Framing the Day
Expats Creating Value was attended by 52 Danish residents; diverse representatives from the expatriate community, the public and private sectors, NGOs and independent consultancies. Tom Griffiths welcomed participants on behalf of the calling team, and spoke to the need and purpose for this gathering by articulating the calling question for the day. Once the context was set, Jan Hein Nielsen, the lead host and facilitator for the day introduced the agenda and the format of the day, the Unconference. He invited all to step in with curiosity around what will or might emerge from the day; to be willing to share, to learn to collaborate; and to embrace diversity.
Who is in the room?
Participants came from many different contexts. In order to get a sense of the diversity in the room, participants arranged themselves according to whether they identify as an expat, or from a public, private or NGO setting. Roughly half of the group identified as expats, a quarter as public sector employees, and the final quarter with mainly private sector and a handful of NGOs. Next, to get a sense of the cultural diversity, participants arranged themselves geographically according to place of origin. Beyond the native Danes, many European countries were represented, and several participants originated from North and South America, Africa, and the Middle East. To connect with the purpose of the day, participants were finally invited to share why they chose to attend. Various voices were heard that spoke to reasons from the desire to learn more about the issues, to contribute to changing the situation with these issues, to network with others and to be inspired.
Sharing Experiences
One of the assumptions behind working with participation in this way is that between us and among us we hold all the knowledge and resources needed to find solutions that work. Based on this assumption, the group was asked to form pairs and share success stories from their experience of when diversity became an enabler. Identifying the conditions or 'success factors' that made this these experiences valuable or possible lead into dreaming into what might be possible if these conditions could be leveraged to enable better collaboration between expats and Danish public/private sectors. Participants 'harvested' each others' stories along with what they saw as possible success factors for this context. Read more here...
Dialogue Cafe
Forming groups of four, participants were invited to explore the question, "What do you see as the challenges and opportunities for future collaboration between expats and public/private sector organisation in Denmark?"
The purpose of the dialogue was to make visible some of the 'blind spots' around these issues; blind spots being both the unseen challenges but also the unseen opportunities. Perhaps it was not surprising that many of the challenges voiced also represent hidden opportunities. E.g. Language barriers can be an obstacle to good communication but given the availability of free Danish lessons for expats, it also represents an opportunity to open up to learning more about others. Read more here...
The purpose of the dialogue was to make visible some of the 'blind spots' around these issues; blind spots being both the unseen challenges but also the unseen opportunities. Perhaps it was not surprising that many of the challenges voiced also represent hidden opportunities. E.g. Language barriers can be an obstacle to good communication but given the availability of free Danish lessons for expats, it also represents an opportunity to open up to learning more about others. Read more here...
Open Space
Thanks to the shared understanding created by the conversations before lunch, the field was ripe for stepping into Open Space. The focus question for the afternoon was chosen specifically to move conversations beyond finger-pointing and the idea that in order to move forward, 'somebody else' needs to do things differently. Energy and passion were palpable as the agenda was co-created, with views and opinions being shared and expressed even as topics were still being posted to the marketplace. Topics, questions and conversations were invited around "What can you do to engage in the collaboration between expats and public/private sectors in Denmark?"
14 conversations were called on a range of related topics, some building on existing/ongoing conversations and projects, others newly emerging from the energy of the day. Participants fully embraced the principles of Open Space, exercising the Law of two feet and employing the roles of bumble bee and butterfly with ease. Back in circle following the second round, participants shared insights and concrete next steps from the conversations. Read more here...
14 conversations were called on a range of related topics, some building on existing/ongoing conversations and projects, others newly emerging from the energy of the day. Participants fully embraced the principles of Open Space, exercising the Law of two feet and employing the roles of bumble bee and butterfly with ease. Back in circle following the second round, participants shared insights and concrete next steps from the conversations. Read more here...
Closing the Day
Lone Aagaard closed the day by thanking everyone for coming, for their passion and participation. She shared that the calling team were already preparing to host another Unconference next year. For many the days was an experiment; a new way of meeting and working together, sharing ideas and exploring responsibility and passion. The output from the day's conversations is captured here in these pages and is a testament to the collective wisdom of all who participated. The outcomes of the day go well beyond the actual content of the conversations to the new and deepened connections, networks and relationships of trust.