All About The Open Sessions
Want to be on the cutting edge, doing something that’s groundbreaking, innovative and fascinatingly democratic? Have a great idea you want to share with a wide audience? Then pitch an open session at ForeignPolicyCamp. Open sessions are workshops, topics and dialogues which will be proposed on the day by ANYONE who attends, and can be facilitated by individuals or organizations. The exciting thing about unconference-style open sessions is that we really don’t know what sessions will actually occur on the day of ForeignPolicyCamp — anything can happen!
THESE UNCONFERENCE- STYLE EVENTS INVOLVE A FEW KEY STEPS.
On the days leading up to the camp, ForeignPolicyCamp participants can log on to our Open Session Wiki and start discussing possible sessions that they’d like to see happen, or that they’d like to plan themselves. Please submit your ideas to this Wiki if you can - you may find just the help you need when someone else reads about your session idea!
On the morning of the camp, during our opening plenary session, a professional facilitator will introduce the process of unconference-style sessions and things will really get started.
Participants will take turns proposing sessions they are interested in either attending or facilitating on a big common corkboard. Specially appointed unconference facilitators will aid participants with the implementation of these proposals, and once all of the sessions are up on the board, 
attendants will collaboratively decide (either through voting or discussion) what sessions they think should be a part of the camp’s program for the day.
We have booked many rooms across the harbour centre with capacities from small groups of 4 people to large rooms for 40.
The proposed sessions (with titles such as ‘Rethinking Foreign Aid’) will run all day, and summaries of these sessions be shared in the Interactive Media Lab (as well as online) throughout the day (ie. uploading photos, editing a wiki, etc).
Are you interested in pitching a session on the day of the camp? Please join the collaborative, editable Open Session Wiki on the navigation bar to the right, and share your ideas. You never know — your ideas may be shared by someone else who would love to help you facilitate and plan the session!
NEED AN OPEN SESSION PROPOSAL EXAMPLE?
The organizers of one of the ForeignPolicyCamp open sessions entitled: “Engaging citizens in climate policy: Copenhagen and Beyond” have kindly provided the following summary for those who need some inspiration. This summary will be proposed on the day of the camp.
Overview
The United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen has inspired a number of unprecedented events to mobilize citizens at a global level to take action on climate change and to pressure politicians to sign a binding global climate deal. Initiatives such as 350.org, tcktcktck, Kyoto Plus, Power Shift, Power UP, The Climate Project and World Wide Views on Global Warming are providing innovative forums for citizen input in global climate policy.
Although many citizens are demanding urgent action by politicians, a global climate deal may not emerge in Copenhagen. As organizers, participants and concerned citizens, what can we learn from our experiences so far in mobilizing climate action up to and beyond Copenhagen? What new strategies and ideas can emerge to further this
emergent climate justice movement?
Draft Schedule
Morning session Panel Discussion
10 - 12
Invited speakers will outline the initiatives they have organized to involve citizens in climate policy as well as the challenges and opportunities they have encountered. The panel will be moderated, with time for discussion. Several possible participants mentioned.
Afternoon Session: Round Table Discussions
1 - 4 PM
Round table discussions will engage a range of themes related to citizen engagement and climate policy. A short introduction will be given at the beginning of each theme. Each table will have a list of questions to discuss. Following the theme discussions, participants will report back to the group with suggestions and comments.
An example of Open Session unconference-style planning on the day of a BarCamp unconference in Austin, TX.
An open session at a ‘Museums and the Web’ conference.
