Loving following these important discussions and looking forward to more in Kenya.

Last week Anna and I ran a 3 day training introducing people to OST and sharing some basics . ( Sheila and I ran it for years) It was such a joy, day 3 was online ( a first)

It's not too expensive and is in no way a replacement for Birgitt's wonderful full programme in genuine contact. But it did inspire give people and give them the space and confidence to think about bringing Open Space into their very diverse worlds. Loved this story from one person who we shared the three days with. ( written during a creative activity on day 2)

Your conversations make me think we could reignite a UK OST network.

Roma

Roma IskanderPublic Service Works Network Mobile 07956635802

www.publicserviceworks.com

On 3 Oct 2025, at 06:41, Michael Herman via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

Interesting question.

In my experience, it's very hard to track and record all the "actions" or "outcomes" the emerge in Open Space. In many of our favorite and most frequently told stories, actions and outcomes are featured, but those are highlights, headlines -- never approaching a full inventory. As we've been "doing" a kind of OS here on the OSLIST for all these years, of course we have no way to know all the places these conversations and learnings have gone, the seeds they've sown, much less what's happened with OS in the world, seeping into life in Haiti, Africa, Agile, British Theatre and so many other systems and communities of practice, not to mention all of our individual practices. The more it works, the less we can know about what it's doing, where it's goes, and how it is adapted and evolved and mingled with other practices and systems.

I'm not sure if it's composting... or blooming. But either way, the OSLIST has surely lost control of it, a long time ago, really. How could it be any other way? It seems to me that we all have the same job we did when I arrived back in 1996, the same job Harrison gave us in the intro to the User's Guide -- keep sharing our learning, keep sharing the story. Nothing there about growing or preserving the practice or an OSLIST. Just keep inviting and making more and more of whatever works.

Great when that happens here on the list -- not because elders make it happen, but because new people bring questions and ideas (like Julie Smith did once, as captured in the User's Non-Guide) -- but also great when it happens anywhere that's not the List. In the end, each of us is only responsible for maximizing and sharing (contributing) our own learning. The OSLIST will be over when it's over and whatever happens before, during and after it's finishing, will be the only thing(s) that could have.

Even the world's largest OS breakout group is gonna eventually go "poof!" like all the other breakouts we've known. One minute is's cooking and three or four people are up now holding markers and capturing rapid-fire work, and then they've all gone to lunch, or the bathroom, or to walk or nap, and so many other things.

I think there is still plenty of work to be done. Go Kenya! And still nothing to "fix."

m

--

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates

312-280-7838 (mobile)

MichaelHerman.com
OpenSpaceWorld.org

On Thu, Oct 2, 2025 at 10:37 PM John Warinner via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

For me, the living question is this:

• Do some members of this community feel, and take responsibility for the feeling, that OST must be sustained as a distinct cultural practice?
• Or is it enough that the principles of OST flow into other emergent forms of human gathering and collaboration, whether or not the name and specific details of “Open Space Technology” endure?

If the former, then the work may be to self-organize to find ways to “steward without possessing” to ensure that OST is sustained as a cultural practice.

If the latter, then perhaps we can let go and allow OST to compost gracefully, trusting that the “natural patterns” embodied in OST will continue to seed what comes next.

Thank you and best wishes to all those attending WOSonOS in Kenya.

John

<a name="m_2587060499842538525_SignatureSanitizer_SafeHtmlFilter_SafeHtmlFilter_SafeHtmlFilter_SafeHtmlFilter__MailAutoSig" style="font-family:arial;font-size:small;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;color:rgb(17,85,204)">John Warinner (541) 815-4103
johnwarinner@gmail.com</a>

On Thu, Oct 2, 2025 at 6:09 PM Rain Warren via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

Well said, Tony.

On Thu, Oct 2, 2025, 9:06 PM Tony Budak via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

OST’s power lies in self-organization. To honor Owen’s method while adding ethical, social, and ecological depth, the practitioner doesn’t add rules but designs the invitation, space, and harvest so that these dimensions are naturally present in the conversations and outcomes.

In Solidarity for more joy, and less stuff,
Tony
Click HERE to Meet with Tony

On 10/2/2025 8:24 PM, Peggy Holman via OSList wrote:

John,

As I read your message, I recoiled from your thoughts on a succession plan as it seemed to me too out of character with the spirit and practice of Open Space.

As I read further, you bring up some important questions about whether there’s a need to preserve and sustain Open Space as we’ve known it. I believe there is. But that may just be my attachment to what it has meant in my own development. Imagining the future of the Open Space community is a question I plan to take to WOSonOS in Kenya. Seems like a good place to build on the conversation Thomas hosted and that you and others have continued here on the list.

As Michael said, it is simple, not easy. I see the “it” as both Open Space and as its implications for how humans organize, whether in organizations, communities, or some other form entirely.

Peggy

---

Peggy Holman

peggy@peggyholman.com

Bellevue, WA 98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.com

Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity

"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become
the fire".
-- Drew Dellinger

Join the Open Space practitioner’s conference - the World Open Space on Open Space (WOSonOS) - in Kenya, November 6-8.

On Sep 30, 2025, at 6:21 PM, John Warinner via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

Hi Marai -

What I meant by a Succession Plan

By Succession Plan, I meant an intentional, structured strategic process that identifies and develops potential future leaders and/or key contributors within an organization to ensure continuity and organizational stability, capability and growth during transitions when important roles become vacant.

What I meant by a Succession Plan for OST

This is what came to my mind when I read the notes that Thomas provided regarding the State of the OS Community:

• The OSlist feels less alive... (1500 members to ~450, fewer active voices).
• Less glue/passion holding the community together.
• A sense of “elders stepping back” and less nurturing of the space.
• Desire to experience again the strong support and solidarity, especially for newcomers, that once existed.
• Difficult for younger people to enter and engage.
• Language and presentation may not resonate with younger generations.
• Need new ways of learning and connecting that fit today’s world.
• How to pass on wisdom while avoiding hierarchy or “pyramidness.”

What I see occurring in the case of OST

Much more broadly than the specific case of OST, I perceive an interesting cultural practice of tying practices to charismatic individuals as a shorthand for legitimacy. Even with Harrison Owen explicitly proclaiming OST to be "owned by the commons," our prevailing cultural practice appears to be to continue associating "ownership" of the practice to the charismatic founder and their closest disciples (with which it is culturally associated). Others adopt the practice, but they do not embody "ownership" or "custody" or "ongoing stewardship" of the practice. When the charismatic founder passes, the important role of founder/evangelist becomes vacant. No one else feels like they are "legitimate" successors with the "standing" to assume ongoing "stewardship" of the practice.

Going forward, it seems (to me) that the fate of the OST "practice" is to continue some degree of ongoing practice in its "pure" form (by those "purists" so inclined) and some degree of composting and integration into "derivative" practices (perhaps like what we have see with business model canvas and its derivatives).

One key question to the OST Community seems (to me) to be whether there is something valuable enough about OST in its "pure" form that merits maintaining and stewarding it in this "pure" form... or whether the essence of OST (trusting people to self-organize around what matters, the four principles and one law, convening in circles, and the marketplace) is simple, fundamental and archetypal enough that it cannot/will not die, and whether it is enough for it to compost naturally into derivative practices.

If it is unique, valuable, and important enough to be culturally preserved and sustained in its "pure" form, then some form of organization will probably need to arise to "institutionalize" it.

Does that perspective resonate with anyone else?

Thank you,

John

<a name="m_2587060499842538525_m_3324977636942979081_m_-3917930343807345583_SignatureSanitizer_SafeHtmlFilter_SafeHtmlFilter_SafeHtmlFilter_SafeHtmlFilter__MailAutoSig" rel="noreferrer" style="font-family:arial;font-size:small;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;color:rgb(17,85,204)">John Warinner (541) 815-4103
johnwarinner@gmail.com</a>

On Tue, Sep 30, 2025 at 2:12 PM Marai Kiele via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

Hi John, What do you mean with "Succession Plan for OST“?

Would you say more?

Greetings,

Marai

Am 30.09.2025 um 21:47 schrieb John Warinner via OSList <everyone@oslist.org>:

Hi Thomas -

Has there ever been a discussion of a Succession Plan for OST?

Thank you,

John

<a name="m_2587060499842538525_m_3324977636942979081_m_-3917930343807345583_m_8197710258816543521_SignatureSanitizer_SafeHtmlFilter_SafeHtmlFilter_SafeHtmlFilter_SafeHtmlFilter__MailAutoSig" rel="noreferrer" style="font-family:arial;font-size:small;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;color:rgb(17,85,204)">John Warinner (541) 815-4103
johnwarinner@gmail.com</a>

On Tue, Sep 30, 2025 at 10:39 AM Thomas Herrmann via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

Here are some notes from our meeting. The invitation posted on the OSlist and the Open Space Gardens was:

On June 2nd 2025 the experiment to add a real time opportunity to the OS list here in Open Space Gardens was launched. You are welcome to this follow up meeting where we will share our experiences and learnings. The purpose of the meeting is to evaluate if the experiment was successful and if we want to let it continue. Also we will see if we come up with any improvements, keeping in mind to keep it simple!

We used Zoom whiteboard where we also kept some notes. With the assistance of ChatGPT I have created a summary and checked it over. The meeting went on for 90 minutes

Convener: Thomas Herrmann
Participants: Peggy Holman (first 15 minutes), Marai Kiele, Francois Knuchel, Thomas Perret

The experiment goes on, simplified as it is easier to just post a topic on OSlist, use your own Zoom or whatever audio/video software. And an invitation to post back something about your meeting to the OSlist.
I will also do some promoting on different channels/ThomasH

The Open Space Garden can of course still be used and there is also a weekly Open Space Café every Thursday! https://qiqochat.com/lounge

Summary of notes from some of the spaces we were visiting in our meeting. You are of course invited to add, question and comment

---

State of the OS Community

• The OSlist feels less alive than before (from 1500 members to ~450, fewer active voices).
• Less glue/passion holding the community together.
• A sense of “elders stepping back” and less nurturing of the space.
• Desire to experience again the strong support and solidarity, especially for newcomers, that once existed.

---

Generational Shift & Inclusion

• Difficult for younger people to enter and engage.
• Language and presentation may not resonate with younger generations.
• Need to find new ways of learning and connecting that fit today’s world.
• Question of how to pass on wisdom while avoiding hierarchy or “pyramidness.”
• It's hard for humans to "get it", what the experience in Open Space brings if you haven't been there, that goes for youngsters and others!

---

Relevance & Application of OST

• Strong belief that OST is needed in the world today, perhaps more than ever.
• Desire to apply OST in wider contexts: ongoing communities of practice, cities, experiments, continuous OST everywhere.
• OST community itself could be seen as “an infinite OST meeting.”
• Opportunity for local and global gatherings (weekly/monthly city sessions, camps).

---

Tools & Communication Channels

• OSlist may no longer be the ultimate forum for engagement.
• Email lists feel outdated (we have had that discussion and there are certainly other channels available and free to develop)
• The possibility to combine OSlist and realtime sessions has "always" been and continues. Nice to announce on OSlist and post a report back after.
• If you have a pressing question the OSlist works really well.

---

Caring for Community & Eldership

• Importance of tending to the community—nurturing newcomers, inviting introductions, asking curious questions.
• Role of elders was discussed. Appreciation of their presence, dignity, refraining from dominating but embodying care and wisdom.
• Micro solidarity was shared as an example of a community gathering that goes on for a week, twice a year.

---

Fundamentals of OST

• Returning to the essence: invitation to take responsibility for what you love.
• Language may need updating, but the heart of OST remains valid.
• Congruence between practice and values is essential for keeping the community alive.

Thomas Herrmann

Open Space Consulting AB

Pensévägen 4, 434 46 Kungsbacka, Sweden

Telefon: +46 (0)709 98 97 81

Email: thomas@openspaceconsulting.com

Homepage: www.openspaceconsulting.com / www.5toFold.com

Profile on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult

Open Space Consulting frigör livskraft i människor, organisationer och samhälle.

We release lifepower in people, organizations and society.

Trainings/workshops (Info & registration)

8 Okt: Erfa-utbyte om Open Space (gratis, online)

17-19 Okt: Open Space för Demokrati, Gullbrannagården.

6-8 Nov: WorldOpenSpaceOnOpenSpace, Nairobi, Kenya

2026

20-22 Jan: Whole Person Process Facilitation, Örby Sverige

27-29 Jan: Att arbeta hållbart med Open Space-metoden, Örby, Sverige

11-13 March: Whole Person Process Facilitation, Lunteren, the Netherlands

15-17 Sept: Working with Open Space Technology, Lunteren, the Netherlands

2027

16-18 March: Whole Person Process Facilitation, Lunteren, the Netherlands

14-16 Sept: Working with Open Space Technology, Lunteren, the Netherlands

Continous opportunities for online learning - selfstudy + mentoring – leadership and facilitation incl Open Space

<Outlook-qdezmyeh.png>

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<pre style="font-family:monospace">OSList mailing list -- <a href="mailto:everyone@oslist.org" rel="noreferrer" style="font-family:monospace" target="_blank">everyone@oslist.org</a>
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--
In Solidarity for more joy, and less stuff,
Tony
Click HERE to Meet with Tony

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Beautiful card - thank you for sharing.

Dr Hedy Bryant

Adjunct Lecturer

School of Information and Communication Studies

Faculty of Arts and Education

Charles Sturt University, Bathurst Campus, NSW

Email: hbryant@csu.edu.aumailto:email@csu.edu.au

csu.edu.auhttp://www.csu.edu.au/

From: Roma Iskander via OSList everyone@oslist.org
Sent: Friday, October 3, 2025 5:53 PM
To: Michael Herman michael@michaelherman.com
Cc: John Warinner johnwarinner@gmail.com; Rain Warren rainlistens@gmail.com; Tony Budak tonybudak@tbmw.org; Thomas Herrmann thomas@openspaceconsulting.com; Open Space Listserv everyone@oslist.org
Subject: [OSList] Re: Report back - Follow up - Extended Open Space (OS-list and OS Gardens)

Loving following these important discussions and looking forward to more in Kenya.

Last week Anna and I ran a 3 day training introducing people to OST and sharing some basics . ( Sheila and I ran it for years)  It was such a joy, day 3 was online ( a first)
It's not too expensive and is in no way a replacement for Birgitt's wonderful full programme in genuine contact.  But it did inspire give people and give them the space and confidence to think about bringing Open Space into their very diverse worlds.  Loved this story from one person who we shared the three days with.  ( written during a creative activity on day 2)

[image2.jpeg]

[image4.jpeg]

Your conversations make me think we could reignite a UK OST network.

Roma

Roma Iskander
Public Service Works Network

Mobile 07956635802

www.publicserviceworks.comfile:///var/tmp/com.apple.email.maild/EMContentRepresentation/com.apple.mobilemail/E03D10BA-05B6-441B-AB5C-F71CCBC8C59D/www.publicserviceworks.com

[unknown.jpg]

On 3 Oct 2025, at 06:41, Michael Herman via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:


Interesting question.

In my experience, it's very hard to track and record all the "actions" or "outcomes" the emerge in Open Space.  In many of our favorite and most frequently told stories, actions and outcomes are featured, but those are highlights, headlines -- never approaching a full inventory.  As we've been "doing" a kind of OS here on the OSLIST for all these years, of course we have no way to know all the places these conversations and learnings have gone, the seeds they've sown, much less what's happened with OS in the world, seeping into life in Haiti, Africa, Agile, British Theatre and so many other systems and communities of practice, not to mention all of our individual practices.  The more it works, the less we can know about what it's doing, where it's goes, and how it is adapted and evolved and mingled with other practices and systems.

I'm not sure if it's composting... or blooming.  But either way, the OSLIST has surely lost control of it, a long time ago, really.  How could it be any other way?  It seems to me that we all have the same job we did when I arrived back in 1996, the same job Harrison gave us in the intro to the User's Guide -- keep sharing our learning, keep sharing the story.  Nothing there about growing or preserving the practice or an OSLIST.  Just keep inviting and making more and more of whatever works.

Great when that happens here on the list -- not because elders make it happen, but because new people bring questions and ideas (like Julie Smith did once, as captured in the User's Non-Guidehttps://michaelherman.com/publications/ost_nonguide.pdf) -- but also great when it happens anywhere that's not the List.  In the end, each of us is only responsible for maximizing and sharing (contributing) our own learning.  The OSLIST will be over when it's over and whatever happens before, during and after it's finishing, will be the only thing(s) that could have.

Even the world's largest OS breakout group is gonna eventually go "poof!" like all the other breakouts we've known.  One minute is's cooking and three or four people are up now holding markers and capturing rapid-fire work, and then they've all gone to lunch, or the bathroom, or to walk or nap, and so many other things.

I think there is still plenty of work to be done.  Go Kenya!  And still nothing to "fix."

m

--

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
312-280-7838 (mobile)

MichaelHerman.comhttp://michaelherman.com/
OpenSpaceWorld.orghttp://openspaceworld.org/

On Thu, Oct 2, 2025 at 10:37 PM John Warinner via OSList <everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

For me, the living question is this:

• Do some members of this community feel, and take responsibility for the feeling, that OST must be sustained as a distinct cultural practice?

• Or is it enough that the principles of OST flow into other emergent forms of human gathering and collaboration, whether or not the name and specific details of “Open Space Technology” endure?

If the former, then the work may be to self-organize to find ways to “steward without possessing” to ensure that OST is sustained as a cultural practice.

If the latter, then perhaps we can let go and allow OST to compost gracefully, trusting that the “natural patterns” embodied in OST will continue to seed what comes next.

Thank you and best wishes to all those attending WOSonOS in Kenya.
John

John Warinner
(541) 815-4103
johnwarinner@gmail.commailto:johnw@watersolving.com

On Thu, Oct 2, 2025 at 6:09 PM Rain Warren via OSList <everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Well said, Tony.

On Thu, Oct 2, 2025, 9:06 PM Tony Budak via OSList <everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

OST’s power lies in self-organization. To honor Owen’s method while adding ethical, social, and ecological depth, the practitioner doesn’t add rules but designs the invitation, space, and harvest so that these dimensions are naturally present in the conversations and outcomes.

In Solidarity for more joy, and less stuff,
Tony
Click HERE to Meet with Tonyhttps://bit.ly/3WtAIgT

On 10/2/2025 8:24 PM, Peggy Holman via OSList wrote:
John,

As I read your message, I recoiled from your thoughts on a succession plan as it seemed to me too out of character with the spirit and practice of Open Space.

As I read further, you bring up some important questions about whether there’s a need to preserve and sustain Open Space as we’ve known it. I believe there is. But that may just be my attachment to what it has meant in my own development. Imagining the future of the Open Space community is a question I plan to take to WOSonOS in Kenya. Seems like a good place to build on the conversation Thomas hosted and that you and others have continued here on the list.

As Michael said, it is simple, not easy. I see the “it” as both Open Space and as its implications for how humans organize, whether in organizations, communities, or some other form entirely.

Peggy

Peggy Holman
peggy@peggyholman.commailto:peggy@peggyholman.com

Bellevue, WA  98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.comhttp://www.peggyholman.com/

Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunityhttps://peggyholman.com/papers/engaging-emergence/

"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become
the fire".
-- Drew Dellinger

Join the Open Space practitioner’s conference - the World Open Space on Open Space (WOSonOShttps://www.wosonos2025.org/) - in Kenya, November 6-8.

On Sep 30, 2025, at 6:21 PM, John Warinner via OSList everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org wrote:

Hi Marai -

What I meant by a Succession Plan
By Succession Plan, I meant an intentional, structured strategic process that identifies and develops potential future leaders and/or key contributors within an organization to ensure continuity and organizational stability, capability and growth during transitions when important roles become vacant.

What I meant by a Succession Plan for OST
This is what came to my mind when I read the notes that Thomas provided regarding the State of the OS Community:

• The OSlist feels less alive... (1500 members to ~450, fewer active voices).
• Less glue/passion holding the community together.
• A sense of “elders stepping back” and less nurturing of the space.
• Desire to experience again the strong support and solidarity, especially for newcomers, that once existed.
• Difficult for younger people to enter and engage.
• Language and presentation may not resonate with younger generations.
• Need new ways of learning and connecting that fit today’s world.
• How to pass on wisdom while avoiding hierarchy or “pyramidness.”

What I see occurring in the case of OST
Much more broadly than the specific case of OST, I perceive an interesting cultural practice of tying practices to charismatic individuals as a shorthand for legitimacy.  Even with Harrison Owen explicitly proclaiming OST to be "owned by the commons," our prevailing cultural practice appears to be to continue associating "ownership" of the practice to the charismatic founder and their closest disciples (with which it is culturally associated).  Others adopt the practice, but they do not embody "ownership" or "custody" or "ongoing stewardship" of the practice.  When the charismatic founder passes, the important role of founder/evangelist becomes vacant.  No one else feels like they are "legitimate" successors with the "standing" to assume ongoing "stewardship" of the practice.

Going forward, it seems (to me) that the fate of the OST "practice" is to continue some degree of ongoing practice in its "pure" form (by those "purists" so inclined) and some degree of composting and integration into "derivative" practices (perhaps like what we have see with business model canvas and its derivatives).

One key question to the OST Community seems (to me) to be whether there is something valuable enough about OST in its "pure" form that merits maintaining and stewarding it in this "pure" form... or whether the essence of OST (trusting people to self-organize around what matters, the four principles and one law, convening in circles, and the marketplace) is simple, fundamental and archetypal enough that it cannot/will not die, and whether it is enough for it to compost naturally into derivative practices.

If it is unique, valuable, and important enough to be culturally preserved and sustained in its "pure" form, then some form of organization will probably need to arise to "institutionalize" it.

Does that perspective resonate with anyone else?

Thank you,
John

John Warinner
(541) 815-4103
johnwarinner@gmail.com

On Tue, Sep 30, 2025 at 2:12 PM Marai Kiele via OSList <everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Hi John,
What do you mean with "Succession Plan for OST“?
Would you say more?
Greetings,
Marai

Am 30.09.2025 um 21:47 schrieb John Warinner via OSList <everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org>:

Hi Thomas -
Has there ever been a discussion of a Succession Plan for OST?
Thank you,
John

John Warinner
(541) 815-4103
johnwarinner@gmail.com

On Tue, Sep 30, 2025 at 10:39 AM Thomas Herrmann via OSList <everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Here are some notes from our meeting. The invitation posted on the OSlist and the Open Space Gardens was:
On June 2nd 2025 the experiment to add a real time opportunity to the OS list here in Open Space Gardens was launched. You are welcome to this follow up meeting where we will share our experiences and learnings. The purpose of the meeting is to evaluate if the experiment was successful and if we want to let it continue. Also we will see if we come up with any improvements, keeping in mind to keep it simple!
We used Zoom whiteboard where we also kept some notes. With the assistance of ChatGPT I have created a summary and checked it over. The meeting went on for 90 minutes
Convener: Thomas Herrmann
Participants: Peggy Holman (first 15 minutes), Marai Kiele, Francois Knuchel, Thomas Perret
The experiment goes on, simplified as it is easier to just post a topic on OSlist, use your own Zoom or whatever audio/video software. And an invitation to post back something about your meeting to the OSlist.
I will also do some promoting on different channels/ThomasH
The Open Space Garden can of course still be used and there is also a weekly Open Space Café every Thursday! https://qiqochat.com/lounge
Summary of notes from some of the spaces we were visiting in our meeting. You are of course invited to add, question and comment

State of the OS Community

The OSlist feels less alive than before (from 1500 members to ~450, fewer active voices).
*
Less glue/passion holding the community together.
*
A sense of “elders stepping back” and less nurturing of the space.
*
Desire to experience again the strong support and solidarity, especially for newcomers, that once existed.

Generational Shift & Inclusion

Difficult for younger people to enter and engage.
*
Language and presentation may not resonate with younger generations.
*
Need to find new ways of learning and connecting that fit today’s world.
*
Question of how to pass on wisdom while avoiding hierarchy or “pyramidness.”
*
It's hard for humans to "get it", what the experience in Open Space brings if you haven't been there, that goes for youngsters and others!

Relevance & Application of OST

Strong belief that OST is needed in the world today, perhaps more than ever.
*
Desire to apply OST in wider contexts: ongoing communities of practice, cities, experiments, continuous OST everywhere.
*
OST community itself could be seen as “an infinite OST meeting.”
*
Opportunity for local and global gatherings (weekly/monthly city sessions, camps).

Tools & Communication Channels

OSlist may no longer be the ultimate forum for engagement.
*
Email lists feel outdated (we have had that discussion and there are certainly other channels available and free to develop)
*
The possibility to combine OSlist and realtime sessions has "always" been and continues. Nice to announce on OSlist and post a report back after.
*
If you have a pressing question the OSlist works really well.

Caring for Community & Eldership

Importance of tending to the community—nurturing newcomers, inviting introductions, asking curious questions.
*
Role of elders was discussed. Appreciation of their presence, dignity, refraining from dominating but embodying care and wisdom.
*
Micro solidarity was shared as an example of a community gathering that goes on for a week, twice a year.

Fundamentals of OST

Returning to the essence: invitation to take responsibility for what you love.
*
Language may need updating, but the heart of OST remains valid.
*
Congruence between practice and values is essential for keeping the community alive.

Thomas Herrmann
Open Space Consulting AB

Pensévägen 4, 434 46 Kungsbacka, Swedenhttps://www.google.com/maps/search/Pens%C3%A9v%C3%A4gen+4,+434+46+Kungsbacka,+Sweden?entry=gmail&source=g
Telefon: +46 (0)709 98 97 81
Email: thomas@openspaceconsulting.commailto:thomas@openspaceconsulting.com
Homepage: www.openspaceconsulting.comhttp://www.openspaceconsulting.com/ / www.5toFold.comhttp://www.5tofold.com/
Profile on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsulthttp://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult

Open Space Consulting frigör livskraft i människor, organisationer och samhälle.
We release lifepower in people, organizations and society.

Trainings/workshops (Info & registrationhttps://openspaceconsulting.com/kategori/aktiviteter/kommande-aktiviteter/)

8 Okt: Erfa-utbyte om Open Space (gratis, online)
17-19 Okt: Open Space för Demokrati, Gullbrannagården.
6-8 Nov: WorldOpenSpaceOnOpenSpace, Nairobi, Kenya

2026
20-22 Jan: Whole Person Process Facilitation, Örby Sverige
27-29 Jan: Att arbeta hållbart med Open Space-metoden, Örby, Sverige
11-13 March: Whole Person Process Facilitation, Lunteren, the Netherlands
15-17 Sept: Working with Open Space Technology, Lunteren, the Netherlands

2027
16-18 March: Whole Person Process Facilitation, Lunteren, the Netherlands
14-16 Sept: Working with Open Space Technology, Lunteren, the Netherlands

Continous opportunities for online learning - selfstudy + mentoring – leadership and facilitation incl Open Space
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--

In Solidarity for more joy, and less stuff,
Tony
Click HERE to Meet with Tonyhttps://bit.ly/3WtAIgT

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[Charles Sturt]https://www.csu.edu.au/

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