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Written by Bliss W. Browne and Shilpa Jain with contributions from Diana Tatarchuk and Yasmeen Basheeruddin and a forward by Melinda Fine
Published by Imagine Chicago, 35 East Wacker Drive, Suite 1545, Chicago, IL 60601 September 2002 in conjunction with Imagine Chicago’s 10th anniversary celebration and conference honoring Imagine projects on six continents
With special thanks to the W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation and the Surdna Foundation, whose generosity made this publication possible
Portions of this document may be reproduced with the source and authors acknowledged.
For more information, please visit www.imaginechicago.org or contact Bliss Browne at [email protected] imagine… creative civic connections 26 Table of Contents Imaginative Parents: Gerardo and Agustina imagine… a movement 2 Making Civic Connections Imagination as a Social Movement Expanding Urban Imagination with Museums What Is a Possibility Publication? Getting the Word Out on Imagination More Than Words… The Generative Powers of Civic Dialogues Bringing the Inside Out… Invitational Questions Power of Two A Mother’s Story imagine… positive possibilities 32 A City of Friends Weaving Visions into Realities Key Organizing Principles A Wish Invitational Questions Storytelling for Imagination A Good Story! imagine… an inspired future 8 Accelerated Learning Challenging Questions Open Space Technology A Conversation with the Future Organizational Challenges How To: Appreciative Inquiry Questions Funding Partners in Mission Tim’s Story: The Melody of Life Renewing Education Youth: Focus on the Future Living from the Inside Out Assessing Intergenerational Inquiry Invitational Questions Building Blocks to the Future Invitational Questions imagine… the power of place 40 Revealing the City to Itself imagine… choosing hope 18 Chicago’s Exquisite Corpus Freeing the Spirit of Hope and Imagination The Headless Dancer Sharing and Sustaining Hope Learning Parks of Possibilities Hope Rocks Redefining Imagination Resources Dream Tree of Transformation Imagine Englewood if… Hope in Shackles: Challenges Your City’s Learning Ecologies Invitational Questions ABCD and Mental Mapping Sacred Spaces, Public Places imagine… citizen leadership 22 The Whole-Sense City Stretching the Boundaries of Citizenship A Shared Language of Imagination Citizen Leaders Program Invitational Questions Tina’s Story Every Block is a Village imagine… a vital network 48 Meeting the Challenges imagine… your next steps 49 Invitational Questions Marstin defines justice as “fundamentally a matter of who is included and whom we can tolerate imagine... neglecting.” Imagine Chicago believes that the city’s vitality depends on creating an economy Imagination as a the organic sprouting of Imagine initiatives on in which everyone’s contribution is valued. A six continents. While each self-organized Social Movement movement of imagination is necessarily inclusive: Social Movement Imagine effort is distinct, since it is responding Each and every human being possesses the All around the world, people are coming together to its own unique context, all the efforts reveal enormous gift of imagination. No matter what in their localities to imagine and create new a few common convictions: that human beings institutional authorities like the media, market possibilities for their collective future. Despite can unite around shared meaning; that each or schools tell us, imagination (like learning) is their differences in age, background and person’s contribution is vital to a flourishing neither a commodity nor is it scarce. In fact, the perspective, what they share is a faith in community; and that creating a culture of public movement relies upon the power of our community and in its civic spirit, the idea that learning and civic engagement that connects collective imagination. Our tremendous human together, using our minds, hearts and hands, we generations and cultures is at the heart of self- diversity — the variety of dynamic identities we can help to shape the world we live in. and social transformation. These beliefs translate possess — is vital for both the conversations Powerfully, perhaps unknowingly, they are the into positive and inspiring images, ideas and and the actions of creating a positive future. The leadership of a new movement — a movement actions. greater the diversity of the people involved, the of social imagination. stronger the movement of imagination, and the What makes imagination so important today are more likely a balanced and just future for ‘Imagine’ — the word itself — calls us to connect the same factors that challenge it. Violence and ourselves and our children. to potential, wonder, the power and the beauty terror, massive inequalities, the widespread of the unknown. It arouses within each of us destruction of nature, the alienation of human Like imagination itself, this movement has not feelings of hope and opens a limitless space of beings from each other and from themselves, been planned or controlled, nor can it be. Rather, creativity and possibility. Imagination is the realm the extinction of diverse languages, cultures and it is part of a growing culture of civic spirit of the future, utterly democratic, not determined ways of meaning-making, the colonization of manifesting itself in a variety of forms: eco-cities, by current arrangements. As a movement, images by mass media: these forces threaten intentional communities, learning cities… People imagination draws upon peoples’ deepest urge human society, human sensitivity and human all over the world are forming vital connections to be connected and to contribute to a larger sensibility at an unparalleled scale and pace. between being, thinking and doing, in order to purpose. It brings people together meaningfully When Imagine Chicago was gearing up in 1993, support a more just present and future. to talk and listen with one another, to share Yankelovich Associates reported that 85% of their personal and collective aspirations. Such Americans had lost confidence in the future. We invite you to be a co-creator communion is generating the energy and Even citizens of the world’s superpower feel of this movement, to uniquely commitment required for transforming dreams victimized and lack confidence in their leaders. contribute your talents to into realities. The existence of injustice offers a constant inspiring a collective imagination a Imagine Chicago sees itself as a catalyst in this invitation to work towards justice. Ronald that enlarges the human spirit. movement, one of the sparks to light the kindling already in place in peoples’ minds and spirits. Our work over the last ten years has supported movement 2 curiosity curiosity curiosity Words that Frame the Movement of Imagination curiosity curiosity A Possibility Publication Words have the power to both destroy and heal. joy joy joy What you are holding in your hands is a possibility joy joy publication. It operates on many levels at once: When words are both true and kind, they can change our world. creativity creativity creativity First, it shows you what has been possible. It - Buddha creativity creativity serves as a documentation and celebration of Imagine Chicago’s work, as well as the work of other Imagine Throughout this publication, you will notice that we are using a power power power projects and like-minded organizations and efforts. power power different kind of language to share ideas about human beings and communities. Words like ‘problem’,‘need’, ‘lack’, ‘illiterate’, Second, it shows you how it can be possible. It ‘uneducated’, etc. do not appear in our vocabulary. Rather, you will offers a series of tools and resources for those of you find a repertoire of other words: ‘hope’, ‘possibility’, ‘create’, ‘power’, interested in carrying forward, strengthening, or ‘relationships’, ‘connections’, ‘imagination’,’commitment’. (You’ll even connection connection connection connection connection launching your own contribution to the Imagination discover some words in different languages, from different contexts, movement. which capture these aspects of the human spirit.) relationship relationship relationship relationship relationship
Third, this publication asks you what else is possible? At Imagine Chicago, we are convinced that our words will (and do) Throughout it, you will find a number of questions, to shape our thoughts and actions. They will either expand our minds invite you to think, partner, and create with us, on evolving and hearts to collectively dream and to actualize our shared dreams, visions visions visions the Imagination movement further and forward. or they will make us feel inadequate, unworthy, and incapable of visions visions realizing our full human potential. Language is necessarily interactive; In all of these ways, this publication is meant as an it is grown and enriched by the kinds of contacts we make as inspiration, to awaken or energize your appreciation for interdependent human beings. If what we say is what we see, then the power of possibility and its vital role in nurturing simply by altering our words, we may uncover entirely different hope, action and commitment in all of us. worlds — dynamic new possibilities of being, relating and living together. Language therefore is more than just a medium of spirit spirit spirit spirit spirit transformation transformation transformation This publication is dynamic and ever-growing. You will transformation transformation communication. It gives us the power not only to express who we find a space on our website
Removing Our Masks: If that one person spends one day talking to two people about what they could create… (1 + 2) And if the next day, those two people each talk to two different people… (1 + 2 + 2 + 2) Working From Our And if the next day, those two people each talk to two different people…(1+2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2+ 2 + 2) Inner Strengths And so on, and so on… Then, in 10 days, 2,047 people will be talking about creative ideas for your city’s future… In 15 days, 65,535 people will be talking about even more possibilities... In 20 days, 2.1 million people will be talking about hope and imagination in your city…
The mathematical equation for the power of two is x = n (2(d+1) – 1), where n is the number of people you start with (in our case, just 1 person); d is the number of days, and x is the total number of people who are involved in the process. The equation assumes two things: First, that once a person tells two people, they are not telling anyone else; and second, that there are no repeated conversations. Both of these assumptions are unlikely to be true in reality, of course, as we are likely to talk to more than two people and we are likely to continue talking to them (and others) about possibilities for the future.
Make masks of construction paper or How quickly a public conversation about hope and imagination can emerge in our communities! paper mache, and whatever other In Imagine Nagaland, in 2001, more than a thousand interviews happened in a matter of months! materials are available. Then on the inside of the mask, draw or write Decorate the outside of the mask – using down some of the gifts or talents you have colors, cloth, leaves, beads, feathers, that people may not or do not know about. You think that stones, shells, etc. – in a way you think Also draw or write the sources of your inner describes you as others see you. It may because you understand ONE, strength: What gives you hope? What motivates have wild colors and designs, to show you to do the work you do? you understand TWO, your energy and enthusiasm; it may be neat, ordered and symmetrical, to show When finished, share your mask with a partner because one and one makes two. your planning skills and organization; it and discuss together: may be sparse and neutrally colored, to What environments, relationships, conditions, But you must understand AND. show your calm and simplicity. Think of opportunities, make it possible for you to take off how others see you and try to represent your mask and be more fully yourself? - Sufi proverb these understandings with the materials What might it mean to bring your hopes, gifts you have. and strengths into more public view? 4 actively to seek the company of the vulnerable very week, I got A Mother’s Story as a place of particular blessing. And to imagine invited to go to Bliss Browne is the founder of Imagine Chicago. This a just future where life flourishes for everyone. Jerusalem and is the story of what inspired her to begin to imagine. think about holy As a mother, I was especially heartbroken over In 1991, when I met Robert Spence, I was cities, what is the many young lives in our city being lost to working at First Chicago as a corporate banker, necessary to despair, violence and drugs. So I organized a pastoring an Episcopal parish, mothering three create a city of conference on “Faith, Imagination and Public Life”, young city kids, participating on numerous civic peace and gathering in lots of well-known city pioneers and boards, and reaching the end of a Kellogg national justice. Some social innovators. I wanted to understand the fellowship on spirituality and leadership. I was weeks later, I imagination that had shaped Chicago over the living in competing worlds which shared little went on an last century – and stimulate a broad group of common vocabulary and held each other in great eight-day silent civic entrepreneurs to re-imagine Chicago as a Bliss plants imagination. suspicion. Chicago, my home city, reflected this retreat, hoping whole. People introduced themselves by “divided imagination” – manifested in patterns for a clear word describing an image that had particular authority of racial, economic, social and political segregation. to surface about how to move forward. in their lives. By the second day, people were willing to dream, to describe images of Chicago’s It was a winter’s day when I attended a church One thing that emerged from the silence was a future ultimately worthy of human commitment. service in Washington DC at Christ House, an simple phrase: “think like a mother.” I interpreted infirmary for homeless men. During the that inner word to mean that it was not The image that came to me was of the recycling intercessions, we prayed for a man named Robert necessary to create anything, only to stay open symbol, not just as an image of ecology, but as a Spence who was scheduled for major surgery and present to what would emerge naturally. This representation of God’s economy, in which the next day. The priest later announced that new work would likely require hope, attention nothing and no one is wasted. I began to Robert would be the sacramental minister. He and faithfulness to life’s promise and mystery imagine a city... looked frail as he stood up, lean, weary, missing more than it would require ambition and strategy. • where everyone is valued. many teeth. As he offered me the bread of • where every citizen, young and old, applies their communion, I was moved to tears and felt deeply Following the retreat, the bank from which I had talents to create a positive future for connected to him in a way I couldn’t explain. resigned offered me an unexpected nine-month themselves and their community. severance package. I took that happy surprise • where hope comes alive in the flourishing and I had always assumed that people connect out as confirmation that I was on the right track, connecting of human lives. of common interests or strengths. But I that this was indeed a pregnancy of sorts. Sara • where young people and others whose visions understood in that moment that our most Ruddick suggests that motherhood is a have been discounted, develop and contribute profound connection is based in a common sustained response to the promise embedded their ideas and energy. vulnerability; our common bond is not necessary in the creation of new life. I asked my husband to construct, only to recognize and accept. what he thought we would need to do as Within three days, I set aside a 16-year Robert and I were able to bless one another parents of a new “child” whose gift was corporate career to begin the work of out of a common poverty and willingness to be imagination. He answered profoundly, “That discovering ways to bring the vision to life. Once present to one another. My life going forward would be the easiest possible child to raise. All I committed myself, serendipity stepped in. That was radically changed by that recognition; I began we’d have to do is listen.” He was right. 5 what mattered and what was possible. Subsequent Imagine Chicago A City of Friends partners have included a wide range of individuals and institutions: grassroots The foundation for Imagine Chicago’s work has been friendship. Friendship leaders seeking to improve their neighborhoods and learn from the is a relationship among equals, people who delight in each other’s company, innovations of other committed citizens... public schools working to establish take risks together, laugh, lean on each other. Good friends accept us as stronger community partnerships... teachers wanting to renew their vocations... we are and hold us accountable to the best of what they know we can immigrant and faith communities committed to exploring the promise of be. Friends deepen our capacity to love and our confidence that love is democracy and American pluralism... school children and parents struggling possible. What might it mean to use friendship, rather than to understand and impact the systems/communities of which they are a part. “service”, as the model for public life ? All have been willing to expand the community to which they belong and to find ways to apply their imagination, talent and commitment within the In September 1992, a group of friends – across a wide range of ages and communities in which they live. professions – came together as a “design team” to explore bringing friendship into public life in Chicago. How could we bring alive a new Participating in civic projects that bridge traditional divides of race, class, imagination for Chicago’s future that would build community, unleash age and geography expands our circle of friends in surprising and energy and imagination and lead to a positive future in which everyone interesting ways. We begin to understand ourselves as part of a broader would be able to contribute their unique resourcefulness and creativity? community from which we can learn. What we are able to understand and accomplish grows as does the community to which we belong and Two key ideas emerged from many months of conversation which from which we draw courage to ask challenging questions and to act. ultimately shaped the design of what became “Imagine Chicago”. First, the project should attempt to discover what All over the world, communities are gives life to the city, and second, that it struggling to name what they value and should provide significant leadership Imagine Chicago’s Core Assumptions to organize partnerships through which opportunities for youth, who most clearly √ All individuals have a particular vocation, a unique gift those values can be lived. Partnerships represent the city’s future. The MacArthur to contribute, the sharing of which is essential to the require understanding and acknowledging Foundation supported the effort to design flourishing of our common life. that we don’t have all the answers the project’s first phase, test its viability, ourselves, that we depend upon one and get the project organized and √ It is possible to create organizations that are another, a difficult shift for many institutionalized. From September 1992 consonant with our deeply held values and that make professionals who have been trained as to May 1993, the team designed a process productive use of individual talents. experts with answers. What will develop of intergenerational civic inquiry as the confidence that by working together, being starting point for engaging the city of √ Connecting those organizations and individuals can vulnerable, we can accomplish a greater Chicago in a broad-based conversation bring greater meaning and purpose to individual efforts. good? One way is for us to experience about its future. The sum is greater than the parts. inspiring and productive conversations with uncommon partners that expand what’s Imagine Chicago bet on teenagers, who √ Friendship provides a good working model for the possible for our lives. In such encounters wanted to learn from city leaders how to kind of relationships necessary to develop a vibrant city of constructive difference, we discover that make a difference, as its first public leadership — connected and committed individuals who recognize, our learning communities are much bigger team. They proved highly effective in appreciate, and celebrate each other’s unique gifts. than we thought — that the stranger can creating a space in the city to talk about become a friend. 6 ? tools ^ resources & tools ! Imagine Chicago’s Key Organizing Principles • We work in partnership with local • We identify individuals who are Dream - Pair - Share Your City Invite individuals to draw on cards 3 phrases and individuals and organizations, committed to being change agents in images which describe their city as they most want encouraging participants to find their organizations and communities, it to be in 20 years. Ask them to write or draw ways to connect their particular gifts and help them make a difference by only those things to which they are deeply to the community where they live. connecting them to opportunities When projects build the capacity of both These resources committed personally. When they are finished, and effective tools. individual and institutional participants, an emerge from socially constructive processes invite them to share in pairs their visions and the innovation can begin to change the whole and questions that enable people to share reasons behind them. Each pair decides on three system. and leverage their commitment and dreams they would like to bring to the larger group. experience. • The pairs write their choices on moveable pieces We build where life and energy are involving people who • of paper and put them on a dream wall. Once the already at work, We keep the whole in view, want to make a difference. We use positive intentionally building an intergenerational group’s images are all up, invite the group to cluster questions to help them identify the and intercultural network of individuals and similar dreams and title the clusters. Have each foundations in their own experience upon organizations committed to developing a vital person pick the cluster to which they are most which even greater possibilities can be built. citywide community and a positive future drawn. Working in small groups, flesh out the for Chicago’s children. dreams into actionable steps. One way is to brainstorm as many action steps as possible for • We create opportunity for 10 minutes and then spend several more minutes constructive interactions across • We expect the best from everyone sorting for the ones which are highest impact and boundaries. This expands the community and hold them accountableaccountable. When most readily accomplished. When the groups to which people belong and are accountable. dreams are shared, and ownership of action share their action plans, ask for volunteers to serve Not only can more be accomplished, new steps claimed, the likelihood increases that
as advocates for moving each idea forward. Those ideas can arise out of uncommon partnerships. the imagined dream will come to birth.
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Invitational Questions - connection What inspires you to engage in ‘imagine’ work? learning What connects us to each other in strengthening and continuing this work? How can inspired imagination transform our lives and communities from the inside out? co-creation Share Your Thoughts, Add More... 7 While much in Imagine Chicago’s approach is new, it springs from very fertile ground. In imagine... addition to the “appreciative inquiry” approach already mentioned, intergenerational Imagine Chicago is about vision, creativity and intentionally positive questions about Chicago’s interviewing shares important principles with inspiring citizens to make positive change. It is history, culture, resources, and possibilities for the fields of youth and community development, about investing in one’s community. It is about change. and civic dialogue. Briefly describing key tenets building relationships with others across the of these fields may clarify Imagine Chicago’s social, economic, racial, ethnic and generational These interviews were influenced by an particular contribution, though broad strokes divides that so often keep us apart. It is about approach called “appreciative inquiry.” Part inevitably do disservice to the complexity of the building communities through these research method and part philosophical fields surveyed. relationships, transforming not only individuals orientation, appreciative inquiry was developed but also the neighborhoods, towns, and cities in by David Cooperrider and his colleagues at Case Intergenerational interviewing and youth which we live and grow. Western Reserve University. It has been an development. Intergenerational interviewing sees effective lever for motivating change within the young people as important assets for the This is a profoundly hopeful mission, and indeed, non-profit and for-profit sector. Imagine Chicago communities in which they reside. By seeing if one word characterizes Imagine Chicago’s applied this tool to larger public spaces like urban adolescents as contributors to the public work, it is “hope.” Across its varied projects and neighborhoods and cities. Over a period of many good rather than “problems to be fixed,” Imagine programs, Imagine Chicago insists on asking months, the organization orchestrated powerful, Chicago upholds a central tenet of the youth unconditionally positive questions to jog one-on-one conversations between adolescents development field. Concisely put, youth individuals out of more conventional, problem- and adults about the city’s past and about visions development specialists argue that to be “fully focused mindsets, reawaken their belief that of its future. Both youth and adult participants prepared,” adolescents must acquire a broad set positive change can happen, energize people’s later described these conversations as of “competencies” across cognitive, emotional, commitment to creating what they envision in “energizing,” “rejuvenating,” and “transforming.” physical, civic, social, cultural, and vocational the places they call home. The stories conveyed in these small group realms. Youth-serving organizations must partner interviews were shared in a series of civic While this overarching frame guides all of with other institutions (schools, community forums where Chicago citizens convened and Imagine Chicago’s work, the groundwork was groups, families, and so forth) to provide the began devising projects to bring about positive laid in one of Imagine Chicago’s most successful “inputs” necessary for adolescents to acquire change in specific neighborhoods and public projects: intergenerational interviewing. A these competencies. These inputs include things institutions. Inspired by this earlier work, similar decade ago, Imagine Chicago launched a process like access to basic care and services; high quality “Imagine” processes have taken place in specific whereby urban adolescents met, interviewed, instruction and training; opportunities to neighborhoods of Chicago and in towns and and conversed with a wide range of adults who develop caring relationships and social and cities around North and South America, Europe, were recognized as providing the city’s “civic strategic networks; and challenging, age- Asia, Africa, and Australia. glue.” Guided by adult mentors, these young appropriate opportunities for meaningful people asked probing, expansive, and an involvement in community life. inspired future 8 By conceiving of young people’s contribution to civic life as critical to This aspect of Imagine Chicago’s work resonates with positive visioning their own personal development, Imagine Chicago’s work falls on the end processes utilized since the 1970s in cities as diverse as Roanoke, Virginia; of the youth development spectrum chiefly concerned with youth civic Savannah, Georgia; Houston, Texas; and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Lodged engagement. Youth civic engagement programs differ considerably. Some within city planning processes, these large-scale public processes have stress involvement in voting and other forms of political participation; involved diverse citizens across a host of communities and sectors. Neither others emphasize voluntary service in community institutions and causes; “top down” nor “bottom up”, but rather “center out,” city-wide visioning still others urge youth to redress social and civic inequity. Yet a common processes have also involved strategic planning for the policy and resource belief underlies these strategic differences: to strengthen young people change deemed necessary. as well as communities, young people must regard themselves as civic actors and be equipped to carry out meaningful, sustained, civic work. Visioning processes share an asset-based approach to community building that drives change work in primarily low-income communities across the Intergenerational interviewing entails strengthening young people’s skills, United States. Through “community mapping” and other stock-taking dispositions, and civic capacities. Adolescents are trained in how to processes, neighborhood residents survey existing services, broadly conceptualize and conduct interviews, listen respectfully, gather and identify resources (human, physical, financial, and so on), and strategically analyze data, utilize social networks, and participate in community organize for expansion and improvement of services offered. Traditionally, conversations. By definition, this work must be done in partnership with this work has been neighborhood-based, adult-led, and focused on adults. By interviewing adults who have rich histories with the life of the improving material resources and services. Increasingly, however, “hybrid” city, young people become inspired to imagine their own life in the city in organizations linking youth and community development have urged the new ways. Thus, instead of linking their future success to “growing up meaningful inclusion of young people in community change efforts. This and getting out” of the neighborhood, young people become inspired to newer arm of the community-building field also calls for broadening the invest in the places where they have been raised and commit to making types of community resources surveyed, and identifying a host of less these places better. Adults, in turn, feel motivated by young people’s tangible assets communities may build upon to enrich the lives of their hope, energy, and vision. Building relationships between adults and young members. people fuels a shared commitment to a particular geographic place. This contribution links Imagine Chicago with another important field: asset- Imagine Chicago joins these efforts by its emphasis on intergenerational based community development. partnership and its focused appreciation of the cultural, historical, and spiritual resources citizens can draw upon. More uniquely, perhaps, Imagine Intergenerational interviewing and asset-based community development. Chicago highlights the importance of public conversation to fuel the Intergenerational interviews focus participants’ attention on a community’s imagination, creativity, and hope that will motivate citywide efforts. In this strengths, resources, and capacities rather than the problems and deficits. respect, intergenerational interviewing calls to mind a third burgeoning Interview questions urge participants to think as expansively as possible field: civic dialogue. – beyond specific organizations, neighborhoods, or interest groups – to imagine their city as a whole. These processes involve people who are Intergenerational interviewing and civic dialogue. Imagine Chicago’s work typically divided by ethnicity, class, age, and countless other dimensions. reflects a belief that citizen voice is an essential part of shaping public life. The public learning processes that grow out of these interviews identify Indeed, imagination-spurring civic exercises are conceived as part and a collected sense of community resources. Projects that grow out of parcel of the democratic process. Intergenerational interviewing is one these processes seek to strengthen particular civic institutions (for among many vehicles for engendering public dialogue on important civic example, schools or museums), fueled by an energized group of citizens issues. Imagine Chicago’s particular process begins with discussion among motivated to bring their vision into being. 9 a small group of individuals, but it eventually leads toward more public Challenging Questions forums where larger groups of people Looking holistically at how Imagine Chicago’s work intersects with various fields, one might argue that come together to talk, reflect, and the organization’s strength lies not so much in its uniqueness, but in its ability to weave together organize for change. complementary strands across fields that clearly have a lot to say to each other. Imagine Chicago’s most distinctive contribution lies in its emphasis on the “front end” of the change process: inspiring Over the past decade, as theorists and hope to act in the first place. By highlighting the importance of hope, vision, and creativity, Imagine practitioners have lamented declining Chicago reminds citizens across diverse communities, political perspectives, and strategic change public involvement in civic life, a host of orientations that catalyzing change – in individuals, institutions, and communities – requires first and organizations have sought to orchestrate foremost cultivating hope in those who must participate. responsibly facilitated forums where citizens come together to reflect, discuss, The following questions must be kept in mind if the public learning processes you hope to engender and debate matters affecting the public are to lead to positive, sustainable change: good. Differences in content, style, and What constitutes “high quality” intergenerational interviewing? And how can we tell if end goal abound. Some efforts facilitate it has made a difference? public discussion of contentious moral issues, like abortion. Others address How can the individual transformation generated by the interviewing process lead to issues that continue to divide American change on larger levels? What specific relationships, practices, and institutionalizing society, like race relations. Still others strategies must be put into place to ensure that individual change carries over into the address policy problems on the local, public realm? regional, or national level. Some public What practices and supports must be in place to keep young people meaningfully engaged forums are face-to-face, while others use in community change efforts? What work must be done with adults to enable genuinely new technologies like the Internet to reciprocal partnerships with youth? extend conversation beyond geographic boundaries. Some direct dialogue toward How can communities sustain the energy, enthusiasm, and passion generated by positive concrete action for change; others see visioning processes? How is hope kept alive when visioning confronts very real inequities dialogue itself as a worthy democratic and deprivations? How can hope infuse and nurture the implementation of specific product. action for community change? Answering questions like these will not be easy, but there is, happily, a growing community of individuals Imagine Chicago’s intergenerational and organizations who are committed to tackling them. Imagine Chicago enriches this community. interviewing process affirms the power of citizen dialogue. Its emphasis on building relationships across traditional divides helps young and old learn from - Melinda Fine, Ed.D., is principal of Fine Consulting, an innovative consulting practice that provides high quality research, each other. In so doing, Imagine Chicago evaluation, and strategic guidance to nonprofit education and advocacy organizations, foundations, research institutes, and educational media organizations. She has fifteen years of experience advising national and local education and youth development enlarges the community of citizens who initiatives, and actively worked for five years “in the trenches” as a young person on various social and civic causes. She has are inspired to act on behalf of the also authored a book and scholarly articles on programs, practices, and policies to foster young people’s civic and ethical public good. thinking and action. Melinda can be reached at
We are especially hopeful that you, who have been a keeper of the city’s promise, will share your Chicago visions Be patient toward all that is unresolved in your heart... and experiences with a young person who is eager to Try to love the questions themselves... listen to and learn from your experience. Your doing so Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given because will encourage and inspire those who are committing themselves to this volunteer civic process, grounded in you would not be able to live them - hope and personal accountability. and the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. I will call in a few days to seek a 45 minute appointment for a young adult to engage you in a conversation about Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some Chicago. We hope you will have time to share your images distant day into the answers. and ideas with us.” - Rainer Maria Rilke 13 Running my own Imagine project was very difficult for Tim’s Story: The Melody of Life various reasons, mainly because I was in a city where I Nothing pleases me more than to see people smile. The knew absolutely no one! I felt like a politician before chance to meet new and interesting people, to visit election day, meeting with schools, community groups, clubs, downtown Chicago, was what first drew me to Imagine other non-profits and even the Detroit police department, Chicago. I was a member of the DuSable Youth Leadership to solicit support. I gave up many nights and weekends Council, and we were participating in the citywide to make sure the program was a success. There were some interview project. fantastic outcomes. I witnessed another promising young black man so impress his interviewee, that he too was My most interesting interview took place with Tom offered a scholarship for college. A middle school student, Cookins, a Chicago city planner. He was what I envisioned who interviewed the director of the Detroit Symphony the typical downtown executive to be, with his dark Orchestra, was offered a chance to bring students from business suit and stern face. In the interview, I asked him his school to the Symphony for a private concert and to close his eyes and paint me a picture of Chicago. This time to play music with some of the world’s greatest question revealed a vibrant side of him. He said, with robust instrumentalists. passion, “Tim! You know where you are by the smell! Pizza and pretzels on Michigan Avenue, Garrett’s Popcorn on I feel I have gone full cycle in the Imagine circle of life. I State Street, hotdogs at Wrigley Field — a food lover’s was a teen participant, who then grew into a volunteer paradise!” During our interview, I think Tom found a way Tim (age 17) sharing melodies and later into a seasoned veteran, to help Imagine Chicago out of the finite, stressful and monotonous world of with his young neighbor, Tay-Tay. on clutch projects and conferences. I have been the budgets, deadlines, objectives and agendas, and Tribune photo by Milbert O. Brown, 1997 director of Imagine Detroit. And recently, I was entrusted rediscovered the infinite possibilities we all had as children. with starting an Imagine project in Kragujevac, Serbia, with My most shocking interview was with Gertrude Nielsen. Her simple act Katrina Pavlik, a former staff member of Imagine Chicago. Within three of generosity helped pay my way through college. To this day, I have no weeks, the youth participants created an Appreciative Inquiry protocol, idea what I said to give her any reason to care about me once I left the administered over 150 interviews and started brainstorming a service room. However, I did learn one of life’s most critical lessons at this time: project to maximize the input received from the interviews. Katrina and “Always be at your best because you never know who’s watching.” I worked to develop a core group of youth, who will continue the Imagine lineage. If all of the youth in Serbia are as dedicated as these, it will soon Halfway through my freshman year of college, a chaotic chain of events be an exciting place to visit. set my life in a tailspin. My grades were not what I deemed acceptable. The tragic loss of beloved friends and family was compounded by the In the realm of non-profit work, Appreciative Inquiry helps me keep a burden of trying to adapt as an African-American to a racially homogeneous tight grip on reality, because it reminds me of what I am fighting for. We college campus. I found myself in a rut of deficit thinking, focusing on live in a world of extreme and contagious cynicism. We tear people down, what was going wrong instead of what was right in my life, and how I without realizing the full effect of our attitudes. By using Appreciative could make it better. After some tremendous soul searching, I realized I Inquiry, we can express ourselves without the fear of cynical annihilation; had gotten away from the appreciative frame of mind. I started asking we can reestablish community ties and bonds. To identify the core of everyone from the maintenance staff to the college president what made what is positive in our lives, and in the lives of others, gives us a unique them feel good. Infused with positive energy, I was asked to sit on many perspective on how the world works and some insight into how we can college committees and was awarded the coveted President’s Award in make it better. At a young age, we can become builders of the human Human Relations. After graduation, I was offered the chance to direct a spirit. new effort, Imagine Detroit. - Tim Wilborn can be reached at
Tim Wilborn designed the following tool to introduce 3. Have the first volunteer sit down. Ask the How to Use Appreciative Inquiry youth in Imagine Detroit to Appreciative Inquiry: second volunteer to come inside the room 1. Ask participants to write down 2-3 questions they could ask a complete stranger on the The Power of Appreciative Inquiry and ask them, “Tell me something good that street and get a positive response. Appreciative Inquiry is more that a process, it’s a happened to you this week?” 2. Once they have their questions, pair the way of life. How you ask a question can very well 4. Ask the participants in the workshop if they youth up and have them ask each other the determine the type of feedback you receive. To could hear the difference in the two responses. prove it, I’ll need two volunteers. 5. Go to the board and write, “Tell me three questions they have written, and take notes 1. Have one of the volunteers leave the room. things about yourself” and “Tell me three on the answers to share with the whole group. 2. Ask the volunteer remaining in the room, things that you like about yourself”. 3. Bring the group back together and ask, “From “How has your week been?” (More than likely, 6. Ask the students what type of response the questions you just asked, what new things the person will answer, “Fine,” or “Okay,” or some they think people will give to the first question did you learn about the person you just met?” other one-word response.) versus the second question. 4. “What questions got the most feedback?” 15 ? tools ^ resources & tools @ resources % tools # resources ! tools * resources
Assessing Intergenerational Inquiry: Content and Impact Interviewees/Interviewers Assessments After a first round of appreciative interviews were a conversation that the “themes of “My sense of ‘we’ has broadened immeasurably, completed, how did Imagine Chicago articulate what the interviews” were named by the happened and what it meant for future work? young interviewers. A further and my sense of ‘they’ has all but disappeared.” content assessment was done by a “It has made me understand life better and see Imagine Chicago carried out three interrelated volunteer team of graduate students sets of assessments in its city-wide and who read through and evaluated all Chicago as a positive place.” community-based intergenerational interview the interview transcripts. They “I have seen mindsets change, including mine.” pilots: 1) understanding the content of the clustered the appreciative questions conversations — the ideas, information, images around the three main stages of “It has made me think about the youth and how and initiatives shared by interview participants; Appreciative Inquiry: “valuing the much people care about us.” 2) determining the impact of the interactions present”, “envisioning the future”, and — the experiences of the conversations, the “co-creating the future”. They “The interviews made me feel part of a larger kinds of relationships and feelings emerging from interpreted the overarching themes whole, working toward a better future.” them; 3) evaluating the implications for future to see what they told us about work. These assessments were ongoing, done peoples’ experiences and their “I gained inspiration and enthusiasm from the at multiple stages, with a range of participants. conceptions of Chicago’s future. A commitment of the young people.” unique portrait of the city emerged, Our first level of assessment came out of the characterized by diversity and duality, with began to see commonalities among their visions specific thoughts and experiences shared in the multiple layers of relationships, and many, many for the city’s future and felt encouraged by their interviews. An adult mentor was present at each new possibilities. respective commitments. intergenerational conversation to take notes. 2. Intergenerational Partnership and Immediately following the interview, the mentor Our second level of assessment approached the Accountability: The interview conversations discussed with the interviewee highlights of the interview processes as a series of learning opened up lines of communication between the conversation and noteworthy perspectives. The experiences. To gain an understanding of what generations. Both young people and adults interview transcript was typed up within a week. the conversations meant for interviewers and commented that they gained an appreciative This provided the basis for the thank you note interviewees, Imagine Chicago conducted a understanding of the other generation. written by the young person, as well as an formal evaluation with several participants from 3. New Possibilities and Methods of Civic integrative learning opportunity. At several all of the pilots. Three impacts were particularly Conversation: Appreciative inquiry as a tool/ month intervals, groups of young interviewers noteworthy: perspective also made an impact on participants. gathered to discuss what stood out for them Learning to ask and answer positive questions, from multiple interviews and their current 1. Shared Identity: The conversations and to actively listen, was a welcome shift for thoughts about Chicago and its future. They brought people together, across boundaries of many participants. The conversations also then compared responses across multiple age, race, experience and geography, to reflect infused public spaces with constructive and interviewees and neighborhoods. It was in such on their relationship to the city as a whole. They creative possibilities. 16 Building Blocks to the Future “People struggle because they believe Intergenerational appreciative inquiry proved very inspiring and something better is attainable.” motivating. Adult commitments were refreshed. Hope came alive. New – Bill Ayers, citywide interviewee possibilities for engagement were imagined and shared. Asking positive open-ended questions was successful in establishing a lively sense of young leaders within community organizations, museum staff, etc.). Program shared civic identity, creating effective methods for constructive initiatives are designed to be personally engaging and meaningful, build the intergenerational dialogue, and expanding the sense among the young capacity of the organizations involved around their core mission, and lead people that they could make a difference. But the dialogue only took to visible community outcomes for which individuals are accountable both the first step – of understanding what was possible, and imagining where to the project team and the organizations they represent. that could lead in the future. There was no structure within which to create that future. Imagine Chicago learned that the appreciative This approach involves Imagine Chicago in three interrelated activities: intergenerational interview process would be much more effective if it * designing frameworks for community and organizational innovation happened within structures that could move more readily to action, with positive and empowering assumptions, that build skills through hands- around ideas for which individuals could take personal responsibility. on experiences and create accountable structures and networks for moving forward key ideas which emerge from the groups; Imagine Chicago has designed its subsequent initiatives to give * developing innovative programs which test and showcase tools and participants a chance to be city creators in more concrete and sustained approaches that can be used by community groups to inspire and sustain ways and move from dialogue to action. That involves working with civic engagement and action; individuals who are embedded within institutions (e.g. parents, teachers, * building dynamic collaborations between institutions (represented by interested change agents), which enable them to accomplish their central mission and build their long- “We want a city in which people ask, ‘What am I responsible term capacity — in addition to creating something of for?’ ... The future of our city depends on everybody.” benefit for the city as a whole.
- Franklin Cole, citywide interviewee
○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Invitational Questions - challenge What is the particular value of intergenerational learning? energy How can interview content be used to stimulate further civic dialogue? future How can intergenerational processes transform existing structures and relationships? inspiration Share Your Thoughts, Add More... 17 · Involving the “public” in learning communities that motivate change, make information available in an accessible way, and imagine... respectfully engage marginalized participants, including young people. · Tapping into the lived experience of community members and finding Freeing the Spirit of Hope and Imagination ways for them to collaboratively and positively inquire about their Chicago is a living exhibit of imagination and resourcefulness, of civic experiences. spirit at work within individuals and among institutions. The physical and · Asking provocative, constructive questions and listening to responses social infrastructure manifests the creativity, choices, and investments of with respect, delight, confidence, and relaxed high expectations. citizens from generation to generation. Where hope is alive and · Celebrating and communicating the past, as an inventory of possibilities connections abound, the inventory of the possible expands. Individuals for the future. and groups share vision and invest energy and resources. New buildings · Encouraging participation and leadership from multiple generations, are developed, new businesses started. Parents organize a neighborhood so that a vision of the future is present and highly visible. arts club where children learn to express their dreams and ambitions. · Connecting individuals, institutions and systems with common values Teenagers set off for college, planning to return to serve their communities. and goals. Life is honored, community expands. · Minimizing models of control and dependence, by encouraging Hope is the vital energy that builds confidence and encourages investment. personal initiative, and validating each individual’s and organization’s Hope brings enormous value to the future of the city. Hope, the willingness skills, knowledge and values. to celebrate what can be, generates remarkable resources for creative · Integrating artistic expression into actions, so that people discover connections. Hope alone is realistic because it perceives the scope of themselves as creative agents. our real possibilities. Hope does not strive after things that have no place, · Recognizing spirituality as a primary resource for hope. but after things that have no place as of yet, but can acquire one. · Re-enchanting and expanding the language of citizenship to include civic imagination, civic literacy, and learning for public life. Above all, hope is a choice — not a feeling. We can tune ourselves to the frequency of hope by the questions we ask and the questions we Taken together, these practices help to connect individuals, groups and live. Consider: What dreams or whispers are at the heart of your own the city as a whole in a way which is personal but can renew whole life that may be seeking your commitment? What do you want to learn? systems from within. Together, we can create a culture of public learning What impresses your heart right now? What small change could you and action, which continuously energizes and harnesses hope and make that might make a big difference? How could you make solidarity imagination as resources for public good. with a stranger a daily practice? Who might stand with you? What will it take for us to create a just economy, a global community, in which no one is wasted, in which violence and addiction have lost their power? Where there is no hope, Imagine Chicago’s work is living proof that peoples’ highest aspirations the people perish. are possible to translate into action. Some of our practices and tools for - Proverbs, 29:18 choosingfreeing the spirit of hope and imagination include: hope 18 Leslie, however, was not one to give up. Her faith and Sharing and Sustaining Hope her work with Imagine Chicago enabled her to develop Looking out the windows of Chicago public housing, a sense of responsibility to her community. She made some see a bleak picture of despair. The ‘projects’, as deep connections with her interviewees, and began they are often known, are viewed as over-populated to understand that isolation which separated people minority communities, plagued by crime, inadequate from different walks of life also restricted possibilities education, and insufficient employment opportunities. in her community. Leslie started having informal Leslie Welch, however, saw a different vision — of hope conversations with her own family and neighbors, and possibility for herself and her community. harvesting seeds of possibility wherever she went. She discovered conversations were powerful and effective As an adolescent, Leslie struggled against feelings of tools: “If civic leaders and ordinary citizens don’t talk, being unneeded and unloved. Yet, she did not allow the process is not going to work. We have to talk to despair to have the final word. She got involved in a each other.” youth development program organized by the Chicago As she continued to contribute to her community, Area Project. The program encouraged young people Leslie Welch and Bliss Browne at the Leslie accomplished one of her goals: she went to to take control of their surroundings, by speaking their launch of Imagine Dallas in 1995. college. The challenges of college life did not hinder minds and maintaining a positive attitude. her involvement as a young leader. Her unwavering commitment to work for the common good resulted in her being invited to serve as a member Through the Chicago Area Project, Leslie was invited to an Imagine Chicago of Imagine Chicago’s founding board. She developed and ran workshops focus group in 1993 to test the viability of the intergenerational interview on Appreciative Inquiry, so that other young people could also have process. “I remember she asked all the tough questions,” recalls Bliss strategies for asking positive questions. She travelled to Baltimore and Browne, “and I realized her leadership could help us think through the Dallas to help launch Imagine projects in those cities. answers.” Bliss asked Leslie to lead the youth forum the following week which field-tested the interview questions. Leslie saw Imagine Chicago as Leslie also served as co-chair on the national board of Youth as Resources a means to fulfill her goals to go to college and help her community move in Chicago for two years, working with city leaders to develop policies beyond oppressive socio-economic limitations. and initiatives that directly incorporated young people into leadership roles in the life of a city. Interacting with political and civic leaders might It was also around this time that Leslie found inspiration in a deep faith. intimidate some young adults, but Leslie’s strength and spirit prepared Prayer, along with church and community organization leaders, became a her to sit at the table and engage in powerful conversations. support system for her. They helped her sustain a spirit of hope as she pursued her dreams. Today, as Resource Development Coordinator of the Chicago Area Project, Leslie continues to motivate and inspire hope in the people and places Despite her strong commitment, Leslie faced challenges every day. “The she touches. She believes that if individuals maintain a sense of possibility, environments that I lived and worked in were completely contrasting. I and continue to engage in dialogue with one another, positive changes would go to some lofty office of a multi-millionaire and have a conversation will emerge. “It’s not about who has more money or who has less money. that would open the possibilities. Then, I would go home to a two-flat It’s about people. When we talk and listen, other people can identify with a ‘For Sale’ sign in the front. My family was struggling, and I could see themselves in us. We’re not so different.” drug dealers all around my neighborhood. It was hard.” - Leslie Welch can be reached at
20 Hope In Shackles: Challenges for Freeing the Mind, Body and Spirit In Chicago, hope faces some serious enemies. For one, we need to evaluate the discourse of burden of the ‘professional’ in favor of expecting Discrimination by race, economic status and contemporary social, economic and political that everyone’s contribution is valuable and ethnicity has become institutionalized in housing, development work. Deficit-based evaluation, necessary to creating a vital future? neighborhood demographics, and political judgment, and labelling ( “poor”, “underclass”, boundaries. Many people are isolated within “lost generation”) turn people into objects and The difference between life as a problem to be segregated communities and mindsets and can’t victims and hinder the emergence of hope and solved by experts, and life as a mystery to be imagine themselves as meaningfully connected to of community. An imagination movement must embraced by everyone, is distinct. Throughout others who are different. Isolation leads to a loss shift and re-enchant language to reclaim our this publication, you will discover how Imagine of imagination about what is possible. creativity and power as subjects who create Chicago is developing frameworks, language and both words and actions that can enable the networks to cultivate hope as a resource for Apathy, addiction and violence are symptomatic of greater flourishing of human life. public good that involves everyone. The stories the loss of hope. For the most educated, cynicism, and images suggest how hope can come alive which erodes hope and creativity, passes for On another level, we have to work to unlearn and be sustained without institutionalizing it. As sophistication. Negative images dominate in the the mindset of division and hierarchy which you read, notice where resistances arise in you, mass media and play an influential role in the seeks to rank and separate people by race, gender, as well as what inspires you and opens you even cancerous internalization of disorder and decay. All class, religion, language, culture, and educational more to the powers of imagination and hope. over the world, there is a well-acknowledged attainment. How can we instead generate and “confidence gap” with respect to institutions, practice a language of inclusion and help to politics and leadership. Without confidence in a create constructive experiences of difference? You must be the change you viable future, personal investment makes no sense. What experiences stretch a sense of ‘we’ and ‘our’ (instead of reinforcing ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ wish to create in the world. Freeing our minds and bodies to recover a spirit thinking?) How can we demystify the role and - Mahatma Gandhi
of hope may require several levels of unlearning.
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What catalyzes hope in us, individually and collectively? love What sustains hope, in the face of trials and obstacles? goodness faith Share Your Thoughts, Add More... 21 The Greeks in early Athens recognized that cities and citizens are constituted through public imagine... conversations. As we name what we want for our communities, and work together on behalf of those hopes, we come to realize that each of Stretching the Boundaries of Citizenship our futures is intimately connected with others’; Around the world, the modern experience of - What does it mean to be a “citizen” ? we find language which bridges difference, and we expand our sense of the community to citizenship has sometimes been reduced to - For what and whom are we responsible? voting, paying taxes, lobbying the government for which we belong. As we move to the edge of (or against) a particular policy, or requesting - What is our vision, vocation and our narrow circles to engage in this broader resources from a government body. Many feel commitment as owners and creators of conversation and action, we find ourselves disenchanted with this “thin democracy” and the city’s future? standing at the center of a much larger circle. excluded from any real decision-making and control over the future. And so they have people from different cultures or neighborhoods, Finally, citizenship is stretched by our sharing in turned to other personal or social matters and among different professions, or across public why civic engagement matters. Imagine left the political game for the select few to play generations. Interacting in situations that may Chicago encourages discussion of what — an attitude which fuels disaffection, apathy be new, unnatural, or unusual for us helps to motivates us to act in community, valuing and hopelessness, rather than generating a sense challenge our prior assumptions and beliefs. We whatever inner or ‘spiritual’ strength sustains a of self-efficacy and community transformation. engage in deeper levels of learning in order to commitment to the common good. For citizens resolve these ‘disturbances’ and to regain a sense to actively shape the future, they must see To constitute a rich culture of democratic of balance and meaning. Reflecting on what is purpose in and derive meaning from their work. participation requires imaginative, effective happening in these diverse exchanges, and Rather than ignore this deepest desire, Imagine citizens — people who can act with others to sharing these reflections with each other, leads Chicago has sought ways to ignite it and to make effect positive change of their own design, people to the development of new understanding, skills, it public. It is this elevation of what makes us with the commitment, skills, persistence and values and attitudes. Many times, the learning human that takes citizenship, in a movement of courage to actively shape their community’s we gain from dissonant but constructive imagination, to a whole new level. future. Over the last 10 years, Imagine Chicago contexts can take us into new directions and has been exploring what it means to be a citizen help us to and how the boundaries of citizenship can be transcend our expanded. limitations, fears and insecurities. citizen Part of the stretching of citizenship has come from Imagine Chicago’s support of learning communities that make it possible to have positive, constructive leadership experiences with
22 HOW DOES CITIZEN ? tools ^ resources & tools @ resources LEADERS WORK ? A local “citizen leader” Citizen Leaders Program group has the chance Imagine Chicago created Citizen Leaders in 1996 to propose an to encourage citizens to understand their imaginative project, community’s assets, imagine ways to improve their which makes visible the neighborhoods, and create valuable innovations. core values and assets In a series of ten bi-weekly workshops, each citizen of the community, and which develops leader creates a low-cost, high impact community leadership and Youth and adult citizen leaders work together for a project including recruiting a team of volunteers, participation locally. litter-free Englewood. designing the project, writing a proposal, and The innovation can documenting and sustaining their innovation. strengthen existing ! tools * resources $ ! tools * resources $ ! tools * resources $ ! tools * resources $ ! tools * resources $ The following are selected excerpts from the Citizen Leaders networks, such as a scout group or a parent club, or can generate new networks. The more an innovation builds on and strengthens already program guide, available in full at
By the end of the summer, there were hundreds of people playing Every Block is a Village has worked hand-in-hand with the community- basketball in the Uptown league. Rival gangs played together without based Westside Health Authority, producing networks for employment fighting. The league led into a leadership development and job-training opportunities, childcare, transportation, and community health and safety. program for young men. The Park District built it into their program. Together, they have nurtured community pride, trust, and commitment. In It inspired the starting of other leagues. Tina, who had been 2002, they created the Westside Health Authority/Every Block is a Village unemployed, got job offers from the Park District and a local high school as a community outreach worker because the project had After-school Program. The program fosters relationships between high brought out and made visible her commitment and leadership skills. school and elementary school students through reading, arts/crafts, outings, and movie nights. Through EBV online, neighbors can connect to each Where had Tina begun? With the simple hope that she could make a other and citizens across the world. In all of their community initiatives, difference to some friends of hers. As it turned out, she made a Every Block is a Village exemplifies the idea that each citizen can and must difference that transformed the neighborhood as well as her. Her contribute to their neighborhood’s wellbeing. The practices and values of own commitment was leveraged many times over by other people, EBV are now being actively shared with at least three new Chicago who were inspired by her own enthusiasm and got involved themselves. neighborhoods who have been inspired by their example. 24 of positive change. Communities themselves Meeting the Challenges to Citizen Leadership have a kind of collective imagination and mindset, When members of a community have struggled change happen. Nurturing a different sense of often shaped by media images of the community, for change and not succeeded, a fear of failure citizenship (and by design, a different sense of which may have been internalized. Some can paralyze people from taking the (perceived) democracy) requires an increased personal and organizations and communities are held up as risk of imagining and creating again. Hope is public accountability to each other and to our always moving forward; local residents assume, costly; it involves acknowledging real failure and places, and a recognition of vision and “If we did that, we can do the next thing.” Positive disappointment, and still being willing to work commitment as driving forces for change. images become the basis for attracting more on behalf of what is not yet visible. Citizens of engagement and money. In other communities, an imagination movement must become ‘learning People who understand themselves, their only negative happenings seem to attract activists’, seeing failure as a learning experience strengths and their spirit, and who are committed attention and get magnified; people imagine things and exploring how community strengths can be to sharing their understandings with families, getting worse. (Sometimes, this mindset extends utilized to overcome potential pitfalls or conflicts. neighbors and friends, are powerful agents of even to countries and continents). A focus on collective assets and strengths change. This extends ‘citizen leadership’ to enables citizens to re-orient themselves towards everyone: young people, parents, grandparents, People find hope by being connected to things what works instead of what doesn’t. business owners, artists, teachers, and so on. that are bigger than they are. To have a different While government services need not be future, communities must have hope that they A second challenge for citizen leadership is a discounted in this process, making the shift from can move forward as a whole, not just as learned dependency on experts, government dependency to accountability/responsibility individuals or small collectives. That requires services, or external agents that can stifle and means that those internally-rooted in their positive images and mindsets, as well as obstruct community-rooted imagination and communities will be the keepers of what counts. connecting multiple institutions and individuals action. Too often, we have placed our trust in within a community, so that the sum ends up institutions and resources beyond our reach. Another challenge comes from those who do being greater than the parts. How can we work This includes the belief that money is what makes not believe that certain communities are capable together to connect to bigger wholes from which
we can draw and sustain courage?
○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Invitational Questions - human potential How does dissonance change us from within, so that we act from without? community How do you connect self-change to systemic change and social justice? power How do new understandings of citizenship help us in building communities of faith in civic spirit? diversity Share Your Thoughts, Add More... 25 imagining and consequently re-organizing, their relationship to the city and its systems shifts power away from unresponsive bureaucratic imagine... structures to families and neighbors who act on Imagine Chicago is a catalyst for creative and harness hope. How do we do that? By their values. connections, especially those which result in the encouraging people to see community, not as a development of a civic identity for individuals given, but as a set of systems constantly under In this and other initiatives, Imagine Chicago and organizations. To cultivate hope and and to construction, and governed by the values, encourages participants to shift from actively engage people in identifying with and choices and activities of individual citizens and being “objects” of city life, in a city which creating a positive and hopeful future is a critical groups. Imagine Chicago listens and encourages is an IT, to being “subjects” (I decide, I part of our mission. Imagine Chicago has the articulation of what is possible and practical. create, I connect, I think) within a city particularly challenged individuals and groups to which is a WE. It’s important not only to learn generate meaningful opportunities for those who A good example is Imagine Chicago’s civic to think “WE” but also to live “WE”. So Imagine have not been involved as civic actors, to literacy program, “Reading Chicago and Bringing Chicago designs and facilitates imaginative discover ways to link their considerable gifts to it Home” (see opposite page). We offer public partnerships for developing civic identity and the communities in which they live. school parents, who have often been objects in effective citizenship skills. In this way, a depersonalized system of education and organizations, as well as individuals, experience This is important, both as a matter of social justice welfare, the opportunity to understand and being part of a WE, who act together to create a and as a foundation for reinvigorating democracy. shape the systems at the heart of a city’s life and positive future. Democracy depends fundamentally on our a family’s budget — transportation, energy, freedom to create, to participate in shaping the education, food, communication, wealth creation, In the last ten years, Imagine Chicago has seen discourse and institutions by which we live. recreation, housing, health. We see parents as whole families imagine and create new ways to subjects who contribute, so we treat them as enrich their own lives and the future of their How can we reconstitute our identities as such by respecting their intelligence and interest communities. We have seen schools reorder owners and creators of Chicago’s future? in learning and their commitment as involved themselves as centers of imaginative community Imagine Chicago encourages people to think of parents. By learning to read their city, they re- education, and teachers rededicate themselves cities as a constructive context, where meaning envision themselves as community leaders and and renew their commitment to their vocations. is created through connections. Ideas and thinkers, not as objects or victims. Acting as People are experiencing themselves as creators actions emerge out of uncommon dialogues and agents of change within their families, their of life and meaning, not just inheritors of a fixed innovative partnerships that bridge racial, cultural, schools and their communities, engages them and set of information, institutions and systems. They are coming alive as citizens. generational, and reshapes their self-understanding as citizens. Re- geographical boundaries. Imagine Chicago’s creative city frameworks foster inclusion, model positive communication connections 26 Imaginative Parents: Gerardo and Agustina Gerardo Camacho and his wife Agustina have lived in W. Humboldt Park on the near north side of Chicago for the past five years. There they raise their children: Guadalupe (13), Vanessa (8), Eduardo (6), and Monica (9 months). Gerardo’s job requires him to work the third shift, returning home in the early morning to spend a few hours with his children and then sleep until his next shift. In his experience, it is common for parents with busy work and family lives not to have time to be involved in school and/or community activities. Gerardo and Agustina are not such parents. The older Camacho children all attend Alfred Nobel Elementary School. Aside from taking them there and back, Gerardo and Agustina knew little about the school and maintained few connections to it. But they did know that they wanted to ensure that their children would grow and learn in safe, creative, and stimulating environments. The school coordinator “I got to speak to different people and exchange ideas,” said Agustina. offered them the opportunity to get involved in Imagine Chicago’s Reading Chicago and Bringing it Home parent development program. “From what “Through my experience in the parent program, I learned that if you Ms. Lopez said, it sounded interesting. We decided that it might be a good work at something, there is bound to be some change. When we got way to discover new resources to help our children,” recalled Gerardo. home from a meeting, we would take time and talk to each other about what we learned. We were able to open up discussions with our children Reading Chicago and Bringing it Home met monthly in locations such as the about what they did and how they learned,” said Gerardo. Better Chicago Botanic Garden and the Chicago Historical Society. Parents communication in the family resulted from these efforts. learned, in interactive workshops, about systems central to both family and city life — like transportation, energy, education, communication. Each As graduates of the program, Gerardo and Agustina have set several goals topic featured one core skill essential to city living (map skills, budgeting, for the future. They look forward to hosting a variety of conversations, in using public transportation, primary health care, reading a bill, computer order to foster a neighborhood culture where people of all traditions literacy). Parents designed family activities to do with their children that and ethnic groups can continue to discuss their interests: “A few people reinforced key ideas and learning methods. Through research, discussing can accomplish a lot, but they are just a start.” In addition, they want to life experience, visiting museum exhibits, hearing presentations, and sharing inspire others to contribute to various levels of community work. “We ideas with parents from other cultures and neighborhoods, participants as a community might be small, but if we stick together, we can be a had the opportunity to think through what makes a family and city work. stronger force.” With this vision in mind, Gerardo ran for the parent representative position on the Nobel School’s Local School Council and At the first meeting, Gerardo and Agustina were observers, listening to won the election. Most importantly, Gerardo and Agustina hope to set Imagine Chicago staff describe the program. As other parents asked an example for their children, so that they grow to feel the same hope for questions, they realized that many were dealing with the same issues, the future and open up infinite possibilities for their own lives. despite differences in race and culture. Encouraged by both participants and facilitators, they began to actively engage in workshops and field trips. The full curriculum of “Reading Chicago and Bringing It Home” is available at Slowly, yet steadily, new conversations were taking place on various levels. www.imaginechicago.org/parent_dev.html 27 Three communities then Making Civic Connections combined into groups to In 1996, the National Endowment for the have conversations in Humanities challenged communities to start a local venues, such as a national conversation about “American Pluralism library. These meetings and Identity”. Imagine Chicago launched Making were open to the public, Civic Connections, a series of intergenerational and each conversation public forums linking community values to issues was designed around a of civic identity and participation. Community series of organizing groups discussed and discovered what they had questions. Certain key in common as Chicagoans and as ‘Americans’. national documents were used to further stimulate Program organizers began by contacting religious discussion. and cultural organizations including “newcomer” communities and inviting them to participate This program brought Participants in “Making Civic Connections” discuss unresolved issues central to American identity at the Chicago Historical Society. with an intergenerational team which included a many voices to the table humanist from their own community. The who may not otherwise One of the most engaging moments of the invitation resulted in 19 teams, including have an opportunity to be heard. Participants program occurred with participants from participants from the Zoroastrian, Kampuchean could reflect in public and frame common Chicago’s Baha’i Community, Haiti’s Tenth Buddhist, Somalian, Laotian Christian, Filipino, and concerns. They were invited to share their Department Organization and the Muslim Social Native American communities, just to name a few. perspectives on topics ranging from Scientists Group. Group introductions fueled “Remembering the Tests of History” and subsequent conversations about the slave revolt Throughout the summer, ‘community scholars’ “Considering Chicago as a Testing Ground for in the Haitian community, the history of Islam, led intra-group preparatory conversations in Democracy” to “Imagining Chicago’s Future and fundamental beliefs of the Baha’i faith. Soon which each group discussed and documented Together”. Conversations were initiated around members of each team were actively engaging in their own ethnic, religious, historical, and cultural opening questions, like “Why does the U.S. a discussion about the strength of diversity and identity around the question: “How do we want Constitution begin with the phrase, ‘We the the place of religion in a “secular” society. to be known in the city?” The Mexican people’?” The intent was to provide an community, for example, thought that “while there uncommon opportunity for substantive dialogue The conversations built better understandings are greater employment opportunities in the U.S., about how the city’s future gets created out of within and among groups, and also set the stage racism and discrimination are key factors the best of our collective inheritance. One Filipino for various joint community efforts. As Harry reducing the quality of life and the advancement leader commented, “For the twenty years we Fouché, of Haiti’s Tenth Department Organization of the Mexican community.” have been in Chicago, we have only been talking stated, “From these exchanges, we are not only in our community organization about survival. learning from each other, we are also discovering As part of these initial conversations, some Now we have been asked what we have to who we really are ourselves.” groups even drafted “declarations of contribute to the city. It is an exciting question independence” as a way to identify the rights that we are now asking ourselves.” and values most important to them. 28 museum is a way of showing and sharing Expanding Urban Imagination with Museums knowledge, just as their own students’ exhibits At the Chicago Historical Society (CHS), history throughout its six-year history as external are. Teachers learned to organize their work with comes alive in a way that one can engage it in partner for the Urban Imagination Network, a a museum independently. Museum educators public conversation. In Making Civic Connections, seven-school, six-museum partnership focused began to call on partner schools to help clarify 125 people, representing 19 distinct newcomer on improving reading comprehension and an exhibit plan or identify programs needed for immigrant groups in Chicago, gathered together helping expand urban imagination. city schools. for an evening at CHS. There, they discussed unresolved questions that produced profound When the Urban Imagination Network was first The museum connection was especially American struggles, including a tragic and pivotal established, the only connection between the important to enhancing family learning. When civil war. Abraham Lincoln himself spoke schools and the museums in the partnership was parents in the Urban Imagination Network (represented by scholar/actor Michael Krebs), the standard field trip experience. In a school studied transportation issues, they did so at repeating his speech on “The Last Best Hope of system driven by test scores, there was a CHS, beginning by deciding what items they Earth.” He addressed questions raised in the citywide trend to separate reading process from would have chosen to put in their wagon as a chief sentence of the Declaration: “We hold reading content. Visual arts were an isolated pioneer on a long journey. Reading first person these truths to be self-evident: that all men are experience of the occasional arts class. Parent narratives of a pioneer journey helped build a created equal” and noted continuities between involvement in schools included only limited personal connection to the artifacts in the the revolutionary Declaration and the continuing activities such as attending report-card pick-up exhibit hall on pioneer life in Illinois. A second political and social revolution. The audience, both night. For participating museums, work with activity involved thinking through the as communities and general public, engaged schools meant primarily teacher and student relationship among refrigerated railroad “Lincoln” at crucial stages along the way, raising workshops and occasional parent involvement transportation, farming and the development of questions from their own experiences. Such an as field trip chaperones. Chicago as a stockyard and mail order center. exchange brought historical issues critical to The activity opened up parents’ understanding American identity into a current and powerful The Urban Imagination Network gave schools a of the many connected systems that constitute conversation between the past and the present. much bigger window into museums. As schools a city’s life. By seeing (and touching) historical partnered with one museum each year, teachers objects that showcased the ways transportation Understanding systems as constructed over came to see how the museum worked and how had changed over time, parents could more time requires learning about what has been, as to make greater use of this resource. One of readily imagine choices for changes in the future. well as imagining what can be. Museums are the goals of the project was to bring the exhibit This led to examining the citizen action “public spaces” which showcase historical and approach into the schools, to reduce the transportation plan being debated currently in cultural perspectives about life in a given place. distance between museum and school by the state legislature. The museum connection They invite public conversation and engage their creating hundreds of museums — the helped bring the city connection alive. viewers in thinking through ideas and issues in classrooms and hallways within the participating an interactive way. The process of exhibit schools. While at first the power of the museums Don’t let the focus on cost, or creation itself, for which museums are best as unique and remarkable collections of durability, or aesthetics destroy the known, moves from understanding to imagining knowledge enhanced the project’s attraction to major point of the museum: to be and creating. Museums help us make connections, students, teachers, and parents, the project think differently, see more. Imagine Chicago has ultimately demystified the museums. The used, to be understood. been intimately connected to local museums participating schools came to understand that a - Donald A. Norman 29 ? tools ^ resources & tools @ resources % tools # resources ! tools * resources
peoples’ self- and social knowledge, as it facilitates Getting the Word Out on Imagination the consumption of ready-made images instead Media and technology can be useful tools for A second point of reference is who uses the media of the creation of original ones. Current research documenting and disseminating the actions and and technology. Are the media and technology suggests that certain media and technologies have insights that emerge from imaginative community available to and usable by a diverse range of a debilitating effect on children, as well as adults, processes. They can potentially expand the citizens in the community or are they the not only in terms of encouraging violence and conversation to include more images and voices exclusive privilege of a few? Electronic based materialism, but also by fundamentally re-shaping and enrich the levels of understanding and kinds communication can be expensive, or require brains, weakening cognitive learning and of actions undertaken by communities. They can specific skills and training to use, and relies on a damaging social relationships. facilitate the opening and sharing of many stories particular kind of infrastructure or climate. These and forms of human expression. They provide (and many other) factors will inform an Imagine Today, the variety of existing media and a mechanism for people to share publicly what project as to which audiences will be engaged technologies lie on a spectrum of energy, is personally important to them. Yet media and and included by virtue of access to specific infrastructure, power, money and literacy technology can also distort, discredit and media and technology, and which will be requirements: Satellite television and the world discourage. What should those of us engaged in excluded by the same. wide web... radio and newspapers... music, dance, creative and constructive intergenerational puppetry, storytelling, painting, etc. Embedded citizen work consider when enlisting media and A third point of reference is who creates the within this spectrum are also other axes: from technology? media and technology. Images are powerful. global to local, from elite to ordinary. Given the Those who create images also communicate their desire for inclusive and open conversation in One point of reference is who controls the media biases and perspectives. People make choices Imagine work, a range of communication and technology. This relates primarily to power when they produce media and technologies and approaches is necessary. The key, of course, will over content. An Imagine effort might consider those choices reveal what they believe to be be discerning the use and value of a particular how and whether it is able to influence and shape true — about individuals and communities, about medium or technology, in appreciation of the the content of the media or technology used, realities and possibilities. There is no such thing context, the people and place involved, the or whether decisions related to that content as ‘objective truth’ in newspapers, televisions, questions being considered and the task at hand. are necessarily out of ordinary citizens’ hands. textbooks. We must therefore raise to The more we can employ a diversity of media For example, Imagine Chicago has worked in consciousness underlying assumptions and and technology, the greater our chances of partnership with a few of Chicago’s local biases and ask: Are the images and ‘truths’ (with expanding public imagination and the movement newspapers, sharing good stories and enlisting a small ‘t’) represented nurturing, or hindering, as a whole. their interest in covering positive stories that hope, imagination and action? If you are interested in the impact of images and showcase what is possible. In St. Louis, the stories on people, families, communities, cultures editorial board of the largest paper decided to Another reference point for evaluating media and the world, “Images and Voices of Hope” is a create an “Imagine St. Louis” section in the and technologies is their impacts on us, individually series of locally organized, international newspaper to highlight issues and related and socially. Communications media — where conversations exploring these topics. To learn resources for action on matters of local concern. not only the answers, but also the questions are given — can diminish creativity and often bury how to participate, visit
improve our lives and make our communities - Jody Kretzmann
○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Invitational Questions - questioning How do we structure civic dialogues in ways that stimulate civic imagination and make constructive use of research? trust How can communities sustain the energy, enthusiasm, and passion generated by positive visioning processes, when implementation struggles begin? listening How do we maintain a focus on the positive when challenging situations of injustice or exploitation? friendships Share Your Thoughts, Add More... 31 continually expands. Young parents sharing stories of how they are each caring for their children leads others to good parenting practices. imagine... A youth and elderly worker sharing their stories of making a difference can lead to a new Weaving Visions into Realities “The prophet does not ask if the vision can intergenerational project. As Oliver Wendell All of Imagine Chicago’s initiatives use a common be implemented, for questions of Holmes suggested long ago, “A mind once approach that moves from idea to action in a implementation are of no consequence until the stretched by a new idea never regains its original generative cycle: vision can be imagined. The imagination must dimensions.” The stretching of our imaginations, · Understand what is come before the implementation… It is the task through dialogue, experience and reflection, (focusing on the best of what is) of the prophet to bring to expression the new enables us to transcend so-called impenetrable · Imagine what could be realities against the more visible ones of the ‘barriers’ and to discover new paths. (working in partnerships with others) old order. Energizing is closely linked with Create · Create what will be hope.” For imagination to lead to community change, it (translating what we value into what we do) - Walter Brueggemann needs to be embodied in something concrete All three processes feed into and out of each The Prophetic Imagination other; the interdependent relationship makes and practical — a visible outcome that inspires more people to invest themselves in them powerful in transforming individual and foundation on which even greater possibilities community visions into realities. making a difference. The stories and images we can be built. are sharing throughout this publication are Understand examples of such outcomes — from the place- Imagine All of Imagine Chicago’s work begins with and is based innovations of Citizen Leaders, to the New possibilities are inspired by interesting grounded in asking open-ended, asset and value- renewed dedication of Chicago Public School questions or stories which stretch our oriented questions about what is life-giving, what teachers, to the expanded public commitments understanding beyond what we already know. is working, what is generative, what is important. of young people and parents. When we articulate and hear from others what Asking positive questions encourages the sharing works and matters, we readily imagine how even of best practices and the articulation of What the Understand-Imagine-Create cycle greater transformation and innovation can fundamental values. For example, in working with builds upon is the link among positive questions, happen. In a parents, we have explored questions like: What learning is something your child has accomplished that you community, are especially proud of? What about your family is collective especially effective in encouraging children to learn? imagination positive What interests you most right now? Generating a shared understanding of constructive and creative values and practices helps to possibilities reveal the positive
32 positive images and positive possibilities. The best of what is, shared in a generative dialogue, generates creative opportunities to think A Wish about what can be. Along a dusty road in India, there sat a beggar who sold David Cooperrider’s research on the relationship between positive image and positive action enumerates the many ways in which we cocoons. A young boy watched him day after day, and the create the world we believe in (for example, the familiar Pygmalion beggar finally beckoned to him. effect in education and placebo effect in healing). If we see ourselves, and others see us, as inept and impotent, then we feel marginalized “Do you know what beauty lies within this chrysalis? I will give and hopeless about our role in the world. On the other hand, if we you one so you might see for yourself. But you must be careful claim our hope and power, and take inventory of our capacities and not to handle the cocoon until the butterfly comes out.” potential, we begin to nurture real-world actions that demonstrate our power and help to expand and enrich our communities. The boy was enchanted with the gift and hurried home to await the butterfly. He laid the cocoon on the floor and became aware In an Understand-Imagine-Create cycle, the gaps between ‘thinkers’ of a curious thing. The butterfly was beating its fragile wings and ‘doers’ collapse, as people think and do, and think and do, again and again. Elitism and expertism, which tend to shut many people against the hard wall of the chrysalis until it appeared it would out of the conceptual conversation, cannot survive in this process; surely perish, before it could break the unyielding prison. Wanting nor can the privileging of one set of experiences and skills over only to help, the boy swiftly pried the cocoon open. another. Instead, in understanding, imagining and creating, it is assumed that everyone has the capacity to think and act, and each person’s Out flopped a wet, brown, ugly thing which quickly died. When experiences, ideas and actions are valuable for the whole. the beggar discovered what had happened, he explained to the boy, “In order for the butterfly wings to grow strong enough to If there is any moral imperative I live by, it is support him, it is necessary that he beat them against the walls this: To create is a blessing, and a of his cocoon. Only by this struggle can his wings become responsibility. To suppress creativity in beautiful and durable. When you denied him that struggle, you took away from him his only chance of survival.” ourselves or in others and to quell or ban imagination is a desecration of the human May the walls of your cocoon, Be just thick enough, spirit... I believe that when we engage in the To allow you to struggle, creative and imaginative process, we can Just long enough, venture into the holy, for we bring whoever to emerge, we are into that flow. The beautiful person, I already know you to be - Sarah Stockton 33 ? tools ^ resources & tools @ resources % tools A Good Story! Storytelling for Growing Our Imaginations standardized, or replicable for everyone. In 1998, Imagine Chicago partnered with British Airways “Stories are the narratives of life, Rather, they validate and celebrate the to design an intergenerational conference to inspire their spanning the centuries and specificity of experience and context. executives and improve their coaching skills. 350 BA connecting the generations. They executives joined 400 members of the Chicago Children’s As a form of oral communication, Choir for a shared day of intergenerational learning at are the vessels in which we carry the Field Museum of Natural History. Executives brought our shared adventures and most storytelling opens up a space for building relationships, in a way that does not happen objects from their 83 countries of origin that represented precious memories.” with text or visual images. Storytelling music making, community building activities, and everyday - International Storytelling Center improves our skills for articulating our own life. The children prepared for the day by learning Since its inception, Imagine Chicago has — and listening for others’ —experiences repertory from all over the world — Irish ballads, African drawn upon the power of stories and and ideas. We become more sensitive to hymns — to welcome the executives to their city. Young storytelling for creating new possibilities each other and to our unique and diverse and old worked together in pairs, visiting museum exhibits for the future. Stories, like the ones told contexts. By sharing our stories, we are and designing questions for one another that focused on throughout this book, have not only sharing our lives and meaning-making. seeing and understanding more about global connections stimulated our imaginations, but also Stories thus bond us to one another, and and their own lives. strengthened our senses of self and lead us in the direction of generative community. Understanding why stories dialogue rather than divisive debate. What contributed to the day’s success as a learning are important and how to improve our venture? Enthusiasm, risk, dialogue, ritual, fun, creativity, capacities for storytelling is vital to any Stories are interpretations of experience. music, object-based learning, reflection, networking. It effort to nurture hope and imagination. Embedded in storytelling is the tapped into the lived experience of community members opportunity for co-creation. Where we regardless of age. It engaged multiple generations in posing Why Are Stories and Storytelling So are, when we are, how we are, who we are questions and in common reflection on them. It connected Powerful for a Movement of Imagination? — as tellers and listeners — makes the actively to all the senses. People sang, listened, painted, Stories are fundamentally different from stories what they are. We co-create our felt and smelled objects, ate together, and sometimes held the abstract and fragmented info- stories and we mutually determine the hands as they moved through the museum. The knowledge of much of what we learn in impact and the value of our stories. The conference blurred the boundaries between personal school. Stories bridge the Cartesian medium really is the message! In this way, and professional by reminding executives (many of whom divide between feeling and reason. storytelling has the potential to spark have children) that adults can play more and children are Stories connect to us emotionally, creativity, energy and hope, the heart of vital learning partners. Lastly, it developed strong experientially and naturally; they are Imagine work. individual and institutional connections between partners. intimate and often contain deep, holistic For the Field Museum, the event developed the capacity truths about our purpose and meaning Storytelling Tips on the Web and confidence to turn the entire museum into a hands- in life. Unlike textbook knowledge,
Just as knowledge is not fixed, Imagine Chicago Design processes have lasted from weeks to as an organization is flexible, with a multi-skilled months. In many cases, the ideas and work force held together with information partnerships discussed have gained such The Dream Team! Summer 2002 Imagine Chicago staff technology and a wide network of partners. power that they have moved forward as Diana (in absentia), Shilpa, Bliss, Edith, Vicky and Yasmeen. Structure follows vision. What this means in volunteer projects when outside funding was decision-making in the absence of clearly defined practical terms is that projects (as well as Imagine not forthcoming. Chicago as an organization) are first constituted roles. by organizing a “design team”. Imagine Chicago As in many effective postmodern organizations, does not formalize institutional structure and Imagine Chicago depends on relational factors At Imagine Chicago, the role of the organizational then decide what to do. Rather, it invites interested — including a spirit of giving and volunteerism leadership team has been to: individuals, and those they recommend, into (manifest not only in its active board, but also · Anchor the organization with a clear mission. brainstorming sessions to explore ideas. in the many highly experienced volunteers who · Communicate the mission and build contribute invaluable professional services ownership around it from diverse and ideas). Permeable boundaries allow for constituencies, who then devise unique Thank You! responsiveness, variable work roles, and a high implementation strategies by working in Imagine Chicago would like to thank its board of partnership with the organization. directors, past and present: degree of production, innovation and diversity. Authority resides in the ability to add value · Prioritize opportunities for creative Scott Bernstein Helen Arnold Massey through knowledge creation and application involvement. Rebecca Blank Barbara Young Morris in a changing mosaic of project teams. · Manage tasks that weave various voices and Dennis A. Britton Fumni Olopade projects together. Bliss W. Browne Susan Quandt Boundaries are permeable and relationships · Secure necessary organizational resources, Don Bushman Joanna M. Riopelle continually expand, so the mission must be including staffing and funding. Mary Ellen Carroll Therese Rowley clear. Challenges of managing diverse and The success of organizational leaders depends Nancy B. Cobb Barbara O. Taylor loosely coupled projects include developing on their abilities to inspire trust and engagement, Celeste Garrett Alaka Wali and maintaining a coherent sense of purpose; to speak multiple languages (of the diverse Rev. John Haughey, S.J Leslie Welch effective communication (for example, in communities that constitute the organization), Richard Heise Emory Williams, Sr. gathering information about ripple effects); and to model the mindset, and to weave meaningful Bud Ipema connections between people and ideas. 36 own growing edge. Good funders realize we Funding Partners in Mission learn from mistakes – where we struggle, Thank You! where we get stuck. They are with us in a Imagine Chicago would like to thank our What do funding partnerships, which can help create learning network; many exceptional funding partners: and sustain a movement of imagination, look like at · Communicate a very high level of trust in us John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur their best? as an organization struggling to make Foundation something challenging work. They’re investing the late Gertrude Nielsen Imagine Chicago has been blessed with in the struggle to make it happen, not some Schreiber Foods extraordinary funding partners, in spite of never formulaic programmatic agenda on their side, The Seabury Foundation having had a development person on our staff. of which we are a little piece; Chicago Annenberg Challenge We have looked for partners in mission rather · Connect us to others from whom we can learn Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Foundation than program funders, who are prepared to make and to whom we can contribute. Surdna Foundation multiple year commitments consistent with David K. Hardin Generativity Trust multiple year change processes. Securing such 2) What can funders do to help support Kellogg Foundation commitments has made it possible for Imagine the development of civic imagination as National Endowment for the Humanities Chicago to concentrate its staff resources and a movement? Illinois Humanities Council time on project development, implementation and · Bring interested parties, including other Chicago Community Trust evaluation. funders, into conversation about: Graham Foundation for Advanced √ why this work matters; Studies 1) What makes a good funding partner? √ what helps it happen well; W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone From Imagine Chicago’s experience and √ what it needs. Foundation perspective, our best funding partners: Such learning forums are strengthened by British Airways · Show profound respect and enthusiasm for including not only interested intermediary Commonwealth Edison grantees, which in turn creates in us the organizations, but citizen activists who are Chicago Sun-Times Foundation courage to do difficult work; often untapped resources. Invite each person Loyola University · Ask good and provocative questions, including to bring a young adult with them. Think Peoples Energy Corporation questions about what long-term outcomes we together about different levels of possible and Kenilworth Union Church are trying to accomplish and how we can tell expected impact. Christ Church Winnetka if we’ve gotten there; · Fund development of e-learning networks to Fourth Presbyterian Church · Encourage articulation of the next appropriate create workable models for sustained informal Fetzer Institute step, which builds on what has already been learning which stimulates and connects social CCT Young Leaders created. They are not out to fund something entrepreneurs and civic imagination across the Polk Bros. Foundation different just to be sexier, but rather to city, country and world. Harris Bank encourage our next bold steps, even where · Identify and make visible interested partners Illinois Workforce Advantage outcomes are uncertain; in the funding community, so individual Equity Trust · Are as interested in learning, as they are in organizations don’t have to search web sites Leo S. Guthman Trust success. They hold us accountable, but make to figure out who in the funding community Bank of America us feel we have a partner committed to our cares about these issues. and many generous individual friends. 37 abundance of arts-based and outdoor Renewing Education activities. The two year series of quarterly weekend retreats: “The more faithfully you listen to · gave teachers time to build trust and the voice within you, the better you to speak from their hearts rather than will hear what is sounding outside.” accepting conventional images of “being too busy” to attend to their - Dag Hammerskjold own learning; The Teacher Renewal Program was a vital · provided opportunities for element of the Urban Imagination Network, a teachers to articulate and explore six-year partnership in which Imagine Chicago their own experiences and gifts; paired six museums with seven Chicago public · offered ways for teachers to schools to improve reading comprehension and “reframe” their experience so they strengthen learning connections among children, could understand and respond to it parents, teachers and administrators. Personal more deeply, as an opportunity for renewal retreats were created for teachers to personal integrity; Teachers created a colorful quilt illustrating the ‘seasons’ of their renew their vocations, connect to the natural · helped teachers develop their own personal renewal and learning. world, and participate in an inspiring learning language, images and methods to community of their colleagues. explore “spiritual” development themselves and and practices of education, to rediscover the with their students; “heart” of teaching. This meant listening for and We teach who we are. Great teachers bring · reconnected teachers to natural cycles so they sharing their own inner strength, balance and energy, concern, meaningful connections, and an could appreciate what supports life, and resiliency. Engaging in arts and play also fueled openness of mind and heart to their classroom. recognize that the teaching vocation offers teachers’ innate creative capacities and reminded These qualities help them be present to their opportunities for entering daily into an organic them of the importance of play for their students and colleagues and to facilitate their cycle of renewal and growth. students. Developing habits of reflection and own and each other’s learning. The Teacher awareness helped teachers realize that silence Renewal Program offered space and time for This effort differed from other professional may be as important to learning as speech. What teachers to deepen their vision and commitment development efforts, because it was not focused often resulted was a spiritual re-awakening in to learning, and to gain perspective on the fears on professional competence or teacher which joy and love were discovered. and stresses that inevitably arise within a retention (though it supported both). Imagine standardized and depersonalized education Chicago believes that content alone cannot As one teacher summarized eloquently, “I used system. create an environment for learning. Instead, good to bring conditioned love for myself and my The Teacher Renewal Program was held at the teaching and learning happen from the inside students into the classroom. My love for my Chicago Botanic Garden, a public space that out; teachers need to be passionate students in students was conditioned on how well they paid quickly became “sacred ground” for the teachers. order to inspire a love of learning in others. The attention, how well they performed. My love for Content was organized around seasonal themes; Teacher Renewal Program engaged and impacted myself depended on many of the same things. reflection work included a variety of large group, teachers’ intellectual, affective and spiritual lives, Now I try to bring unconditioned love to my small group and solitary settings with an challenging them to re-envision the purposes classroom every day.” 38 learn for Living from the Inside Out ourselves. At Imagine Chicago, we believe in angels: How do we keep from choking on the world’s despair and cynicism and Spiritual people and opportunities who turn up at instead serve as agents of hope and healing? One way is by trying to live introversion just the right moment, to renew our “from the inside out”, continually reflecting on and sharing who we are has to give and what we believe, knowing what and who sustains our inner strength. way to energy, stretch our imaginations and From that place of perspective and hope, we can do practical things that living the reveal new hopes and realities. contribute to the common good, putting together our unique desire to values we make a difference with that of others. have chosen, being accountable to the hope that is in us. We have to take who we are and get involved with what’s around us, without taking on As meaning-making people, we need transcendent connections and a issues and responsibilities that rightly belong to others. When we operate sense of purpose. That requires spiritual disciplines that nurture our from wholeness and hope, our lives radiate outward. They become inner lives and connect us to a generative source that calls us beyond sources of healing and inspiration to others. We learn to trust people to our fears and failures. And it requires communities from which we can take responsibility for their own issues and resources, to do our share learn, draw courage and recognize that our individual effort is leveraged but not more than our share, to encourage everyone to play their part in and exalted when put together with others. a way that gives life to the whole. Imagine Chicago is a project born of The best learning, and living, happens from the inside out for both faith, that lives out of an imagination about human life and community individuals and institutions. We learn most powerfully when education that says everyone’s gifts are necessary to our common life; we cannot begins with what’s inside — with our questions, innate talents, personal live without each other and thrive. ways of seeing — rather than with pre-programmed ‘expert’ answers to someone else’s questions. Our lives have integrity when decisions flow What will make enough of a difference? All of our continuing to listen to from our values and not from what others expect from us. Action is what impresses our hearts and speak the truth of that… all of our sharing most effective when we take time to reflect before we act. We enrich with each other the questions we are living… all of our taking the risk of public life when we create images of hope and possibility rather than acting and learning from our mistakes… all of our hearing and sharing consume pre-packaged media images of violence and despair. Living from with each other stories of how ordinary people continually are able to the “inside out” also suggests that we must act to really learn. To validate make an extraordinary difference. Every voice is important. So is space
what we believe, we need to experiment with what works, take risks, to for reflection. It is up to everyone to create the way forward.
○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Invitational Questions - expressions How do you take rich imagination and powerful visions and translate them into activities with visible outcomes and impacts? responsibility commitment How do you generate and sustain peoples’ commitment in this process? passion Share Your Thoughts, Add More... 39 Imagine Chicago sees itself as an organically growing and voluntary process of partnership rooted in a specific place(s). Imagine CHICAGO. imagine... We aim to channel and multiply the energy of what’s in place, recognizing and honoring the to other places. Similarly, our identity is natural and human ecologies which constitute Revealing the City to Itself interdependent on the kinds of relationships that place as a living system, while creating What is your place in the world? Where do you and experiences we have in community with learning communities which nurture civic belong? What places hold special meaning and others. The well-being of our life in community understanding, identity and ownership among a importance for you? is strongly intertwined with the wholeness of very broad population. One’s answer to these questions will depend our life as individuals, and the health of the on the interpretation of the word “place”. Is it a physical environment in which we live. physical location? Is it an identity related to a Why has Imagine Chicago, and why have so many other Imagine efforts, focused on cities? Cities community or group? Is it a sense of purpose Our sense of purpose, our spirit, our motivation echo creation. They are a living symbol of the or meaning? Or does ‘place’ encompass all of to contribute, how we make meaning of our life human ability to imagine and to create, to turn these definitions at once? in the world, the inner word of who we are — visions into tangible products. Cities are a living all shape and invigorate our identities. When and dynamic inventory of human capacity and The work of Imagine Chicago emerges from an shared publicly, they have the potential to diversity. They concentrate forces of darkness appreciation for and detailed attention to place transform the common space. Belonging to a and light, corruption and possibility, hope and as context, as community and as purpose. place therefore has spiritual, as well as social, despair. Boundaries are pushed in a city — Indeed, a large part of our work has been to implications. As our public spaces reflect the literally and figuratively. The breadth and depth make publicly visible the intersections among best of our collective imagination and our city’s of cities stretch our personal boundaries and these understandings: How who we are diversity, our ‘place’ becomes fuller, more our collective boundaries. We experience the integrally links to where we are, how where we complete, and a more fertile ground for emerging intensity and energy of the human spirit in a are links to what we do, how what we do links possibilities and connections. to who we are, and so on and on, in an organic city; at the same time, the fear, violence and tension of cities can alienate us from one another spiral of dynamic action, rooted reflection, and This nuanced perception of place sets Imagine and from our common humanity. self- and collective understanding. Chicago apart from community or international development work that replicates strategies Most importantly, cities cannot be ignored. To gain insight into the multiple meanings of without regard to context, local imagination or Though they cover only 2% of the earth’s “place”, we need to think about who we are, diversity. Such work does not recognize the surface land area, they house 46% of the world’s both at the micro-level, of our individual and importance of systems thinking and doing: seeing family lives, and at a macro-level, of the city and the whole as essential and more than the sum world as a whole. Each physical place has of parts, and seeing the parts as interconnected, particular characteristics as well as being linked not isolated or self-contained. By contrast, the power of place 40 population, consume 75% of the world’s resources and produce 75% of the world’s waste. And they are likely to Chicago’s Exquisite Corpus keep growing. Clearly, to imagine and create a just, ecologically- In 1993, Imagine Chicago organized a sound and community-oriented city — a city redeemed as series of public forums for six downtown an integrated, healthy, whole and holy body — is a vital work churches on the city as context for God’s for any movement of imagination. imagination. Having recognized that our city suffered from a ‘divided imagination’, For us, Chicago is just the place to imagine such a city. It we were interested in stimulating more possesses amazing energy and diversity, with a rich history people to think about Chicago as a whole. of culture, community organizing and social innovation. It is a global city, many of whose residents maintain close ties to Over eight evenings, we discussed their countries of origin. Yet Chicago also faces crises of different dimensions of the city’s life. racial and socio-economic segregation, divisive politicking, and Nathan Mason, an artist, suggested we serious challenges to its moral, economic and social commission eight local artists (including infrastructure. To nurture a sense of “place” in Chicago a 15-year-old newly arrived Polish requires, as it does in other parts of the world: (1) recognizing immigrant and an 82-year-old African and valuing the diversity in contexts, rather than generalizing American grandmother) to conceptualize about individuals and communities; (2) linking institutions and create Chicago’s “body”. At the start and systems, which means balancing the local and concrete of each session, the artists inspired us to with public policies and the larger movement; and (3) re-member the city as a whole living body facilitating the creation of new and dynamic spaces where by symbolizing and reconnecting the individuals’ and communities’ inner words can be shared different parts. Chicago’s beauty, diversity and vitality included images and publicly to generate a collective word of hope and action. representations of Chicago’s arts and architecture, sports and work, neighborhoods and natural settings, and its many people, young and old, famous Imagine Chicago has sought to reveal the city of Chicago to and infamous, of all ages, shapes and colors. itself: its strengths and challenges, its questions and possibilities. By cultivating the civic imagination of as many The inclusion of the arts community as a key resource in this early Imagine citizens as possible, and giving it public expression, Imagine Chicago initiative permanently shaped our thinking about the importance of Chicago seeks to expand possibilities for people to discover the arts in inspiring imagination for public good. Imagine Chicago has their own vital ‘place’ at the table, as part of a city to which subsequently integrated the arts in multiple ways, in all of its programs — using they belong and can contribute. dance, music, visual arts, community performance, masks, quilt-making, paper mache and other media — to inspire and express vital understandings and connections. “I imagine a Chicago someday, in which In the Urban Imagination Network, Imagine Chicago’s most extensive and long- “I imagine a Chicago someday, in which term initiative, multiple arts media were integrated across the whole curriculum critical thinking is so common, that of schools involved in the program. Citizenship depends on being able to politicians will not be able to capitalize understand, imagine and create. Those processes can be effectively cultivated with great delight by encouraging artistic expression of what we understand, on ignorance.” including what we see and hope for our city. - Valmer Jordan, citywide interviewee 41 In the play, headless Shim goes everywhere, and The Headless Dancer everywhere s/he goes s/he fits right in — because Scrap Mettle SOUL (SMS) is a community s/he hasn’t got a brain. In the play’s climax, Shim performance group of artists, teens and adults attends a contentious community meeting where who live in Chicago’s highly diverse Uptown many sides are engaged in a shouting match, typical neighborhood
Think about the many different systems and sub- systems of your ecology: individuals, families, neighbors, neighborhoods, organizations, religious groups, work- related groups, bio-regions, cultures, languages, etc. What are obstacles and dangers to imagination and action? What are key opportunities/resources? 45 Sometimes such places were utterly separate from human hands: glaciers, Sacred Spaces, Public Places shaking mountains, living waters, canyons. Sometimes such places were In 1996, Imagine Chicago, in collaboration with religious, community groups, created by events: unplanned encounters for which people took the and cultural institutions, created a civic project about place as community symbol shoes off their feet because they stood on holy ground, after which they of the sacred in ordinary life. Through events, conversations, exhibits, lectures, waited to recover or reform their sight, from which they undertook poetry readings, tours, writing workshops and public rituals, participants clarified previously unimagined things. Sometimes such places had been built and and went public with their thoughts about “sacred spaces and public places”. dedicated. Temples and monuments were erected when possible on the The project revealed important linkages between spirituality and public life site of an awesome un-built space or over a preceding shrine. and the community-creating power of ‘sacred places’ in the life of the city. Lovers of the city regularly describe streets and fountains, colonnades Humans have long identified sacred spaces. They have done this for no and squares as places in which fully valued persons interact in ways which ulterior purpose at all. Most people are able to name places and events overcome the invidious comparisons of race or class or role, where all of intrinsic worth. When we raise a glass or sing a song, we do not ask, are seen to enrich the body politic. The enjoyment of such city places “What are we doing this for?” bears witness to a self-transcending character of public life.
It is for this very “lack of reason”— that sacred places shed a light on Much depends on holding sacred places and public spaces together in community and civic life. Community, itself a mystery, is created among consciousness. Where sacred spaces deprecate public places or suggest people who stand together in sacred places, and it can extend to many withdrawal from public life, they lose much of their own power and others who look toward those places from afar. The decay of such places content. Where public places are swept clear of every expression of the in consciousness seems a feature of “decaying” cities. sacred, there may be lost the mystery of freedom on which citizen arts and public good depend. Public discourse is reduced to numbers, expert Great cities of the past treasured sacred places as basic to their common pronouncements and sound bytes. life. Asian and pre-Columbian cities in America were built as ceremonial centers. They were cosmic in design, exemplifying the axis mundi which Inspiriting moves both ways. Sacred places are more truly sacred by joined heaven and earth and underworld, their apertures trained to the reference to public life, and public places become more truly public by movements of the spheres and solar bodies. The classical Greeks and some remembrance of the sacred. Dangers have always been recognized. Romans found both the context and the metaphor for fulfilled human Private and group sacralities can be used to turn controversies into life in the city, where the highest human virtues were required and religious warfare or crusades. Against this there are legal restraints, to cultivated. Since these virtues included wisdom and justice, required arts which must be added two practical counsels: That space or story sacred of freedom and invention, and could require sacrifice and death, they to any community, which has thereby been created, be respected by all were touched by the divine. Civic shrines marked places where such and profaned by none. That such symbols be distinguished from any qualities had eminently appeared. These places were included in the public interpretations and proposals which follow and in which prudential education of the young for citizenship and public happiness. differences may be expected.
To classical cities the Biblical peoples brought their sense of pilgrimage Needed once again are pilgrimages from place to place of human dwelling, through time to the holy City. God, who was not confined in space or pausing at the sacred notes of each, but not stopping until they arrive at time, had been encountered and wrestled in places and events along the places held by all in common. That is city living. way, and had entered history to create virtues of faith, hope and love. Places of blessed memory became the goal of pilgrimages. People walked Written as an invitation to “Sacred Spaces, Public Places” by Dr. Richard Luecke, who was together from station to station, finding precedents and a Presence. Project Director of Imagine Chicago in 1996-1997. 46 dream-catching energizers! imagination energizers! place-rooting energizers! The Whole-Sense City “Think of your city now (and when you were a child). What stands A Shared Language of Imagination out for you, locates you there? What are the city’s sights? Sounds? Smells? Tastes? Touches? What words and images come to mind to let us create a vocabulary born of our unique and diverse contexts, describe your city as a whole?” Share at least three answers to each to be shared amongst us in this work we love question exploring the different aspects of your city. Share your answers a few examples... with a group of 6-8 people and see what you learn about how others (from India) Swaraj
year to move the city in the direction of their own dreams for it?
○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Invitational Questions - learning ecology What becomes possible when we begin to see our ‘place’ (our sense of purpose, our sense of belonging, our sense of location) in new ways? discovery identity How can you connect your self, your uniqueness, to your ‘place’, to grow the imagination movement in new directions? spirit context Share Your Thoughts, Add More... 47 currently established or in the process of development, of which IC is aware. We know imagine... there are others which share a similar spirit and commitment. Each process has a distinct Imagine Chicago shares knowledge and inspiration through talks, workshops, free web character, having tread its own unique path through its particular context. Imagine Chicago downloads, and an open door and email policy. To date, Imagine and Imagine-like is hoping that, as a result of the gathering of these projects in September 2002 in projects have organically emerged on six continents (that is, without IC’s control or direction). Chicago, a global learning network of Imagine projects will be established that will facilitate And the movement continues to grow... Listed below are some of the Imagine initiatives an ongoing exchange of ideas and other resources.
Imagine U. K. Network Imagine Kragujevac (Serbia) www.neweconomics.org Plant a Dream (Denmark) Imagine London www.imaginelondon.org.uk Y100 Calgary Imagine Birmingham Imagine Gottland (Sweden) www.ymcacalgary.org www.humancity.org Imagine Peckham
Imagine Scotland
Imagine Orcas Imagine Chicago www.imaginechicago.org Imagine Englewood if... www.englewoodfutures.org Imagine! Central Imagine Boston Singapore Imagine Dallas Imagine Detroit www.centralsingapore.org www.nvo.com/ourgreatestgift/ Imagine Los Angeles imaginedetroit www.imaginelosangeles.com
Imagine Nepal Imagine Jerusalem Imagine Nagaland www.unicef.org Udaipur as a Learning City www.swaraj.org/shikshantar
Imagine Bendigo Imagine Chile Celebrate WA and Imagine Cape Town Imagine the Future www.imaginecapetown.org.za www.communitywise.wa.gov.au Imagine Hout Bay Bank of I.D.E.A.S. www.imaginehoutbay.co.za Imagine Tasmania Youth at the Center www.imaginetasmania.com www.bankofideas.com.au a vital network 48 imagine... Whom do you consider your most likely allies/partners? Time and Space to Ask Yourself (and Others): Where do you call ‘home’? To what community(s) do you belong?
How do you envision involving members of multiple generations?
What do you see as particular strengths of your community?
What are your key concerns/expected obstacles in moving forward? How do you plan to overcome them? What changes would you most like to see in your community’s future?
Circle the ideas you are most excited about and committed to working on. What will you do next (today/this week/this year) to begin implementing your vision? Which of your strengths/skills/talents can help you move forward on these ideas?
How can the ideas build on existing community assets? What friend can you immediately share your vision with and ask to hold you accountable for moving toward it? your next steps 49 What Stimulated My Imagination: While reading, I was... Some Key Insights I Take from Reading this Book: √ surprised by...
√ inspired by... Ways I Hope to Apply Those Insights:
√ concerned by... Common Threads Which Relate to Other Experiences/ Learnings in My Life:
√ helped by...
Key Questions I Now Have:
Share your responses with a global community online at
“We need to grab within our creativity and resolve to make a difference.” - Congressman Danny Davis “Imagine Chicago is a process aimed at bringing people to a realization, that making a difference in the future of Chicago is both a personal choice and a public responsibility. We hold the promise of the city’s future in our thoughts and actions – the choice to realize this promise is ours.”
- Mary Ellen Carroll, Imagine Chicago Founding Board Member