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2005 World Summit
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July 31, 2005
Our purpose is to strengthen the role of media as agents of world
benefit, expanding awareness of the choices those in media make that raise
public trust, generate constructive meaning, and amplify human hope, thus
enhancing humanity’s capacity for life-promoting action.
Dear Friends,
For over 6 years Images and Voices of Hope has convened media
professionals in cities all over the world to consider the impact of public
image making and public story telling on societies. In that same period,
the media saturation has only increased – much of it creating a sense of
fear and alarm about what appears to be a progressive darkening of the
world. For those of us in media related fields who want to contribute in
some way to the uplifting of the world, this poses a challenge: how do we
tell the truth about the conflicts, betrayals, and cruelty in the world and
still work to lift the world – to bring hope to those without hope, to
shine a light on the way forward?
We are writing to invite you to the Images & Voices of Hope’s world
summit, “Media as an Agent of World Benefit: Expanding Awareness of
Innovative Initiatives in Media”, from Thursday evening, September 29
through Sunday lunchtime, October 2, at Peace Village in the beautiful
Catskill Mountains in New York State (www.peacevillage.com).
For those of you who have been with us before, you know that we will use
that time for Appreciative Inquiry based dialogue focused on the assets and
possibilities of our field – for one-on-one, small group, and large group
conversation. For those of you who haven’t yet been with us for a summit,
it will be a true pleasure to have you with us. In addition to the
dialogue, we will be screening some of the best work in our various fields
and beginning work on a worldwide media awards initiative for 2006.
In three days of dialogue together we will explore the various ways we
can help to expand awareness of the choices true thought leaders and
pioneers in media are making: The choice of Robert Redford and others to
support the New Leaders documentary project showcasing courageous social
entrepreneurs; the choices independent producers are making that are giving
the world films like Born into Brothels in which the children’s own
photography is paying for their schooling; the choice some ad agencies are
making to shift traditional concepts of beauty to deeper values in
advertising.
Some of the questions we will look at together include:
- What are the ways that media is giving hope to those without hope?
- Who are the “media trail blazers” – magazine publishers, radio
producers, and news journalists -- who are using media to shine a light
on the cutting edge solutions, best ideas, and new possibilities?
- What are the ways that we can cultivate resilience in cultures
(including the US culture) where people are experiencing a growing sense
of helplessness and despair?
- What might we do together to apply the considerable force of media to
benefit humanity and the world?
Although IV of Hope is not about “keynotes” we are planning to invite
some thoughtful media leaders to join us for an interactive panel. We will
provide more on this in our confirmation letter to you.
We hope that you will plan now to be with us at the Summit, arriving
after 5 PM on Thursday, September 29 and staying through 2 PM on Sunday,
October 2. The conversations will be richer and the designs for going
forward stronger because of your presence.
Please RSVP before September 6th to Dorothy Steinfeld, Program
Coordinator, Peace Village at programs@peacevillage.com. We will then
follow up with a confirmation letter with specific details on the summit
and registration instructions. As always with IV of Hope, there is no
charge for the Summit itself -- just a request that each attendee
contribute on the basis of capacity to cover the cost of their room and
food.
We are looking forward to being with you in two months.
Warmest wishes on behalf of the international sponsoring partners,
Judy Rodgers Founding Director,
Images & Voices of Hope
& Executive Director, Case Western Reserve University’s Center for Business
as an Agent of World Benefit
Joan Vitello President,
Visions of a Better World Foundation
Mohini Panjabi President,
Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization in the Americas, Caribbean, and
Canada & Peace Village Representative |
2002 Third World Summit
6 October 2002
Dear Friends,
The third World Summit for Images and Voices of Hope has been
extraordinary – rich, thought provoking, and a foundation for a number of
exciting projects. It seems that we have reached a point where the clarity of
our vision and the sheer number of conversations underway give us an
opportunity to bring a powerful inquiry to the world media community asking
“what does it look like when media are agents of world benefit?”
This year we formally adopted a set of purpose and principles and asked
each conversation center to nominate one person for a governance council. We
also received the support of Council of Thinking Partners, a group of around
twenty journalists and media and art professionals who have agreed to help us
to think strategically over the next year.
On Thursday night I read a letter to the IV of Hope network that I believe
articulates a vision of Images and Voices of Hope and we acknowledged the
almost 90 people from all over the world who had gathered for this Summit:
newscasters, artists, writers, publishers, filmmakers, advertising
professionals, publicists, and a range of change agents.
On Friday we engaged in an Appreciative Inquiry dialogue about times when
media moves us. The affirmative topics living in the dialogue questions were
- When has media shifted the way we see the world?
- When has media catalyzed a movement for truth and hope against all
odds?
- When has media amplified the impact of transformative partnerships?
- When has media made cooperation possible?
Later on Friday we held two informal “fireside chats” on media as an agent
of benefit – one on advertising and one on journalism and the news. These
sessions were taped.
On Saturday Dave Cooperrider, Professor and Chairman of the Institute for
Advanced Appreciative Inquiry at Case Western Reserve University, presented
some of the research coming out of the positive psychology field that we
believe is relevant for those in media. (For more on this research check out
the Appreciative Inquiry Web site at http://ai.cwru.edu.) We then spent the
morning talking about how to reframe the issues closest to our hearts – war
in general and the Middle East conflict in particular, the schools, youth and
aging, and so on.
On Saturday afternoon we convened groups around particular projects that
are underway around the IV of Hope network. These include the following:
- The Middle East Peace Network
- The UN World Summit on the Information Society
- The Birmingham Youth Symposium
- The Giving Space initiative
- The Research Study for IV of Hope
- Images and Voices of Hope in the schools
- The Images and Voices of Hope in Media award.
You will find more on each of these on this site, including a contact name
if you want to get involved.
One of the most exciting parts of the Summit was the outpouring of films
and video programs coming from around the network. These films were shown in
two different screening rooms and ran on both Friday and Saturday afternoons.
We closed on Sunday by looking at the IV of Hope organization –a “chaordic
network” of individual conversation centers.
For those who were in Peace Village together, it was a spectacular meeting
that let us all see the extraordinary growth and capacity of this
international conversation and for those of you, who could not be with us,
please know that we were holding you in our hearts.
Plan to be with us next fall October 2 – 5 2003 for the fourth World
Summit of Images and Voices of Hope.
With warm regards,
Judy Rodgers
Director
Images and Voices of Hope
2002 Images and Voices of Hope Summit
Media as an Agent of World Benefit
October 11-14, 2001
Haines Falls, NY
Over 70 people came together for the 2nd World Summit on Images and Voices
of Hope on October 11th in the Catskill Mountain retreat center of the Brahma
Kumaris. The character of this summit was especially charged because of the
events of September 11th and the significant role the media has played in
that event.
Participants arrived from all over the world - from Turkey, Malaysia,
South Africa, Argentina, the Philippeans, England, Europe, and the U.S. After
checking into their rooms and coming together for an evening welcome, they
went to work on the organizing question of the Summit: "What would it
look like if Media were an agent of World Benefit?"
The Summit took the form of a two and a half day dialogue looking deeply
into this subject of "Media as an Agent of World Benefit." Guided
by Dave Cooperrider of Case Western Reserve University and Marge Schiller of
Appreciative Inquiry Consulting, the group moved from one-on-one interviews
through small groups and into animated plenary conversations. We looked at
the potential of media to benefit the world through a range of initiatives.
By the end of the second day, people had clustered in groups around the
initiatives that they wanted to lead and support. These include the
following:
- Hope for the New Year led by Lese Dutton of The New Sun
and Kim Ridley, Editor of Hope Magazine. This initiative seeks to
strengthen the new media that are already in production and to focus on
the creation of special issues generated out of the events of 9-11-01.
Contact: Lese@newsun.com and Kimr@hopemag.com.
- Media for Peace as a Global Project led by Rosie Alegria
of Brazil and Nelly Rubio of Miami. This group will link a Brazilian based
initiative bringing together many organizations to support a "peace
media" with a new start-up partnership out of Miami. Contact: alegria@uol.com.br
and rubion@wfor.cbs.com.
- IV of Hope in Cities led by Wendy Bromley Bodden of WNET
in New York City. This group is working to create cohesion among the many
IV of Hope dialogues in the works around the world. Contact: Bromley@thirteen.org.
- Media Networks for IV of Hope led by Paul Andrews of the
San Francisco Bay Area. This group is putting together a global network of
journalists and social activists to expand the impact of positive news
stories. They will start with the stories coming out of Israel and
Palestine as a point of departure. Contact: pandrews@mbxinteractive.com.
- Academy for Alchemical Leadership & Appreciative Cultures
led by Stella Humphries. This group has a longer term focus of developing
leadership capacity to nurture appreciative cultures. Contact: stellah@ix.netcom.com.
- The Art Group led by Rosie Gordon-Wallace of Miami. This
group will be calling on artists to develop new images of peace. Contact: rgw@diasporavibe.com.
- Handsfuls of People led by Charlie Kouns. This group is
tackling the immediate issue of how to support media professionals and
journalists in addressing the stream of alarming stories and events that
are emerging in the world. Contact: cwk4@earthlink.net.
Several people who are leading existing initiatives made short
presentations to the group about the work in process, asking for thinking
partnership from those present. The room clustered into groups of 4 to mull
the questions and gave suggestions in plenary.
On Friday evening we looked at some of the films that are being generated
by the project and on Saturday night there was a reading by a local group
from Woodstock New York.
There are a number of conversations in the works for 2002 including Sao
Paulo, Buenos Aires, Uruguay, Santiago, Malaysia, Capetown, Toronto, London,
San Francisco. Updates for the planning and contact information for these
conversations will be maintained on the Website, www.ivofhope.org, under the
menu item of "global conversations". If you want to join one of the
ongoing task groups listed above, email the contact person for updates on how
you can link with the group.
Executive Summary
1 November 2000
PURPOSE: To engage people working in all types of media to create a
new and more expansive story of possibility for the world.
RATIONALE: Every day the US and other “media powers” distribute
millions of images and stories to living rooms in every country in the world.
The prevailing discourse conveyed by these messages is the story of “World as
Business Opportunity.” In this story every village is reduced to a
marketplace. Every person becomes merely a consumer or a laborer. And the
Earth becomes the source of the raw materials that drive the economic
machine. In this story those with less wealth and purchasing power become
less important. This story is not sustainable. Images and Voices of Hope is a
conversation initiative dedicated to engaging the media community in creating
a new and better story of the world.
The History of Images and Voices of Hope
This International Conversation Project is the co-creation of three
partners: one academic, one spiritual, and one social sector. The conveners
are
- The SIGMA (Social Innovations in Global Management) program at Case
Western Reserve University (CWRU). SIGMA studies examples of partnership
and cooperation in the world. IV of Hope uses the theory and methods of
Appreciative Inquiry, developed by Dr. David Cooperrider, chairman of SIGMA
and professor at CWRU. Danielle Zandee, a doctoral student at CWRU is the
research coordinator of this project.
- The Brahma Kumaris is a nonprofit organization established in India in
1937 that works for positive change at all levels of society in over 70
countries around the world. The Brahma Kumaris hold general consultative
status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
- The Visions of a Better World Foundation (VBWF) is taking the lead in
implementing Images and Voices of Hope. VBWF was launched in 1994 to give
permanent expression to the global dialogue started by the book, Visions of
a Better World, presented at the United Nations in 1993. VBWF’s purpose is
to engage all segments of society in transforming their visions of a better
world into action.
Since the project began in June of 1999, dialogues have taken place in New
York City, Sao Paulo, Boston, Miami, Providence, Seattle, Chicago, Santiago,
Tampa, and at the first summit in Upstate New York. There are many inquiries
from other cities: Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Capetown, Seoul, Orlando,
Denver, Dallas, Los Angeles and more.
Each dialogue has the distinct flavor of these very different communities,
and each has had its own local partners such as WLRN television in Miami, the
National Conference on Community and Justice in Chicago, and the Rhode Island
School of Design and The Humanity Foundation in Providence.
The results are beginning to show up in the various communities: at the
FCC ascertainment hearings in Miami, at youth journalism initiatives in
Santiago, at art exhibitions in Providence.
The Year Ahead
During the first year of IV of Hope the three convening partners
constructed the scaffolding to launch the conversation initiative. SIGMA
provided the conversation engine of Appreciative Inquiry and the thinking
partnership of David Cooperrider and doctoral student Danielle Zandee. The
Brahma Kumaris provided the administrative support of their UN office, the
broad support at their international centers, and the retreat center setting
for the summit. The Visions Board of Trustees provided the strategic guidance
and a minimal level of financial sustenance.
At the Summit in October of 2000, over 70 people in the core IV of Hope
network met to generate ideas for expanding and sustaining the international
conversation, dedicated to the belief that with the right kind of supporting
infrastructure, this living dialogue can bring about sweeping social change.
The proposed architecture for the year ahead is as follows:
- The Vital Center, to be overseen by the Board of Trustees of the
Visions of a Better World Foundation. A small core to keep conversation
participants connected to the whole. A key priority for funding, this
center contains the database of contact information, the central phone and
fax, and the editorial “port of entry” to the “Web of Hope” – an electronic
common that includes archives of images and stories, updates from each
conversational center, compendia of products and partners, etc.
- The Network of Conversations, to be coordinated by a circle of
coordinators -- from each conversation. This network of coordinators
stewards the “DNA” of an IV of Hope conversation, provides a template to
those wanting to open a new conversation, and shares stories and ideas for
sustaining conversations over time.
- The Research Project, to be coordinated by the SIGMA Program. The
research project continues to collect stories, metaphors, and other kinds
of feedback for research in two areas:
- What is the emerging new story of the world?
- What are the ways a living dialogue can affect social change?
- The Production and Distribution Unit, to be coordinated by Farrell
Reynolds of Conduit Communications, Daniel LaPorte of the Arlington
Institute, and Lucy Bartholomay of the Boston Globe. The goal of this unit
is to support the production and distribution of media that generate a new
story of possibility for the world.
- The Educational Initiative, to be coordinated by the Rhode Island
School of Design in the arts and by the Universidad Mayor in journalism and
communication. The goals of this initiative are
- To influence the curriculum at schools of art, journalism, and
communication
- To explore ways to introduce media literacy programs to youth
- To encourage youth to undertake IV of Hope conversations of their
own.
Our Vision for Transforming the World through a Living Dialogue: "Words
Create Worlds"
The idea that the world is socially constructed by each of us individually
and all of us collectively has by now been described by people from biology
to philosophy to social psychology. Wittgenstein tells us “Words create
worlds.” Our own key strategic thinking partner, cognitive biologist Humberto
Maturana, tells us, “Human beings create themselves and their world in
language.”
This project seeks to engage those whose vocation is the generation of
stories and images for the world: journalists, artists, publishers, authors,
story tellers, advertisers, publicists, musicians, gallery owners, dancers,
film makers, and so on to develop a new and more powerful story of
possibility for the world. Collectively we understand that a new story of the
world is emerging in many places:
- From communities of women such as the Realwoman project in California
- From racial and ethnic minorities determined to put an end to profiling
and stereotyping
- From those in healthcare who are shifting the discourse from one
absorbed with pathology to one dedicated to creating an epidemic of health;
- From those in education who prefer seeding learning communities to
“fixing the schools”
- From those in environmental movements such as The Natural Step who
understand that the Earth is the parent of the economy – and not the other
way around.
By convening conversations in communities all over the world, we seek to
shine a light on this emerging new story of the world and to seek out the
elements of a new world story that includes a vast horizon of possibilities
for all of the people of the Earth.
We believe that Images and Voices of Hope is first and foremost a web of
relationships, a network of conversations. As we engage in these appreciative
conversations, we seed a shift in awareness. With this new awareness we see
the world with new eyes. Our new vision of the world causes us to tell
different stories and to produce different images. Out of these new stories
of the world, we will produce a different world. This, we believe, is the
power of a living dialogue to ignite social change.
Summit Meeting 2001
Julia Grindon-Welch
bkun@bkwsu.com
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