Change Camp | ShapeShift

As many know, Envision Halifax has been near and dear to my heart since 2005 and I have dedicated countless volunteer hours to this endeavour. After much contemplation, reflection and conversation, Envision Halifax is taking a Sabbatical and it is time to celebrate! Mark your calendars for Tuesday February 16, 2010 between 400-630pm, the Hub 1673 Barrington St. 2nd Floor.

Envision Halifax alumni, investors, supporters, founders, and friends will have the opportunity to reconnect with each other in honouring the impact of Envision – on us as individuals, on us as a community as we take a deliberate break – or Sabbatical – from the leadership program and the broader work of Envision.

This is a time to acknowledge and honour the many contributions people have made to Envision – time, energy, talents, resources – and to celebrate the growth and change that has occurred in each of us and in Halifax over this time. There is no question that as we look over the landscape of Halifax, there is more percolating right now than five years ago, some of it can be traced back to Envision and it seems to have a different vibrational energy.

Read on to discover – or rediscover – a bit of the Envision story – and we hope to see you on February 16th!

The Envision Story

On January 21, 2005 Envision, after months of planning, hosted its first community conversation on a snowy day in Halifax. St. Matthews Church Hall was packed with people, with more on the waiting list. The conversations that day ignited a passion and vision for, among other things, the inception of a 10 month leadership program.

In September of 2005, Envision Halifax launched the first of four leadership programs. It came out of a long period of reflection and seeding the ground by a dedicated group of volunteers who articulated and believed in the vision of Igniting a Culture of Civic Engagement across the Halifax Region. Implementation of the program was picked up by another dedicated group of volunteers who responded to the call to design and deliver the 10 month program, inform key business leaders about the initiative, engage sponsors and recruit participants. The energy around the program was so compelling, it was like the program was its own entity wanting to come into form and would have happened no matter what.

The program was designed based on sensing into the need in Halifax at the time. It used leading edge theories and methodologies like Theory U, Chaordic Design, World Café, Open Space Technology, Appreciative Inquiry, Circle Practice. It opened the doors for transformation and change, particularly at the individual level and also at the organization and community level as participants took what they learned and began to apply it to different aspects of their lives and work.

During the fourth year of the leadership program, Envision began to wonder about the landscape of Halifax, what has changed and what is the current need? This led to asking some important questions – following the guidance of the methodologies promoted in the program. Did the leadership program still reflect the original vision for Envision Halifax? How has the need shifted and changed? How has the community changed? Who/what else is now igniting a culture of civic engagement that was not there five years ago? What is wanting to emerge now? What is the role for Envision Halifax?

As a result of this inquiry, the first strategic decision was to “let go” of the leadership program for the current year (2009/2010), despite all the acknowledged successes, in order to see what the next iteration of it might be – and what the next iteration of Envision Halifax more broadly might be.

What has been discovered so far:

The next iteration of the leadership program is not yet clear
There are other things percolating in Halifax right now that are serving Envision’s mission of Igniting a Culture of Civic Engagement – like The Hub, Four Days of Thinking Forward Halifax, ChangeCamp, PodCamp, and many more.

What we have come to realize is that deciding not to run the leadership program in 2009/10 was not only a wise decision, it was the start of a 12-16 month sabbatical for Envision. Now that we understand this, we want to be intentional about what this means and what needs to happen during this sabbatical so we can invite a conversation about re-emergence and re-engagement early in 2011. We also know that those of us who hold Envision near and dear to our hearts will continue to be sensing into the need in Halifax during this sabbatical.

In reflecting back over the four years of Envision Halifax and the leadership program, we know we have seeded a richness into the landscape of Halifax. Much has sprouted in that time and “Envision” has showed up in many places through its leadership program alumni and other volunteers. A few examples (this list is by no means exhaustive):

So come and share your stories with us, laugh and reconnect with friends on February 16th.

RSVP if you can, to envisionhalifax@gmail.com

So, I know one day is not totally going to shift the shape of Halifax — however, it starts with shifting attitudes and this happened on Saturday, December 5 at Change Camp at the Halifax Hub. Sixty or seventy citizens of Halifax showed up in response to the question: What does Halifax as a vibrant city mean to you?

Using Open Space Technology throughout the day, fourteen exploration conversations happened in the morning and a number carried through into the afternoon developing some concrete steps. You can see the conversation topics here: Change Camp

Examples of shift: one of the groups wanted to talk about the vacancy rate on Barrington Street and how to revitalize this key downtown street. They realized there wasn’t much they could do about filling in empty building spaces but, after venturing out and taking pictures of the street, they did realize there was lots they could do to bring renewed vibrancy to the street itself. Shift in attitude. Shift in perception. This is just one of the many examples of ideas generated with action steps attached.

At the end of the day a number of participants reflected on the diversity in the room, the energy that remained high throughout the day and the renewal of hope. One older man reflected that he came with cynicism, fully expecting to leave at noon and now he was leaving at the end of the day feeling energized and renewed.

The people in these Change Camp conversations really sunk into the idea that if there is to be a renewal of community and a vibrancy in Halifax it comes from citizens – ordinary people who care about the place where they live and work and are really beginning to understand that that caring needs to show up as action – even small steps can leverage a large shift.

Kudos to Emily Richardson, a young, relatively new arrival to Halifax, whose imagination was captured by the idea of hosting a Change Camp and, because of this, magnetized the resources and assistance she needed to create an amazingly successful day – and to the Hub a truly inspired meeting place in downtown Halifax.

I helped out through Envision Halifax sponsorship of this event and it was a clear example of igniting a culture of civic engagement.

ShapeShift

The shape of the world is shifting… embracing and being intentional about it

Tag Archives: Change Camp

Envision Halifax Celebration and Sabbatical

Change Camp Shifting the Shape of Halifax