On Monday, September 19, 2016, nearly 50 people attended a Next System Project teach-in, Moving Toward the Next System of Healthy Communities. The event took place on the East Bank of the University of Minnesota campus in the Coffman Memorial Union, Whole Music Club. It was the second community and campus teach-in held on the UMN Twin Cities campus this year.
The Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership sponsored the event, advancing the MN Next System Project Community program. The program is an ongoing partnership between the University of Minnesota and the community for crowd sourced research, action learning, and capacity building for leaders of next system innovations.
The MN Next System Project Community’s call to action is to Connect. Contribute. Create the Next System.
Teach-in participants were an intergenerational group of concerned citizens from diverse backgrounds including; academics, students, activists, futurists, systems thinkers, government agencies, NGOs, and entrepreneurs connecting to contribute ideas for boldly discovering and creating healthy communities of the future.
A cross-sector panel of whole systems designers were present to inspire and evoke Wisdom from the entire group. Thought provokers included; Thomas Fisher - UMN Metropolitan Design Center Director, Frank Maletz - MD and Communities of the Future Leadership (COTF), Timothy Nolan - Sustainable Industrial Development, MN PCA, Daniel Pesut - Densford Center Director, UMN School of Nursing, Teddie Potter - Clinical Associate Professor, UMN School of Nursing, and David Zuckerman - Manager for Healthcare Engagement of the Democracy Collaborative. The event was coordinated and co-facilitated by Vicki O'Day, MN Next System Project Community Coordinator.
So what are we learning? Since it’s inception, following the first teach-in, on April 27th, the MN Next System Project Community has been coming together to ask, what is health and what do healthy communities look like?
Our findings point to symptoms proven by perpetuating trends of social/economic, environmental, and spiritual divides prevalent in the institutions that preside over the lives we live, here in the Unites States. Minnesotan voices join co-chairs of the national Next System Project, Gar Alperovitz (historian and economist) and Gus Speth (environmentalist and economist) in advancing innovative thinking and practical approaches to introduce just systemic change within our spheres of influence.
Symptoms identified reach beyond health systems into economic, political, educational, and social constructs. These systems are ripe for transformative change. We are in an evolutionary process moving from exclusion to inclusion, from unilateral to multilateral, from the few to the many. There’s a cry among us to find balance, punctuated with peace, connectedness, and commitments to engage generative, resilient systems that sustain life and create greater well-being for people and planet in an emerging 21st Century.
The community data collections give voice to unmet needs as drivers for deep systemic change. If we are to survive as a people and a planet we must continue to connect, contribute, and create Next Systems for healthy communities of the future.
On September 19th, crowd sourcing data collection tools framed our community based learning. Interactive dialogues were shaped by an online poll and Liberating Structures 25/10 Crowd Source. Review the top 10 BOLD ideas sourced for generating next systems of healthy communities here.
Evidence will be compiled with Densford Center Next System Dialogues held throughout the Summer. In June and July, Donald Gault, led the community through the ABC’s of Communication process to identify what is health? The MN Next System Project Community also conducted a community survey in the UofM Central Building, on August 31st, at the Minnesota State Fair. Watch the MN State Fair video.
What’s Next? The MN Next System Project Community formed to bring awareness to our need to start talking about and innovating next system alternatives.
We encourage you to Connect. Contribute. Create the Next Systems
Develop leadership capacities, explore learning tools, contribute resources, open doors, create partnership opportunities that enhance our collective skills and abilities for creating next systems that serve healthy communities of the future.
There are a variety of ways for you to stay informed, get involved, and join us…
- Today, sign up to FOLLOW US BY EMAIL on our blog and/or Like us on FaceBook
- September 15 - December 15 - MIT U.Lab Leading from the Emerging Future. For those interested in a deeper dive into building capacities for leading systems change from the inside out. Thursday mornings in session place based hub (October 6, October 27, and December 15) and Monday evening coaching circles 6:30-8:30. Contact Vicki at vicki@vickioday.com with inquiries.
- October 27, 6:30-8pm - Densford Center Next System Dialogue - Synthesize and Prototype - Learn More and Register here
submitted by Vicki O'Day
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