「重思社區營造的困境，尋找公眾參與的轉機」

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在2013年9月27-29日，朝邦文教基金會與國際引導師協會IAF-Taiwan 

Chapter共同舉辦了一場未來探索的工作坊，邀請來自澳洲的引導師Tom Schwartz 和桂香梅 Keke Quei在一場超過五十位來自非營利機構、企業、政府機構的參與者指導其核心的做法。

未來探索和我們基金會希望滋養正向社會變革的宗旨相當吻合，因為它將整個系統帶入現場，創造可以對話的空間，讓他們更了解自己，並以任務為導向合作。所謂整個系統是指將對於討論的後果有所關係的利益關係人, 包括平常並沒有機會共事的利益相關人，例如：

• 掌握資訊的人
• 有權限、有資源可以付諸於行動的人
• 受到最後結果影響的人

參與未來探索研習會的人們共聚一堂，一起對話，在為期三天的課程中討論他們個人與集體的過去、當下和未來，尋找共同的基礎點，共同創造出明確且自發性的行動方案，打造出他們想要的未來。以下是未來探索流程的基本結構，讓各位參考(這次工坊是一個學習性的工作坊, 因此參與者體驗的過程會有少許不同)。

這些對話提供所有的資訊─反映整個房間中所涵蓋的多元現狀– (理智面和情緒面)、各方類似和不同的面向都有- 讓所有的「聲音」都被聽到，而且不需要針對任何議題表達同意。

這些分享的過程都經過精心設計，讓大家在三種層面上聆聽彼此(自我、小組、整體) – 可以聽到「系統中的所有聲音」- 促使大家一起尋找核心的「基礎共同點」，適合所有人的共同點…(請注意，這和各種共識的達成並不相同…)。

在台北舉行的模擬學習體驗中，我們在許多關鍵的做法上做了一些變化。五十位參與者從各人到小組，然後到全體參與者，不斷整合大家的想法，最後得到共識，找出共同的主題。該場次所選擇的主題是《在2038年以前讓台灣成為一個充滿正向能量幸福快樂的社會》。參與者接著依照和主題相關的關鍵利益關係人分組，這包括政府單位、家庭、非營利機構、少數族群、農學專家、政黨。從這些小組中，我們模擬出宛若這些族群參與會議的討論。

一般現場的未來探索過程：

1. 未來探索的流程早在研習會開始之前好幾個月就開始，主事者開會決定會議主題，以及如果要讓整個系統的各層面的人士都能參與，需要哪些多元的參與者(從各方的角色和地理位置來考慮)。

2. 引導者開場，說明會議的工作協議 – 包括大家的角色和基礎規則。角色：引導者1) 設定時間和任務，2) 輔助較大組的討論，3) 確定大家的討論聚焦於會議的目標上參與者：1) 提供資訊/訂定意義，2) 管理自己的小組，3) 未來的情境/行動方案基礎規則

3. 在未來探索的會議中，引導者必須負責讓大家遵照整體的會議時間表、結構、目的來進行，參與者則是必須負責在各小組中自我管理 – 輪流擔任討論組長、討論計時者、記錄者、向全員報告的人 – 也必須負責提供資訊、訂定意義。

4. 第一天，聚焦於過去： 參與者在牆面上製作一個大型的時間軸線，每個人在牆板上寫下在他們個人生命、在台灣、 在世界上、主題相關的歷史中的重要事件。小組討論他們在時間軸線上注意到的趨勢，然後全部參與者討論重要的趨勢，共同繪製出集體的心智圖。利益關係人的小組在這張圖上用點點貼紙標示現在對他們最重要的趨勢(請看右上角的圖像)將整個系統放入空間，將焦點放在未來而不是問題和衝突，並管理自己的計畫。因為如此，未來探索讓想要解決問題的衝動懸浮在一邊，讓大家可以探索「一整隻大象」。在這個階段，大家將問題和衝突視為資料 – 表達認知，接著將這些放置一旁 – 未來探索只會聚焦、並根據基礎共同點提出行動方案 – 共同基礎點的項目。

5. 第二天早晨，聚焦於當下、外在的趨勢：  利益關係人的小組自己討論他們對於這些趨勢有哪些作為，哪些是他們感到自豪的，哪些是遺憾的，還有他們想要在未來做些什麼。

6. 第二天下午，聚焦於理想中的未來情境：  將不同利益關係人的類型分成混合性的小組，一起演出話劇，以未來已經發生的假想演出未來的情境。觀察每一個小話劇之後，工作坊從欣賞每個小組多元化的表演，慢慢引導他們找出共同的基礎點。如果要這樣做，每個利益關係人的小組在一張卡片上寫下一個可以形容他們未來願景的字眼，並貼在大型牆上。大家一起看這些字卡，然後將他們直覺上不認同的字眼取下。剩下的就是集體的共同基礎點。進行這一點時，每一個利益關係小組在卡片上寫下一個行為模式或後果(一張卡片寫一項)，可以表達大家認知的共同基礎點。將這些卡片貼在大牆面上，集體表達這個系統對未來的願景。接下來，大家一起看這些卡片，將大家可能無法同意(直覺的)的卡片取下，提出為什麼覺得需要取下的看法(但是不需要更多討論)。這些卡片將是大家對未來集體的初步共同基礎點願景。

7. 第三天早上 – 確定共同的基礎點。全體參與者以系統的角色重返前一天的基礎共同點– 在這上進行延伸的對話，確定這是大家有所共識的共同基礎點，以此為本進行後續的行動規劃.

8. 第三天早上/下午，行動規劃。由利益關係人組成的小組用小、中、長的字語寫下讓共同的啟發成真的行動方案。將承諾的行動分享給大家之後，參與者自動登記下他們可以執行的行動計畫，形成利益關係者成員多元的小組，一起從不同的角度合作，讓共有的願景成真。

未來探索有效的地方在於它讓每個人看見系統中的自己，從不同利益關係人的觀點學習整個系統，並從個人和集體的層面做出選擇，決定我們要的未來是什麼，還有要採取的過程是什麼。工作坊結束前，大家的結論是，如果要讓我們對台灣的願景成真，就必須要自己來，讓大家都成為這個系統中的重要成員。

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Future Search

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On September 27-29, 2013 the CP Yen Foundation and International Association for Facilitators co-hosted a Future Search workshop and invited facilitators Tom Schwartz and Keke Quei to teach the methodology to over fifty participants from non-profit, business and government organizations.

Future Search fits our mission of fostering positive social change because it creates the conditions for dialogue by bringing a whole system into the room to learn about itself from itself, and to work together on a task-focused agenda.  A whole system means a cross-section of people who each have a stake in the outcome of the theme under discussion but who don’t normally work together, such as: 

– People with information

– People with authority and resources to act

– People affected by what happens.

Participants of future search conferences meet for three days, dialoguing  about their individual and collective past, present and future, to discover their common ground and to create concrete and voluntary action plans for a future they all want.  A standard Future Search process is described below for your reference (workshop participants experienced a slightly different flow).

These dialogues provide to all information on the diverse realities in the room – (head and heart), on the similarities and differences present – allowing all ‘voices’ to be heard WITHOUT requiring agreement around any view.

These sharing processes are crafted to support LISTENING at three levels (self, small groups, whole system) – to allow a hearing of all ‘voices’ in the system  – thus leading to a search for the core ‘Common Ground’ – for all .. [note this is DIFFERENT to various consensus outcomes…]

In the teaching simulation experienced in Taipei we varied this in several key ways.  The fifty workshop participants agreed on a common theme by integrating input from the individual to small groups then to the large group until consensus was reached.    The theme chosen for this particular workshop was “Making Taiwan society full of positive energy and happiness by 2038.” (讓台灣成為一個充滿正向能量幸福快樂的社會).  Participants then grouped themselves according to the key stakeholders relevant to the theme – which included: government, families, NGOs, minorities, agriculturalists, and political parties.  From these groups we would simulate a conference as if we are a gathering of these sectors.  

Normal live Future Search Process:

1. A future search process begins months before the start of the conference when sponsors meet to determine the conference theme,  and the diverse participants (by role and by demographic) required to ensure the many ‘voices’ in the system have representation.  

2. The facilitators open the conference by introducing the meeting working agreement – covering roles and ground rules.

Roles: The Facilitators 1) Set time and task, 2) Support Large group discussions, 3) Keep Purpose Front and Center. The Participants 1) Provide information/Make meaning, 2) Manage own small groups, 3) Future scenarios/Action steps

Ground Rules

• All ideas are valid
• Everything is written on flip chart paper
• Listen to each other
• Observe timeframes
• Seek common ground and understanding
• Differences and problems are acknowledged – not “worked”

3. In a Future Search meeting the facilitator s responsible for keeping the group moving according to the overall conference time, structure, and purpose; whereas the participants are responsible in each small group for self-management – for rotating the roles among themselves to serve as the discussion leader, discussion timekeeper, recorder, and reporter to the plenary – as well as all the content  information and meaning-making.

4. Day 1 focus on the past:  Participants generated a large timeline on the wall by individually writing the key events that occurred in their personal lives, in the world, and in the history of the theme.  The small groups discussed the trends they’d noticed in the timeline, and then the plenary discussed the main trends and together generated a collective mindmap.  The stakeholder groups added dots to the trends most important to them now. (see image at right)By getting the whole system in the room to focus on the future, rather than problems and conflicts, and to manage their own planning, Future Search enabled the ‘whole elephant’ to be explored while suspending the urge to fix anything.  At all stages  problems and conflicts are treated as information – they are acknowledged and then put aside – the Future Search focuses ONLY on and seeks action around – COMMON GROUND items.

5. Day 2 morning focuses on the present, external trends:  Stakeholder groups discussed among themselves what it is they are doing now about the trends, what they feel proud and sorry about in the way they are dealing with the trends, and what they want to do in the future.

6. Day 2 afternoon focuses on ideal future scenarios.  Groups of mixed stakeholders enact a skit depicting their ideal future as if it already exists.  

After observing each skit, the workshop transitions from appreciating the group’s diverse dramatizations, into an articulation of our common ground.  To do this, each stakeholder group wrote on cards one behavior or outcome (per card) that expresses the perceived common ground and posted these on the large wall that collectively expresses the system’s vision of the  future.  

Then together, the plenary looks at the collection of cards together; and one-by-one individuals remove any card that each (intuitively) may disagrees with, offering for input (but not further discussion) their rational for doing this.

Those cards that remain become the collective’s initial common ground vision of the future. 

7. Day 3 morning – Confirm Common Ground: The plenary group as a whole revisits the Common Ground items from the day before – and dialogues further on these to confirm the conference Common Ground as the basis for the subsequent action planning

8. Day 3 morning/afternoon – Action Planning.  Stakeholder groups wrote down short, medium and longer term action plans for realizing the common aspiration.  After sharing these commitments to the plenary, participants voluntarily sign up to implement the action plan of their choice, and create groups of diverse stakeholders to work together on different aspects of the shared vision.

Future Search works because it enables the individual to see their place in a system, to learn about the system from a variety of stakeholders’ own perspectives, and to make choices at both the individual and collective levels about the future we want and the process we’re going to take to create it. In the end, the workshop concluded that in order to realize the future we want for Taiwan, we’re going to have to do it together with ourselves as an important part of the changing system.