Next Meeting

Our Next meeting will take place on

30 October 2009 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Engaging Local Communities in Learning Conversations for Sustainability

With guest hosts:

Nancy Southern and Larry Tackett

In bridging the gap between organizations and communities, the question arises “How can we use the principles of organizational learning to create local communities that are capable of engaging citizens, policy makers, government institutions, and non-governmental organizations in the design and creation of sustainable learning communities?”

Citizens and cross-sector organizations are creating new ways of living and working together that protect the environment and foster thriving communities.  To do this effectively, they need to increase their capacity for community conversations, planning, and collaborative action.

The purpose of this meeting is to bring SoL resources to a generative conversation to support and enhance the work of creating thriving communities. Through this collaborative engagement we hope to spark interest among SoL members to get involved in local community efforts and bring their knowledge and skills of organizational learning to facilitate conversations, share ideas, address challenges, and create sustainable change.

Integrating some of the work being done by the Pachamama Alliance to foster greater commitment to sustainability, we will share stories of what matters. Larry Tackett and others will share the efforts taking place in San Rafael and Novato to create sustainable, thriving communities and discuss the tensions, challenges and opportunities of this work. Together we will discuss how organizational learning principles can support this important work.

Desired Outcomes:

• Expand your awareness of sustainability efforts in local community development
• Translate learning organization concepts to support community engagement
• Empower you to engage as citizens & facilitators in your local communities
• Learn about Charrettes – collaborative planning and public engagement methodology

About our presenters:

Nancy Southern is a Steward of Bay Area SoL and research member of Global SoL. She co-chairs the Organizational Systems programs at Saybrook Graduate School.  Her work revolves around integrating organizational learning, collaboration, and transformative change to support thriving communities.

Larry Tackett led the People-to-people Initiative in the United States to generate a conversation for taking care of our own. He is currently an “Awakening the Dreamer Change the Dream” facilitator and Development Director for Sustainable Novato. His volunteer work focuses on designing the future to create the world we want by inventing and generating conversations that make a difference.

Suggested pre-reading:

Info Gathering: Clues in the Context www.charrettecenter.net/charrettecenter.asp?a=spf&pfk=7&gk=269

Handbook for High Performance Charrettes www.nrel.gov/docs/fy03osti/33425.pdf

San Rafael Climate Change Action Plan www.cityofsanrafael.org/Assets/CDD/Climate+Change+Action+Plan.pdf

Sustainability: The Five Core Principles http:// bfi-internal.org/SustainabilityPrinciples_MBenEli.pdf

Additional web resources:

Awaken the Dreamer www.awakeningthedreamer.org,

Charrette http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charrette,

Pachamama Alliance www.pachamama.org,

San Rafael www.cityofsanrafael.org/Government/Community_Development/Green_Initiatives.htm

Sustainable Marin www.sustainablemarin.org.

Sustainable Novato www.sustainablenovato.org

Please RSVP to Jim Martin before Tuesday 27 October to reserve your spot.

General Meeting Information

BASoL meets at: The Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center located at 747 Front St, in San Francisco. Saybrook is wheelchair accessible and a short walk from the Embarcadero BART station. Parking in the neighborhood ranges from $15 to $20 per day.

Our meeting schedule is somewhat irregular, we average about five meetings a year. If you are interesting in being a presenter please visit the About Presenting page

Our meetings run from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM and are nearly always held on a Friday.

Coffee and tea are provided at each meeting.

We do break for lunch – bring your own or purchase something from the numerous food purveyors nearby. In the Summer months there is park across the street that makes for a lovely place to dine, but the grass can be a bit damp so some ground cover is a good idea.

Meetings are open to anyone with an interest in organizational and societal learning. BASoL operates as a recognized fractal of Global SoL – an IRS approved not for profit organization.

To defray our costs and cover our overhead we request a $20 donation per meeting from non-members. No one is turned away for lack of funds.

To join our mailing list, please send an email to Jim Martin with “Subscribe BASoL” in the subject line.