Difference between revisions of "OHC:Introduction"
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The concrete plans for next action in our final statement rest upon a background of meticulously gathered historical and scientific research. | The concrete plans for next action in our final statement rest upon a background of meticulously gathered historical and scientific research. | ||
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While our focus is on the health of Oregonians, the impact of these transformations will change how we see ourselves and our neighbors and what seems possible and available for ourselves and our communities. The outcomes we will have at the end in actual tangible reality would be rejected out of hand as impossible by the people we are today, but will seem like simply a matter of course to the people who we become tomorrow. | While our focus is on the health of Oregonians, the impact of these transformations will change how we see ourselves and our neighbors and what seems possible and available for ourselves and our communities. The outcomes we will have at the end in actual tangible reality would be rejected out of hand as impossible by the people we are today, but will seem like simply a matter of course to the people who we become tomorrow. | ||
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Revision as of 21:44, 26 August 2008
We Fundamentally Want the Same Thing
Everyone in room/Oregon cares health person and ours many working on personal and/or community
In today's political climate, aiming for 90% consensus across a large group of people is a lofty goal. But in reality, every one of us wants the same thing -- we all want health for ourselves, for our loved ones, and by extension for our communities.
Where traditional processes have failed in the past, they've started with policies rather than values. Our project provides a forum for Oregonians to come together around what we have in common, rather than what would traditionally divide us. Tonight at the Shared Values station and the Consensus stations you'll experience the power of . . .
OHC offers new powerful way for all Oregonians to work together to improve our health.
Journey Metaphor ... Start and End ... then visualize the steps between
When thinking about a journey, I find it useful to visualize the starting point and the end point, and then connect the start and the end via a series of steps. Our starting point is right here, with the people assembled in this room. Where we're going is a representative consensus of 25,000 Oregonians, not just as signees, but as full-fledged creators of a statement that crystallizes what we want for the health of our community.
They say a journey starts with a single step. But even before a journey begins, comes an intention, a well formed idea of what comes next. What we're creating is just such an idea -- a well formed intention carried by not just one, but by an entire community.
What
The Oregon Health Consensus is a well-informed shared values statement. It already exists in its most nascent stages. Ten of us have come together and crafted a vision statement that points toward the future. I'll read that vision for you in a moment, but first, let me sketch for you the process.
PROP The vision of a powerful consensus will be reached through a series of ambitious steps. Each step will expand the number of Oregonians participating. The success of each new step rests upon the experiences and commitments of the participants from earlier steps. Participation transforms the participant. Listeners from one stage become coaches in the next.
This fully formed statement includes concrete recommendations for programs, legislation, and other collective and individual actions we intend to take.
The concrete plans for next action in our final statement rest upon a background of meticulously gathered historical and scientific research.
Start Today With the Sharpie
Fully Representative
The unique power of teh Oregon Health Consensus is that it is a fully representative consensus. We are committed to engaging Oregonians across all demographics: rich and poor, democrat and republican, all races and ethnicities, young and old, gay and straight, more and less educated, rural and urban. When we say 25,000 Oregonians, we mean a representative sample, so that when we reach 90% consensus, our shared values and recommendations will carry tremendous weight across all traditional divisions.
More than just deciding ourselves what "representative" means, we are committed that each of these demographic clusters decides what's necessary for it to feel well-represented.
Polarized to Unified
One of the most essential pieces of moving from polarized to unified is the reality of every participant being fully heard. There is no faking this, and there is no skipping it. The process we are bringing is very simple, and is in fact the process that small groups have always used to reach consensus.-insert "listening"- The only difference is that we are using the gift the internet provides -- the ability to distribute our listening to one another across space and time to scale consensus to thousands of participants.
New Way of Listening ... The gift of the Internet
For decades, the townhall meeting has been a familiar workhorse for gathering community participation.
Something for everyone to do
The rancher in Pendleton can spend 15 minutes at 5 am on Tuesday listening to a housewife from Eugene who made her comment at 8:30 pm the night before. Moreover, each participant can easily listen to several people, while being fully expressed themselves.
Because it is so important that each individual express themselves and be heard, there is a job for everyone on our site. Some people will be sharing their story; others will be writing back to ensure their story is heard. Others will be extracting values from the stories and compiling them into a shared values statement. Still others will be researching questions that matter to all of us around current and past health policy and current health and medical knowledge.
Community and Power
While our focus is on the health of Oregonians, the impact of these transformations will change how we see ourselves and our neighbors and what seems possible and available for ourselves and our communities. The outcomes we will have at the end in actual tangible reality would be rejected out of hand as impossible by the people we are today, but will seem like simply a matter of course to the people who we become tomorrow.