Sustaining emergent networks

from the JISC Users and Innovation Programme

Open Space Technology enables groups to address complex, important issues and achieve meaningful results quickly, particularly in situations involving complexity, diversity of thought or people, and short decision-times.

See: Owen, Harrison, Opening space for emerging order.

There are multiple constituencies, generations of participation, stakeholders and interests in this room.

Session Plan OST

The objective of this two-hour session is to develop the organisational structures, however formal or informal they may need to be, through which the benefits of a community-based approach to JISC programme support might be realised. The activity will address questions of:

• synthesising understandings of emergent network development 
• increasing uptake of community-based approaches to programme support 
• building capacity in the community.

Participants will be invited in plenary, first to identify key themes arising from JISC U&I/Emerge, which address the topic of the session: “Sustaining emergent networks”, such as:

• User engagement
• Appreciative inquiry
• Community governance
• Special interest groups
• Software platforms
• etc, etc

Participants will contribute thoughts/themes/ideas and put their name to the item. There is no limit to the number of items that might come out, but each person who suggests an item should be prepared, if required, to facilitate a subsequent table group addressing the idea. The facilitator will invite the participants, if necessary, to amalgamate and consolidate items in order to achieve an optimum number of themes according to the number of participants, table space and the time available.

After key themes and “sponsors” are identified, participants will organise themselves into table groups to identify the agenda for each particular theme, the key activities that are needed to further the agenda and an outline schedule for realising the activities.

Each table should be furnished with flip-chart paper & pens. There should be a networked computer at each table (at least one of the delegates will have a laptop).

There will be a wiki.

Session Plan OST