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Author Archives: Ian Colley

Simple frames for deeper conversations

Posted by Ian Colley on August 13, 2010 – 7:52 am

I helped facilitate a community conversation on sustainable communities last week.  It was in a cafe at night.   The process was a light touch combination of world cafe and Theory U.  World cafe puts different questions on different tables, allows people to choose their topic, then rotate to another topic and a new table group. It is very interactive, and encourages warm networking among strangers.

The piece from Theory U that was valuable was a simple way of framing the context for the discussion. The first round was pretty ‘heady’ stuff, lots of ideas and activity. For the second round, I made a point of introducing the discussion in the spirit of ‘empathic’ listening, listening from the heart. The  question was carefully constructed to be about ‘feelings’ of belonging in communities.

Then the last round of discussion was framed as ‘generative listening’. Not just telling others what should happen, but being alive to the possibility that something might emerge, collectively, in the discussion that would reveal a pathway to the future.

By the time we reached the conclusion, the conversation had a much deeper, slower tone.  The feedback from the guests was highly appreciative.

The simple lesson is about taking the time to make frame the conversation, making it really clear what is possible and desirable – standing up for empathy and openess.

More on Theory U: http://www.presencing.com/presencing-theoryu

More on World Cafe: http://www.theworldcafe.com

And for the Sustainable Grounds web site – cafe conversations for sustainability: http://sustainablegrounds.posterous.com

The dollars in biodiversity

Posted by Ian Colley on August 12, 2010 – 2:47 pm

It is important to cut through the simple oppositionism of economy versus ecology.

Pavan Sukhdev, head of the UNEP’s Green Economy Initiative, argues that the greening of economies is a new engine for growth, employment and the reduction of persistent poverty.

He has put numbers on it.  It is possible to demonstrate that a wetlands outside Kampala is creating more value in water treatment for the city, than converting it to agricultural land.  Pavan provides a powerful economic argument for preserving natural capital.

He is pretty funny, too.  At the Opera House last week, he showed a slide of Mars to make the obvious point:  “no biosphere…no economy”.  He also presented a satellite photo of trawler fleets intensively clustered on the edges of a marine reserve of the Pacific US coast. “The fish don’t read the regulations”.

The Economics of Biodiversity (TEEB) reports  are at:

http://www.teebweb.org

A career banker, Pavan Sukhdev is on  sabbatical from the Deutsche Bank for two years to conduct his environmental projects. More please.