrison Owen / Berrett Koehler – available at www.amazon.com) or read
The Practice of Peace (Harrison Owen / Human Systems Dynamics Institute available at sales@openspaceworld.org).

If you are interested in the facilitation of Open Space Technology, the first day of the program is essential, as well as having read two of Harrison’s books (Berrett Koehler) – Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide and Expanding Our Now: An Introduction to Open Space (available at www.amazon.com).
In addition, we encourage you to have practiced facilitating an Open Space gathering.

Tuition:
Corporate Nonprofit/individual
Jan. 15-18 (4 days) $1000 $750
Jan. 16-18 (3 days) 750 550
Jan. 18 (1 day) 250 150
Fees include materials, lunches and snacks.

Space limited. A 20% discount if full payment received by 12/14/05.
Non-refundable cancellations fee $100.

Your Hosts:

Harrison Owen
Harrison is President of H.H.Owen and Co. His academic background and training centered on the nature and function of myth, ritual and culture. In the middle '60s, he left academe to work with a variety of organizations including small West African villages, urban (American and African) community organizations, Peace Corps, Regional Medical Programs, National Institutes of Health, and Veterans Administration. Along the way he discovered that his study of myth, ritual and culture had direct application to these social systems. In 1979 he created H.H.Owen and Company in order to explore the culture of organizations in transformation as a theorist and practicing consultant. Harrison convened the First International Symposium on Organization Transformation, and is the originator of Open Space Technology. He is the author of Spirit: Transformation and Development in Organizations, Leadership Is, Riding the Tiger, Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide, The Millennium Organization, Tales From Open Space, Expanding Our Now: The Story of Open Space Technology, The Spirit of Leadership, The Power of Spirit: How Organizations Transform and The Practice of Peace.

Karen J. Davis
Karen, a consultant with organizations globally for over thirty years, is committed to enhancing the health, effectiveness, and joy of human systems. She is dedicated to building global community by working and learning with colleagues throughout the world. Karen is on the faculty of the Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago de Chile and is co-founder of its graduate program in Organizational Behavior and Development. She has been part of the leadership of the Organization Development Network, the International Organization Development Association and the Latin American Organization Development Association. Karen serves on the board of a large healthcare organization as well as on the boards of various community and cultural organizations. She has been involved with Open Space since before its naming. When not traveling or working around the world, she lives in New York City, returning regularly to her native Arizona. Summers, she is on her farm in Quebec, Canada. Karen describes herself as a gardener and a world citizen.
(Note: A sliding fee scale is available by request. Our desire is to include all who wish to participate. If your budget does not fit the stated fees, please contact Karen at 1-212-595-9107 or kdavis@concentric.net.)

Ralph Copleman
Ralph is a sustainability activist, poet, frequent open space facilitator, and veteran management consultant. Ralph serves a range of nonprofit organizations, corporations and communities. His consultations focus on helping people and institutions align plans and operations with chosen ideals. In this vein, he has served Russian entrepreneurs, Iraqi Kurdish political parties, corporate executives, and entire communities in American locales as diverse as Michigan, New Jersey, and South Carolina. In 1997 he served as a lead facilitator at the national Volunteer Summit organized by Colin Powell and co-sponsored by President Bill Clinton and all the living former presidents to that date. In 2001, he created the Earth Center in the Delaware Watershed, a nonprofit aimed at transforming the relationship between humans, their institutions and the Earth. Ralph is the author of The Talk Among Stones, a collection of poems. When not consulting, opening space or writing, he can usually be found on a bicycle. He lives in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

Registration

Any questions? Contact Karen at 1-212-595-9107 or kdavis@concentric net