About the 6/7 World Cafe

An interesting experiment in group dynamics
Monday 6pm - 10pm
California College of the Arts
1111 Eighth Street (near 16th and Wisconsin) San Francisco, CA
Contact
Karen Heisler <karenheisler [at] mindspring.com>
if you'd like to video this.

Details of the evening follow:
[...]
would be interested in participating in "Biotech in SF: A Whole-Community
Dialogue," and who might know others who would similarly be interested.
The event is being co-sponsored by the S.F. Department of Public Health,
CUESA, Veritable Vegetable, Reclaim the Commons and other groups.

Using an innovative large-group dialogue process, we are holding a public
conversation among a highly-diverse group of citizens. We think it will be
precedent-setting as a public event designed to draw out community
perspectives and raise the level of discussion. We know it will be time
well-spent. It may make an impact on how we make decisions in our City.
The format of the gathering will be intimate conversation among a hundred
or more people (How will we do that? Read on, including the attachment.)

The quality of this evening depends partly on assuring a diversity of
voices in the room, talking across different perspectives. To this end, we
are asking people to RSVP, so that we can better target our outreach. We
also need to track participants because space is limited.

Our goal is to gather a diverse group of people with varied experiences
and perspectives: teachers, business-people, entrepreneurs, builders, San
Francisco residents, young people considering their futures, economic
visionaries; health practitioners, farmers, public policy makers... The
intention is to gather this diversity to reflect on and support
appropriate, holistic decision-making in this period of courtship between
the City and the bioscience industry, particularly in light of the City's
commitment last year to the Precautionary Principle.

Participants should plan to be just that, participants, fully prepared to
speak from a position of their own knowledge and experience. We aren't
seeking prepresentatives of organizations per se (though some participants
may hold such roles). Participants should be ready to consider what is
their stake in the issue, preferably as someone who lives or works in the
Bay Area. The format enables every participant to engage fully in the
dialogue, on equal terms with everyone else. No perspective is priveleged.
Experience shows that, unlike most meeting formats, this one tends to
energize rather than ennervate.

I hope you will join us. I have attached copies of the flyer (also below),
as well as two supplementary documents for more information about how this
event came to be. For more information, or to sign up, please contact
Karen Heisler or Marc Tognotti at (415) 643-3434 or respond directly to
sfbiotech [at] hotmail.com . Please note: To help us meet diversity goals, we
ask those who sign up to please list their occupation, neighborhood of
residence, organizational affiliations, and (optional) culture or
ethnicity. Feel free to pass this information on to others who might be
interested.

Thanks.
Karen


The Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA)

The SF Department of Public Health

Reclaim the Commons

and Veritable Vegetable

invite you to a groundbreaking, participatory democracy forum ...

Biotech in San Francisco

A Whole-Community Dialogue

a.. Some voices in government, community and industry are advocating
biotech as an engine for economic growth in San Francisco
b.. A City ordinance passed last year calls for use of the
"precautionary principle," requiring a holistic and participatory approach
in all City decision-making
c.. A City-initiated Bioscience Task Force is preparing a report on how
to implement a biotech industry expansion appropriately
d.. You have a unique opportunity to shape the community voice in an
innovative, inclusive participatory forum using the World Café process
Monday, June 7, 6 -10 pm

California College of the Arts

1111 Eighth Street (near 16th and Wisconsin) San Francisco, CA

for directions, see
http://www.cca.edu/cgi-bin/dad?dbase=reach&record=directions


Event facilitated by the

Neighborhood Assemblies Network (NAN)

Between June 3 and 9 international biotech industry leaders will hold
their annual "BIO" meeting at Moscone Center, while thousands of activists
stage "Reclaim the Commons," a series of events promoting the vision of a
world driven by public good rather than private profit.

In the midst of this divide, over one hundred San Franciscans from highly
diverse perspectives, including notable city officials, will engage as
equals in genuine conversation. They will consider the biotech industry's
potential presence in S.F. neighborhoods such as Bayview/Hunters Point,
Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, Mission Bay and South of Market. Using World
Café*, a large-group dialogue process, this popular assembly will have a
unique opportunity to frame the discussion themselves in a holistic
exploration:

What are the potential impacts-good or bad-on the economy, local jobs, the
environment, housing, public safety, traffic, cultural diversity,
healthcare, social justice, neighborhood feel, public perception,
community bonds and city politics? How do we avoid the worst-case
scenarios and help create the best? What questions, concerns and hopes are
foremost in the community's mind?

Space is limited. Early advance sign-up is strongly recommended.

No expert knowledge required. The event is free.


For more information, or to sign up, please contact Karen Heisler or Marc
Tognotti at

(415) 643-3434 or sfbiotech [at] hotmail.com

Please note: To help us meet diversity goals, please state occupation,
neighborhood of residence and (optional) culture or ethnicity.



The World Café large-group dialogue process

*The World Café conversation format is designed to assure that every
person in a very large group engages fully in conversation with as many
diverse people as possible in the time allotted. Participants gather in
tables of four, where they discuss a meaningful question for 20 minutes.
Three then move to other tables, while one remains to tell newcomers the
highlights of the prior conversation. The tables then discuss a second
question for another 20 minutes. After four rounds of focused dialogue,
the whole group talks as one. Participants often experience a whole new
possibility for public dialogue--a new shared awareness often begins to
emerge from many disparate perspectives. You will be amazed at how quickly
time passes. For more info see http://www.theworldcafe.com