Thinking Together: A visioning assembly for a future Scotland

Posted on 23. Feb, 2013 by in Blog

Scotland is now preparing for its very own visioning assembly based on the methodology of the two large citizens’ assemblies in Iceland. The Thinking Together visioning assembly seeks to generate positive visions for a future Scotland. The idea is for citizens collectively to produce a positive vision of what they would like for the future of Scotland, one which reflects the diversity of the population and which will be ‘out there’ for individuals and organisation across the board to pick up and work towards.

The assembly will take place on February 28th 2012. Thinking, in a new way, about the future participants want to see become a reality. Selecting participants to reflect Scotlandʼs diversity. Discussing values along with what purpose and vision is important for the Future of Scotland.

People work in groups, thinking together. Facilitators hold the space to make sure everyone has a say. Priorities from the morning session focus the afternoon. Consideration is on how to create a society, where what we care about is brought to life in the way we live, work and play.

Connecting with the lived experience of citizens, harnessing the inherent wisdom of folk. Building on the wealth of work underway. Engaging people in meaningful participation, crafting a future fit to face the challenges of our century.

Inspired and supported by the assembly movement in Iceland, this unique event is hosted by So Say Scotland in partnership with Future of Scotland, The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Church of Scotland, Electoral Reform Society and others.

Aim high, travel hopefully, stay present and reflect honestly!

To get in touch or help the So Say Scotland folks, contact Zara Kitson at makingithappenfolk@gmail.com or phone 07910138535.

The Icelandic Constitutional Referendum 2012

Posted on 23. Sep, 2012 by in Blog

A constitutional referendum on approving the constitution drafted by the Icelandic Constitutional Assembly will be held in Iceland by 20 October 2012. It is a non-binding referendum intended to guide the government’s and parliament’s actions regarding the further development of a constitution.

The following questions will be put to the electorate in the referendum:

  1. Do you wish the Constitution Council’s proposals to form the basis of a new draft Constitution?
  2. In the new Constitution, do you want natural resources that are not privately owned to be declared national property?
  3. Would you like to see provisions in the new Constitution on an established (national) church in Iceland?
  4. Would you like to see a provision in the new Constitution authorising the election of particular individuals to the Althingi more than is the case at present?
  5. Would you like to see a provision in the new Constitution giving equal weight to votes cast in all parts of the country?
  6. Would you like to see a provision in the new Constitution stating that a certain proportion of the electorate is able to demand that issues are put to a referendum?

 

Defining the Visioning Forum with Inspiration Points

Posted on 16. Sep, 2012 by in Blog

In a Visioning Forum there are only 4 inspiration points in the form of questions asked during the overall visioning session.

Question 1 in The Preparation session

Participants are inspired with a wide open positive question about the visioning theme. The main purpose is to stimulate right brain activity, as participant are usually in a left brain mode when joining a new form of sessions, like the Visioning Forum. This inspiration point is optimal and can be skipped on shorter forums.

Examples for Question 1:

  • “What do you like best about X?”
  • “What do you appreciate the most about X?”
  • “What do you like best about our world today?”
  • “What do you appreciate most about our life?”
  • etc.etc.

Question 2 during session 1 on Purpose and Values

This is the real opening ceremony of the Visioning Forum. We ask for just a one single word that can represent a value (a word that can contain virtues, behaviour, emotions or views). The question asked here is used to build a consensus on the key factors or core values to build on during the rest of the visioning session.

  • Further stimulate right brain activity
  • Create a frame of mind on purpose, values or visions
  • Create trust and unite the participants
  • Icebreaker for the rest of the session
  • Create a positive atmosphere

Examples for Question 2:

  • “What values or visions do you want to see form the basis of the new Icelandic Constitution?”
  • ”What core values do we want to base our future society on?“
  • “Name your deeper value or idea on higher purposes which you believe is critical in maintaining hope for the future”
  • etc.etc.

Question 3 during session 2 on the Idea Creation Process

This is the main idea generation part of the forum. The question needs to promote divergence with a broad and open subject. This will support flexibility and stimulate the mind of the participants.

It is important not to ask too narrow questions to empower full freedom for all participants.

Examples for Question 3:

  • “What do you want to see in the new Icelandic Constitution?”
  • ”How do I want to see future Iceland?“
  • “How can we build a better city?”
  • “How can we make the world a better place?”
  • etc.etc.

Question 4 during session 6 on Deepening

In the 6th session, specific questions can be asked for deepening the idea generation. For example for a visioning session for a better city, questions can be asked like; “Do we have some practical implementations that can empower our higher values, like in personal, family, community or work life?”, “Are there ideas that represent a process of change within us that enables transformation in our community or country?”, “Is there anything here that can affect the direction of society to deeper dimensions of our humanity?”, and so forth.

 

The Thinking Process

Posted on 10. Sep, 2012 by in Blog

It is important for the creators of a Visioning Forum to have a consensus for the difference between Creative Thinking and Critical Thinking of the participants. The methodology of the Visioning Forum takes into account these two different thinking processes during the flow of the session.

The following table summarizes the two thinking processes as defined by Benjamin Bloom in 1956:

Creative Thinking  Critical Thinking
Involves creating something new or original. It involves the skills of; Involves logical thinking and reasoning including skills such as;
flexibility, originality, fluency, elaboration, brainstorming, modification, imagery, associative thinking, attribute listing, metaphorical thinking, forced relationships. The aim of creative thinking is to stimulate curiosity and promote divergence. comparison, classification, sequencing, cause/effect, patterning, webbing, analogies, deductive and inductive reasoning, forecasting, planning, hyphothesizing, and critquing.

Based on the experience of the two major Visioning Forums in Iceland (National Assembly of Iceland Value and Vision 2009 and National Forum on a New Constitution 2010) it was expected the majority of the participant thinking process was as the following:

 

Considerations in Planning for a Large Scale Citizen Communicative Engagement

Posted on 09. Sep, 2012 by in Blog

This blog outlines some important considerations in planning for a large scale citizen communicative engagement.

Prior to the meeting

Establish a coalition which needs to be well connected within the community and possess intellectual skills to fully grasp the project and its nature.  The first task is to unite this coalition around a strong mission, like:  „Harness the wisdom of the people to build a better future for all of us“.  The founding team can call on international experts and specialists to enhance the dream.

Select a team of experts (facilitation experts).  These are preferably professional facilitators, people from academia or people with experience from management position within corporations.  Select a depending on the total number of facilitators needed to facilitate the dialogue at the events.  Include these people in the DREAM and get them on board.   They will now serve the role of being „head facilitators“.

Give the head facilitators thorough training so that they fully understand the nature and organization of the event.  They need to be the flow experts and provide support to their facilitators at all times.  In some cases, the head facilitators would need  to be trained as trainers for the facilitators.  This is especially true when language can be a barrier and strong group of local people have the capabiltiy to fully capture the methodology (trained in English), and carry it forward.

Ask them to recruit facilitators, 9- 18 each; people they know and trust are able to do the job.  They will thus each be responsible for a team of facilitators.  When that is done, organize a training of facilitators.  The training relies on the event handbook (already available), where the facilitators will be taken through the handbook a number of times in a simulation excercise. They will be given tools to use at the event itself when unsure how to handle issues, but their responsible head facilitator will always be there for support.

If there is information technology available, get IT specialists on board.  They need to devise a system to capture the data and register it.  This can be a simple registration of points from cards and need not be that complicated, but the IT experts usually find ways to enhance the basic task.  It would be preferable if someone in the founding team was an IT person.

Furthermore, people who are in the position of summoning volunteers for various tasks at the event itself need to be included in the dream.  They will head the organization around catering, reception of delegates, call center to contactd delegates etc.

After the meeting

A special coordination team works in the evening after the event to organize the data, take out repetitions, combine categories within themes etc.  This is important to think through in the beginning to secure the outcome will be available soonest possible (the following day).

Stakeholders

Stakeholders like authorities, religious groups and special interests groups usually don‘t want to be directlly involved in an event like this.   It is not adviseable in any way, since it could give the event a certain label.

They should be offered to support the event  in cognito without having to worry about the organization of it.  The founding team and all others should agree to work on a voluntary basis, but would have to pay for possible expenses like experts flown in, training of head facilitators, project administration plus possible out of pocket costs relating to facilities, equipment, catering etc.

What the founding team is really offering is to organise a „day of the people“,where there will be secured an authentic space free from all outside influences focusing on how best to fulfill the needs for a better future.  The output would  be an important contribution to general policymaking, which thus would be grounded in the „wisdom of the people“ and as such more likely accepted.

It is important to include the stakeholders in the meeting under the premises that they are there just as anyboty else; only representing themselves.

How to Organize an Authentic and Genuine Forum

Posted on 08. Sep, 2012 by in Blog

A Visioning Forum is based on the absolute impartiality of everyone concerned to empower the utmost fair-mindedness. This means that no speeches or coercion of topics takes place at the forum itself. Instead, previously trained facilitators are responsible for the flow of the dialogue and the agenda on their tables. The participants don’t have to prepare themselves for the meeting and they represent no one but themselves.

This process is about human interactions and can help build a balance between online platforms and the physical truth/reality. Just as online platform needs good usability in design to work, an idea capturing platform in the human organization within the physical space needs the same design to be able to capture ideas in the most optimal way.

It is assumed that all the facilitators have been trained in managing the flow of the forum. Individuals who are trained in human relations and have a positive attitude towards life are chosen for this job. One of the responsibilities of the facilitators is to bring out as many viewpoints from the participants as possible, making certain that they are comfortable, feel independent and have a positive attitude.

The main purpose of the announcer or master facilitator is to create tranquillity. Therefore, there are almost no announcements or direct chairing at this meeting from a speaker system. The communication between the facilitators and the announcer(s) is composed and with a minimum disruption.

The basis of the methodology of the Visioning Forum is to always use discussion rounds (brainstorming), where everyone has the same right to express his/her ideas. Participants put forth their ideas with short explanations on small cards. Simplicity is emphasised when going round and round, ensuring everyone an equal relevancy.

The key element of the Visioning Forum is to start the meetings by creating a frame of mind with a discussion about the values or visions that the subject is based upon. An opening dialogue is about the core values. This discussion is an important icebreaker for the meeting and creates trust between the participants.

At the end of the first half participants select the core values by democratic voting. The conclusions from all the tables are given to the chairmen of the meeting who group them in a certain way and find which values or visions are predominant at the meeting. The overall conclusion of the meeting on the core values is then announced. This creates faith on behalf of the participants in the methodology of the Forum, right from the beginning.

Formulations and discussions about the proposals of the idea card start in the second half of the meeting. It is important that the question is simple, clear and that it allows participants to grasp the subject totally.

Free discussion creates an atmosphere at the meeting. The participants always decide which topics they want to bring forward, at any time. This enables them to work at their own speed and deliver their proposals as they choose. It is easy to put forward ideas with reference to visions or values from the first part of the meeting. This gives participants a convenient framework in which to work.

The facilitator always serves the table the best he can and helps with the grouping of the proposals, in close cooperation with the participants. The facilitators never discuss individual topics or take a stand for or against the participants’ proposals. The facilitator makes sure that the participants at the table agree on the categorisation on the table which is automatically formulated by the grouping. The facilitator makes sure that acceptable category titles are formulated on the table.

Towards the end of the first part of the meeting the back office has processed the data from the discussions about values and visions. The final themes of the Forum have thus been formulated. This method ensures that the meeting itself formulates the themes instead of them being prescribed or created by a small number of specialists. This generates trust and demonstrates that the participants themselves are in control.

The participants now start a discussion about how the proposals of the idea card can best be tied in with their values and visions. This creates depth in the discussion where everyday discussions about ideas are now tied into their attitude towards life and our values. This will also result in an open discussion which will be directed at several themes.

In the next session the guests have had lunch and the areas and tables have been re-grouped according to the themes. Everyone goes to a table where there is a stack of values cards. The participants help each other to group the proposals on the table. This work creates new sub-categories. The same method is always used throughout the meeting and the facilitator makes sure all the participants at the table are active in categorising in a clear way as well as deepening the discussion even more.

After the participants have come to an agreement about a clear and substantial structure of the main themes on the table, the next task can be addressed. Every participant will choose the priorities he feels are most important as well as mark the issues he finds new and important. By marking new items, ideas are brought forward that could renew and bring positive, fresh currents into the society. This could create an opportunity for a new approach, a new way of thinking or a change from old ways.

The participants will complete this task by formulating a statement on each table. The statement is to include the most important items in the theme that was being worked on, items that people feel should characterize the manifesto from the forum. When this has been done all the data is collected on each table and a special caution is used to save all connections that have shaped the data at the meeting.

The meeting is brought to an end with announcements and a summary of the conclusions of the meeting.  However, the facilitators of the meeting will continue their work and have a processing session where the proposals will be grouped, repetitions will be taken out and ideas that are identical will be joined. Therefore it will be possible to introduce the main conclusions of the meeting already the next day.

Author: Gudjon Mar Gudjonsson, Reykjavik, Iceland

Extracting and processing wisdom from large crowd representing a given human system

Posted on 07. Sep, 2012 by in Blog

Author: Bjarni S. Jonsson, Ph.D. Candidate – Adizes Graduate School

Introduction

An authentic public sphere, in which participants can express their thoughts in a safe and uncritical environment, is necessary for harnessing collective intelligence. This enables genuine joint meaning-making through sharing of experience and storytelling, resulting in a representative view of the desired identity, values and vision of the social system involved.

The nature of human social systems differs fundamentally from that of a living organism, although belonging to the same class of meta systems. A crucial factor distinguishing human social systems from other meta systems, apart from the degree of internal autonomy, is language. Therefore, “the identity of human social systems depends on the conservation of adaption of human beings not only as organisms (in a general sense) but also as components of their linguistic domains”.

Maturana and Varela defined this particular dynamic of human social system adaptation as structural coupling, an important concept in what is to follow. It is not only a question of coupling or adaptation between the system and its environment, called second order coupling by Maturana and Varela, but a structural coupling within the components of the system itself, called third order coupling. Third order is a structural coupling among the components within the system, which then unify it.

The focus of this article is Citizen Communicative Engagement, or alternatively Employee Communicative Engagement, if applied in a corporate setting, as the fundamental process for adaptation of human social systems to their environment, not only as organisms (in a general sense) but also as components of their linguistic domains.

The following is based on a study which is a dissertation by the author of this paper, at Adizes Graduate School, Santa Barbara, California, which currently is under final review of the respective Doctoral Committee. It involves two so-called National Assemblies [Visioning] held in Iceland following the financial crisis that affected not only the society’s livelihood, but its very identity. The first public dialogue, organized by a grass root movement called the Anthill, was so successful that the Parliament of Iceland called for the second in preparation for revising the nation’s Constitution. Within the Constitutional Council, which was a 25 publicly elected member council to present a proposal for a new constitution to the Parliament of Iceland, several members stated that the resulting 700-page document with the conclusions from the second National Assembly, was a significant factor in equipping them material to reach a decision in only four months, on a full draft proposal for a new Constitution.

This report relates to the particular process, called “The Assembly Process” (Visioning) applied in these two instances, to the dynamics of a greater range of human social systems in the hope that it will contribute to facilitating conscious and constructive evolution of such systems. As it turns out, multiple such events have been organized in Iceland since November 2009 among corporations, municipalities, associations and more, many of whom have been organized by the author of this report.

Below the discussion will focus on the data i.e. what kind of data was gathered and how. Furthermore, how this data was classified and how it would fit different deliberation approaches, one of which is linked to the capacity of the software package developed by the Parmenides Foundation in Germany, called EIDOS. The author had permission to use the software for research purposes during his study and the following is a brief overview of the main findings.

It is argued that these types of large crowd dialogue events, organized according to the methodology of Participatory Action Research, are useful for visioning in human systems in general, be they countries, municipalities, corporations or communities of any kind and that it can, not only generate a vision for change, but also a very strong momentum for action.

(more…)

Can your city have a vision?

Posted on 05. Sep, 2012 by in Blog

Have you asked yourselves if the city you live in can have a vision based on common values and consensus? How do you get to such an consensus?

The document in this blog gives an idea on how you can gather the future vision from a random sample of 1.000 to 2.400 people of your city.

The questions are:

  • What do you like best about your city today?
  • What values or visions do you want to see form the basis of your city in 20 years?
  • How do I want to see my future city?

The process is neutral and organized in a way it can capture every idea brought forward by each of the participants. The output of the Visioning Forum is easy to understand and navigate. It can be presented only a few hours after the session in the form of a mind map.

Visioning for a city involves inspirations on the Why, What and Wow. It is important for the creators of a Visioning Forum to have a consensus for the difference between Creative Thinking and Critical Thinking of the participants. The methodology of the Visioning Forum takes into account these two different thinking processes during the flow of the session.

This process is about human interactions and can help build a balance between online platforms and the physical truth/reality. Just as online platform needs good usability in design to work, an idea capturing platform in the human organization within the physical space needs the same design to be able to capture ideas in the most optimal way.

Spirit of Humanity Forum

Posted on 13. May, 2012 by in Blog

The Spirit of Humanity Forum have the aim to create a universally respected forum that will regularly bring together influential individuals to explore the role of higher human values and spirituality in empowering effective decision making at personal, community, national and international levels.

Agora had the opportunity to meet some of the members and organizers of the Forum and discuss ideology and the Agora visioning methodology. As a part of the information presented from Agora is the following draft handbook for The Spirit of Humanity Forum to use as an inspiration and a source of free flow of ideas.

The document is open for anyone in an editable wiki-like format. Anyone can download this handbook as Word, PDF or OpenOffice document or create a new Google Docs version.

This draft handbook was prepared by Agora for the wonderful members and organizers of the Spirit of Humanity Forum.

Click here to open the Spirit of Humanity Forum Handbook.

New Open Google Docs draft handbook in Icelandic

Posted on 09. Feb, 2012 by in Blog

There is now a new handbook of the Agora Visioning Assembly available as an open Google Docs here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dTjMiDmXjeQ4E1Co7m-6cpny201206IMFNIhXUIRJVg/edit

This handbook can be used for smaller assemblies. It can be fune-tuned or forked.  Best of luck!

The Mosaic Framework

Posted on 05. Oct, 2011 by in Blog

How can you build a strong fibre-to-the-home network in a city using a more distributed social relationship management for all coordination? The following presentation shows how the Agora framework and conceptual thinking can travel in other industry and projects. It’s called the Mosaic Framework

Some key factors:

  • Mosaic is a “process skeleton” which contains sets of practices and predefined four roles with the so called Tile Owners, Supervisors, Cell Masters and Targets.
  • Mosaic enables the creation of self-organizing sales and marketing by encouraging citizen initiative and communication across the service area.
  • A key implementations of the Mosaic systems for managing the overall process is its crowd-sourcing web technologies.


When ordinary citizens rewrite their constitution

Posted on 26. Sep, 2011 by in Blog

Here are slides from a presentation at an event organized by Association ADELE and officials in the field of participatory democracy on September 26th in Paris, France.



The theme of the talk was “When ordinary citizens rewrite their constitution“.

Presentation given by Gudjon Mar Gudjonsson director at Agora and facilitator at the grassroots organized Ministry of Ideas. Political context in Iceland was discussed and the process around the Constitutional Council of 25 ordinary citizens.

Additional reaction and comments where given by Bastien François who teaches political science at the University of Paris-I. Bastien François wrote a famous book for a new constitution: “The Constitution of the Sixth French Republic”. Additional reaction given by Philippe Aigrain, founder and CEO of Sopinspace, Society for Public Information Spaces, a company that develops free software and provides services for the public debate of policy issues. Additional input and discussions where given by many of the participants during the session.

(more…)

Open Google Docs draft handbook for a 1.000 members Visioning Assembly

Posted on 11. Jul, 2011 by in Blog

The following link gives you access to our work-in-progress Visioning Assembly handbook we have presented to the organizers for SXSW.

- Draft Visioning Assembly Handbook

You are welcome to help us improve this facilitator handbook within this open Google Docs.

Roles at larger Visioning Assemblies

Posted on 05. Jul, 2011 by in Blog

To better understand the organization and administration of a larger scale visioning session, its important to discuss the different roles.

The following roles are needed to support a 1.000 participant visioning session:

  • Participants.  1.000 participant that just represent themselves at the visioning event.
  • Facilitators.  112 Facilitators, each facilitating 9 participants on its table.
  • Zone Masters.  8 Zone Masters, each handling 14 Facilitators within its Zone.
  • Runners. For each zone there are two runners that helps the Zone Masters to collect material and feed the back-office data center.
  • Master of Ceremonies. Responsible for the overall timing and sync of each zone masters. The MC is facilitating each of the Zone Masters.

In addition to the above roles, there are staff members in charge of the facility and any back-office activity like data entry.

The following overview further explains each of the roles.

Participants

The participants don’t have to prepare themselves for the meeting and they represent no one but themselves.

Facilitators

Well trained facilitators are responsible for the flow of the discussion and the agenda on their tables.  The facilitators can be volunteers that are participating at a greatly rewarding session that brings the best out of people. One of the responsibilities of the facilitators is to bring out as many viewpoints from the participants as possible, make certain that they are comfortable and feel independent and have a positive attitude.

All the facilitators have been well trained in managing the flow of the meeting. Individuals who are trained in human relations and have a positive attitude towards life, are chosen for this job.  It’s like each facilitator is handling its own startup company of 9 people. Focusing on making it exciting and successful.

A great tactic in preparation for the Visioning session is to have each facilitator check-in with its 9 participants. Connect with them on email, by phone, social sites or other personal means.  This will build trust and a commitment for the actual visioning event.

Zone Masters

The Zone Masters know the flow and methodology of the visioning assembly inside and out. They’re really the Jedi’s geeks and believers of the overall philosophy of the whole concept.  The Zone Masters are in constant sync and communication with the Master of Ceremonies. The Zone Masters meet regularly at a center point operated by the MC where timing and progress is communicated and managed.

Runners

Runners are eager students that are volunteering to help the flow of information at the session. Each Zone Master have two Runners that assist them in any way needed. Mostly on collecting data from each of the tables at a time set by the MC.

Master of Ceremonies

The MC is the master Jedi of the overall visioning session. It’s an invisible guy that is focused on just facilitating the Zone Masters and keeping back-office in sync with overall assignments.  The MC is also responsible for anything that is presented on the big screen or timing of announcements from the stage (that is kept at minimal).

Visioning Assembly handbook available in Icelandic

Posted on 25. Mar, 2011 by in Blog

Agora has been responsible for many company and government assemblies around Iceland since the methodology was first implemented around the grassroots organized session in 2009.  The Visioning Assembly is a session that implements Value vs. Effort planning in the final results.

This document is now available for anyone interested in Iceland and can be freely downloaded here.

 

Epic Idea for SXSW

Posted on 16. Mar, 2011 by in Blog

Today is our last day at South by Southwest Conferences & Festivals in Austin, Texas. The SXSWi 2011 has been a fantastic experience for us. We had the chance to experience truly inspiring keynotes, informative meet-ups and panels, including our own panel “Rebooting Iceland”.

We ended a great conference with a good meeting with Hugh Forrest who is one of the main brain behind this amazing venue. There the opportunity was used to pith our Epic Idea for future SXSW events.

You can see our proposal in the following PDF document, as we really want to embrace open source & transparency. So, let’s keep this in the open.

Here is a summary of the idea.

(more…)

National Assembly Facilitators Handbook

Posted on 02. Mar, 2011 by in Blog

On this page the handbook describing the methodology and instructions for the facilitators at the National Assembly on the Constitution can be downloaded.

According to the law set by the Parlament in 2010 the National Assembly is to be held in order to call for the public’s viewpoints and points of emphasis regarding the organisation of the country’s government and constitution and its changes. The objective of the meeting is to discuss the future structure of the society and the fundamental issues of the Icelandic Constitution.

The methodology of the meeting shall ensure that the outcome represents the viewpoints of those who attend the meeting, not the organisers’. The responsibility of the facilitators is to make sure that everyone at the table gets an equal opportunity to express himself/herself and to ensure active listening at the table so all viewpoints are heard.

In the first session there are questions about values and visions. We all have our own interpretation of values and visions. Value is a word that contains virtues, emotions and views. We all want to live in a good society, where communication between individuals is to our liking. We also want good rules and laws that form the frame around our communication with each other and with the society’s institutions.

For this to be possible our fundamental legislation, the constitution, must reflect the values and visions that are the basis of good communication and quality of life here in Iceland. This is the main input that we want to get from the first session. What are these values and visions? Core values in relation to the country, the nation and the world.

The participants of the National Assembly are not there as experts in constitutions. However, everyone is an expert in his or her own life vision. The constitution can accommodate to the life vision of the participants as it touches all the fundamental aspects of the society as well as the foundations of the legislation of the republic.

In the second session we start with a simple and open input question: “What do you want to see included in the new Icelandic Constitution?” In order to analyse the input better it may be as important and beneficial to discuss what kind of society we want the new Icelandic Constitution to reflect. It would then be the role of the Constitutional Assembly to perceive this vision and wish from the National Assembly.

The meeting process and the handbook

Agora ehf, that works for the Constitutional Committee is responsible for the management of the flow of the meeting. For further information regarding the process of the meeting contact: Guðjón Már Guðjónsson at gudjon@agora.is.

The publication of this document is subject to the terms of the user licence of Creative Commons Attribution –Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. Authors must be mentioned and the distribution is subject to the same terms in case of reproduction. Changes, further adaptation or new versions must be sent to gudjon@agora.is which makes the data accessible to others, subject to the same terms.

(more…)

A brief introduction to the National Assembly and its organisation

Posted on 02. Mar, 2011 by in Blog

By Gudjon Mar Gudjonsson, Agora.

When the organisation of a National Assembly is mentioned, it is usually the ideology behind the flow of the meeting, the creative thinking and the democratic dialogue of the participants that the reference is made to.

A National Assembly is based on the absolute impartiality of everyone concerned. This means that no speeches or coercion of topics take place at the meeting itself. Instead, previously trained facilitators are responsible for the flow of the discussion and the agenda on their tables. The participants don’t have to prepare themselves for the meeting and they represent no one but themselves.

It is assumed that all the facilitators have been trained in managing the flow of the meeting. Individuals who are trained in human relations and have a positive attitude towards life, are chosen for this job.

One of the responsibilities of the facilitators is to bring out as many viewpoints from the participants as possible, make certain that they are comfortable and feel independent and have a positive attitude.

The main purpose of the announcers or chairmen is to create tranquillity. Therefore, there are almost no announcements or direct chairing at this meeting. The communication between the facilitators and the announcers is composed and with a minimum disruption.

The basis of the methodology of the National Assembly is to always use discussion rounds (brainstorming), where everyone has the same right to express his ideas. The participants put forth their ideas with short explanations on small cards. Simplicity is emphasised when going round and round, ensuring everyone an equal relevancy.

The key element of the National Assembly is to start the meetings by creating a frame of mind with a discussion about the attitudes, values or visions that the subject is based upon. As an example if a meeting is about the constitution, a question would be asked about what should be the core values in a new constitution. This discussion on values is an icebreaker for the meeting and creates trust between the participants.

At the end of the first half the participants select the core values by democratic voting. The conclusions from all the tables are given to the chairmen of the meeting who group them in a certain way and find which values or visions are predominant at the meeting. The overall conclusion of the meeting on the core values is then announced. This creates faith on behalf of the participants in the methodology of the National Assembly, right from the beginning.

Formulations and discussions about the proposals of the idea card, start in the second half of the meeting. It is important that the question is simple, clear and that it allows the participants to grasp the subject totally. When discussing the future vision of a nation one could ask; “How do you want to see the Icelandic society in the future?”, and when discussing the constitution one can ask; “What is important to include in the constitution of Iceland?” etc.

Free discussion creates an atmosphere at the meeting. The participants always decide which topics they want to bring forward, at any time. That enables them to work at their own speed and deliver their proposals as they choose. It is easy to put forward ideas with reference to visions or values from the first part of the meeting. This gives the participants a convenient framework in which to work.

The facilitator always serves the table the best he can and helps with the grouping of the proposals, in close cooperation with the participants. The facilitators never discuss individual topics or take a stand for or against the participants’ proposals. The facilitator makes sure that the participants at the table agree on the categorisation on the table which is automatically formulated by the grouping. The facilitator makes sure that acceptable category titles are formulated on the table.

Towards the end of the first part of the meeting the back office has processed the data from the discussions about values and visions. The final themes of the National Assembly have thus been formulated. This method ensures that the meeting itself formulates the themes instead of them being prescribed or created by a small number of specialists. This generates trust and demonstrates that it is the participants themselves who are in control.

The participants now start a discussion about how the proposals of the idea card can best be tied in with our values and visions. This creates depth in the discussion where everyday discussions about ideas are now tied into our attitude towards life and our basic values. This will also result in an open discussion which will be directed at several themes.

In the next session of the meeting the guests have had lunch and the areas and tables have been re-grouped according to the themes. The participants all go to a new table except one person who stays behind. Everyone goes to a table where there is a stack of values cards.

At the new table the participants help each other to group the proposals on the table. This work creates new sub-categories. The same method is always used throughout the meeting and the facilitator makes sure all the participants at the table are active in categorising in a clear way as well as deepening the discussion even more.

After the participants have come to an agreement about a clear and substantial structure of the main themes on the table, the next task can be addressed. Every participant will choose the priorities he feels are most important as well as mark the issues he finds new and important. By marking new items, ideas are brought forward that could renew and bring in positive, fresh currents into the Icelandic society. This could create an opportunity for a new approach, a new way of thinking or a change from old ways.

The participants will complete this task by formulating a statement on each table. The statement is to include the most important items in the theme that was being worked on, items that people feel should characterise the constitution of the Icelandic republic. When this has been done all the data is collected on each table and a special caution is used to save all connections that have shaped the data at the meeting.

The participants now go back to their home group, each one having worked with a different theme. At the home table the participants discuss the main conclusions from their workgroups. This creates provisions and proposals for one of the final products of the meeting which are recommendations or requests to the Constitutional Assembly and other parties, such as the government, the media, grassroots movements etc. The participants formulate their recommendations according to what they think is most important to keep in mind when continuing the work (at the constitution) both with regard to the discussion at the meeting and their opinions in general.

The meeting is brought to an end with announcements and a summary of the conclusions of the meeting.

However, the employees of the meeting will continue their work and have a work meeting where the proposals will be grouped, repetitions will be taken out and ideas that are identical will be joined. Therefore it will be possible to introduce the main conclusions of the meeting already the next day.

Video introduction from the grassroots organised National Assembly in 2009 by the Anthill, Iceland:

Summary of tasks, objectives and the timetable

Arrival and refreshments. From 8:15 – 9:00

Introduction and expectations at the tables. From 9:00 – 9:20

1st session 45 min. Values and visions of the constitution. Time 9:20 – 10:05

The objectives of this session are twofold: On the one hand to find out what visions or values we want to be the foundation of the Icelandic Constitution. On the other hand to unite the participants from the beginning and create a positive atmosphere.

Voting – Selecting the values. 10 min. Time 10:05 – 10:15

2nd session: 70 min. The content of the new constitution.  Time 10:30 – 11:40

The objective of this session is to call for the participants’ proposals for the content of the new constitution. The participants put forth their ideas about specific issues which they think the constitution should contain or address.

Lunch. 45 min. Time 11:40 – 12:25

3rd session: 30 min. Categorising the themes.  Time 12:25 – 12:55

The objective in this session is to categorise the ideas about the content of the new constitution into themes which have been created from the values that came out of the first session of the meeting.

4th session: 15 min. A visit to new tables and personal introductions.  Time 12:55 – 13:10

Each participant at the table gets one theme which he/she will bring over to a new table with new people who are addressing the same theme.

5th session: 30 min. Categorising and uniting repeated ideas.  Time 13:10 – 13:40

The objective in this session is to summarise the overall input within the theme. This is done by grouping, taking repetitions from different tables and starting to build up a theme with a new categorisation.

6th session: 20 min. Specialisation, discussion and deepening.  Time 13:40 – 14:00

The objective of this session is to deepen the discussion into the theme and make sure nothing is left out.

7th session: 20 min. Main emphases and a new way of thinking. Time 14:00 – 14:20

The objective with this session is to find out, with a simple voting, on the one hand the main points of emphasis and on the other hand a new way of thinking.

8th session: 5 min. Notes taken of the results from each theme.  Time 14:20 – 14:25

The objective of this session is to make a note of the main results of the table, based on the input that prevailed in the voting.

Coffee break. 15 min. Time 14:25 – 14:40

9th session: 20 min. Writing sentences and finish.  Time 14:40 – 15:00

The objective of this session is to write a strong sentence about the main input of the relevant theme, taking into account the recent voting.  At the end of the assembly the sentence may be read out loud for all the participants.

A short break. 10 min. Time 15:00 – 15:10

10th session: 20 min. Back to the home-table. Time 15:10 – 15:30

The objective in this session is to bring out information from each participant about the discussions and results from the theme each of them discussed.

11th session: 40 min. Recommendations and requests.  Time 15:30 – 16:10

The objective of this session is to bring out recommendations, advice or requests for the people who will continue and finish the work towards the forming of a new constitution.   The cards reflect the topics that the participants consider the most important guidelines for the continuing work for a new constitution.

12th session: 40 min. Presentations, evaluations and roundup. 16:10 – 16:50

The objective in this session is to help the participants at the National Assembly get a better understanding and knowledge of the work that has been done since the morning.

13th session: Closing session and canapés with music. 17:00 – 18:00

 

Summary from themes at the National Assembly 2010 on the Constitution

Posted on 02. Feb, 2011 by in Blog

Here you find a summary of the 8 themes from the National Assembly on the Constitution. This assembly was organized and facilitated by Agora for the Parlament of Iceland in November 2010.

The assembly process gave us the following 8 themes:

Full screen mindmap

(more…)

National Assembly Methodologies in Icelandic

Posted on 22. Nov, 2010 by in Blog

Agora was responsible for a 1.000 member National Assembly on a new Constitution for Iceland in November 2010 for the Icelandic Parliament.

Following the Assembly, Agora has published many of the documents that covers the methodology and the facilitation framework.

This documentation is available in Icelandic for anyone interested from the following page:

 

It’s all just an evolution: Assembly by Agora

Posted on 18. Oct, 2010 by in Blog

The following picture shows the summer 2010 r&d on the basics in the UI design of the Assembly product by Agora.

Assembly by Agora

Watch this blog for more evolutionary design or r&d.