Agenda - Council - 08/12/2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ramsey3 Final Report Grant No. OS-1237 City of Ramsey Ramsey2 Open Space Technology The four forums fostered discussion and debate that prepared the community foIL's~ternat onallyuknown wide discussions using Open Space Te hnc~ o M(OST)I served as the consultant for this phase of the teacher and practitioner of Open Spac gY project. OST has proven .particularly valuable in Successfully employed for over 20 years in a variety of settings, situations where participants need to ha sessions between he warr'ng ffact onsf n Nepalthat had resulted in Ramsey not long after conducting OST a cease fire to along-standing civil conflict. The success of OST hinges on the "invitation" that is extended to nousnwhi hits reached through slmall ns are framed as open-ended questions that require community cons group discussions that focus on creating consensu ~IBi-einan to carefully frame the Ramsey2 invitatioln. In several phone conversations were eonducted wi 3h addition Herman provided staff and the Ramsey steering committee with a guide a from audio/visual s developed for planning OST sessions. The extensive checklist included every lanngng would have been a needs to the number of marking pens and flip charts. Without this checklist, p great deal more difficult. In the preliminary conversations with Herman, the project planning group discussed timing, topics and even the proper place to hold the sessions. OST has proven particula~loybea ante the need forlthis nts have a large block of time to address a problem. A major concern was how . uninterrupted time with how many hours residents coul ollowed b l a serieslof even ng events This ~nitial opening with a Friday evening, all-day Saturday event f Y session would serve to define the topics for the further sessions. Another issue centered on the timing of these follow-upnd so far await h t enlergy wall lost Minnesotans' scheduling them so closely that it curtailed attendance a p uncertain summer schedules made this difficult. convened the initial OST session on Friday evening May 4~' and Saturd ached to this Michael Herman discuss the invitation questio le att nded the twoaday sessioncThey includedn ity staff and Council report. More than sixty peop members, Planning and Park Commissioners,. city residents le from neie hbormg communitiespMany of o had not attended the forums. The session even attracted peop g those attending were city activists who had been involved in various community issues, while others had __ ..never attended a single city meeting:'- -10- -201-