The role of COINS in the Civic Space:

building a pathway to prosperity

Betsey Merkel, Co-Founder, Director
The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open)
The Institute for Open Economic
Betsey Merkel presented this material to the
Networks (I-Open), 4415 Euclid Ave Suite
COINS 2009 conference at the Savannah
301, Cleveland, Ohio 44103
College of Art & Design (SCAD) October 10,
2009. This material is copyright under a
I-Open is a 501(c)3 educational
Creative Commons 3.0 attribution license. You
economic development organization
are free to modify, copy and use this material
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“Economic development is in everything
today”

- Tom McCarthy, teacher, lawyer, CEO

http://economicdevelopment.ning.com/
This presentation explores a

Pathway to Shared Prosperity

an accelerated model of Civic

Forums to connect innovation
to place based assets to
strengthen education,
economic, and workforce
development
Profitable last century industry
created legacy assets in colleges,
universities, libraries

The Civic Space was simpler then

and more organized

Today there’s an emergence of a

new Civic Space

Where no one can tell anyone else

what to do

Where levels of civility may be low

But everyone has an idea

 “We have seen over a 400% increase in demand for
services from our One Stop serving five counties
across two states in the last six months.”
- One Stop Manager, Ohio and Pennsylvania

“The County Board of Mental Health lost 39% of its state

funding in the 2009 fiscal year...we’ve seen our crises calls
rise 58% in the first half of 2009” - Jim Adams, Executive
Director, Geauga County Board of Mental Health and
Recovery Services, Fall 2009
We’re in a time of unprecedented
change, disconnection, and
opportunity

Unemployment rate climbs to 9.8 Percent, Wage

Growth Weakens
The economy shed 263,000 jobs in September, led
by losses in the government, retail, and educational
services sectors. BLS preliminary benchmark
revisions show that 824,000 more jobs were lost in
March of 2009 than initially reported.
- Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy
Research, October 2, 2009
The speed of change has
ruptured institution networks and
they don’t work any more

This is the disconnection of

people and their ideas to hope
and prosperity
Institutions with COINS do work

They’re resilient, sustainable, rich in

social capital, and collaborative

They generate high levels of effective

innovation at a low cost

And serve many people for good

Today we need higher levels of
organization, process, and tools

The Civic Space is exploding and it

offers unprecedented research
opportunities
A Pathway to Collaboration is a
collaborative strategy to connect
people and their ideas to

- knowledge assets in colleges,

universities, and libraries

- rewire institution, organization,

and government infrastructure

- re-invent education, economic,

and workforce development
The Innovation Framework is a
starting point for people to think
about how to invest for sustainable
communities and regions
COINS and the Innovation
Framework focus our time and
attention in the Civic Space
We’re building an insight and
innovation network to share:

100 interviews
46 conversations
1000 voices
150 hours content
I-Open interviews inform the
design of Civic Forums

I-Open conversations improve on &

generate new knowledge

Result: we all get smarter

 Interview questions spotlight 12D
perspectives in problem solving

Our approach is informed by

Question Science, addressing
both social and economic
systems

It’s an inexpensive, fast way to

harvest knowledge creation for
collective intelligence in
innovation and design

How can our research benefit

It takes many people to see the whole coffee cup the emerging Science of
image: http://commons.wikimedia.org Collaboration?
So, what do Civic Forums do?

Build open, neutral spaces for civic

experiences

Introduce mental models for

cognitive shifts

Model behaviors in collaborative

leadership and civility

Generate purposeful discussions

focused on talent, emergent
systems, and strategic thinking
We’re moving from closed
hierarchical strategic planning...

to people centered strategy for

innovation design
This is the Civic Forum process, a
designed approach to knowledge
creation

Process helps us to know what

happens when and where, and for
what in the Civic Space

Peter B. Lewis Building, Case Western Reserve
University, Cleveland, Ohio
image: http://commons.wikimedia.org
A success story
Tuesdays@REI
- a free, weekly Civic Forum
- anyone w/ initiative welcome
- civic, business, gov, academic
- 2003-2005: 17 mo period, 79
forums
- attracted 3000 people
- 80,000 media impressions
- before Twitter & Facebook
- cost of $.60 per person
- 1 FT manager
- on a campus w/ no parking
- working groups, initiatives,
publications, new businesses
- admin closed the 25 year old
center June 2005 as “redundant”
- people picketed, “Where’s my
REI?”
- I-Open is the spin out
 What we learned:

- Place is important

- Networks in the Civic Space are

volatile and fragile

- Activity always moves forward

- Proximity is powerful
Peter B. Lewis Building, Case Western Reserve
University, Cleveland, Ohio
image: http://commons.wikimedia.org
The science of experience is
grounded in organization,
process, and tools

The art is in what people say and

do
In May 2009 we asked, “What
would you write on I-Open’s
tombstone?”

We wanted to understand our value

to community

This map visualizes the meaning of

people’s experience

Explore!
I-Open Civic Forums build

- industry networks
- new markets
- branded communities
- enterprise cultures

Best of all: people build clusters

of next generation projects
quickly
? What is the role of colleges,
universities, and libraries in the
Civic Space?
 Conveners of Civic Forums,
platforms for open innovation

Some Stewards of powerful civic networks

Co-creators of people centered

Answers strategy for innovation design

Servant leaders of meaningful

experiences for good
Swarm creativity builds value in
participation by enriching
experience and meaning
CONDOR can help us
understand how the Civic
Space works today
The Art:

“In the digital world, User Experience is

the key definer of value.” - Jeff Dachis,
Dachis Group, 2009
The Science:

This is a map of social participation

process and knowledge creation

People begin at the periphery,

progress to the hub, and to the core

People share knowledge based on

the value they bring, where they
see themselves on the Innovation
Framework, and their level of
comfort

Trusted conveners, connectors,

and access to quality resources is
critical to sustain activity
More about what we’ve
learned:

Civic Forums generate

collaborative communities
Examples of collaborative
communities & branded cultures
Examples of community generated
enterprise collaboration
 Betsey Merkel <betseymerkel@gmail.com>

I-Open Civic Forum Tues April 21, 2009 "Building

Brainpower: Green Jobs Initiative"
1 message

I-Open <info@i-open.org>
Reply-To: info@i-open.org
Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 10:14 AM Communication design is
To: info@i-open.org
informed by meaningful
content

“I-Open is a sophisticated
center of civic dialogue that
furthers the community's
"Building Brainpower: The Green Jobs Initiative"
Join us for an important conversation about re-tooling America's skills training for
understanding and
efficiency in green trades to drive economic prosperity.
engagement of issues.”
Next steps in Chagrin Falls, Ohio...
With Bill MacDermott, Owner, Cleveland Solar & Wind
Date: Tues April 21, 2009 - Gary Murphy, Faculty
Time: 4:00PM - 5:45PM
Live Broadcast/Chat 4:00PM - 5:45PM (EST) Director, Undergraduate
Location: Chagrin Falls Public Library 100 E Orange St Chagrin Falls, OH 44022
Map Economics Program,
Phone: (440) 247-3556
Coffee and cookies provided by Friends of the Library Case Western Reserve
Free parking. No charge.
Everyone is welcome! University
Broadcasts
Backgrounder interview
Most recent Live Show Broadcast on green jobs training
Articles
The American Solar Energy Society (ASES): ASES Green Collar Jobs Report
Strategic sharing integrates
organization, process, and
Web 2.0 tools

I-Open communities
broadcast interviews and
conversations to amplify
people and their ideas
So, what’s next?

Build an accelerated model of

Civic Forums that is

- networked
- adopts COINS
- adopts Question Science
- serves research in the emerging
Science of Collaboration
We invite you to contribute

http://i-open-2.near-time.net

We’d like to know what you

think! Send your ideas to:

betseymerkel@gmail

Thank you!
Thanks to all conference
organizers!

With grateful thanks to all

of the people who
generously contributed
their ideas and time to
teach us what we’ve
learned here today

Special thanks to,

Susan Altshuler
Dennis Coughlin
Scott R Crawford
Gloria & Tim Ferris
Peter Gloor
Valdis Krebs
Bruce LaDuke
Ed Morrison

And all interviewees,

family, and friends