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Municipality of Opsterland:
Inspirational Meeting “Anders kijken, gekanteld werken!”
21 June 2016
REQUEST
The municipality wants to focus on, stimulate and facilitate the initiatives and environment of the local community, institutions and companies. In short: no longer coming up with solutions for issues/problems yourself but making use of the “Krêft van de Mienskip”. This change in methodology requires a change in school of thought and actions by board, council and employees. This change is the aim of this meeting
IMPLEMENTATION
The first steps are taken by all 160 participants during a special afternoon in Cultuur Centrum De Skâns in Gorredijk. The session is kicked off by Paul Smit with a confrontational, but humourful, insight into how our unconscious brain actually works. Moving away from existing patterns takes time, perseverance and repetativeness. Paul also provides a few tools for influencing the unconscious brain.
THEMES
During the three rounds of the World Cafe all participants touch on the themes Trust, Commitment and Innovation. Plenty of new ideas are noted on the tablecloths, enough to actually start on. In the month following the meeting all participants received a personalized magazine with the feedback from the tablecloths and the photos.
The meeting, in short:
Looking at the faces of the participants it is noticable that everyone is switched on, all heads are bent close together in animated discussion. There is a huge buzz going around, and often we see a smile. A lot of input can be found on the tablecloths and there are still enough topics of conversation for around the barbecue fire.
A few weeks following the session all participants receive a personalized magazine with the feedback of the afternoon.
With the World Cafe we have managed to collect ideas on how we can facilitate the initiatives of the local community. The World Cafe is an inspiring means of dialogue. It makes for a lot of food for thought from which the benefits can be reaped for a long time. For example, what it means to move away from existing patterns. Both the Mayor – Ellen van Selm – and the Municipal Secretary – Koen van Veen – were extremely positive about this session and the great step forward that has been taken within the organization.
GEERT BROEKMAN
Municipality of Opsterland
Novella Media BV
Kleterstraat 20
3862 CA Nijkerk
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 85 87 70 170
Email: info@theworldcafe.nl
Jaap Voerman
Tel: +31 6 533 326 51
Email: jaap.voerman@novella.nl
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