The whirl of my regular world swept me up as soon as I returned from summer camp. I had good connections and a short trip. Not like most of the other folks. It would have been an easy day had I had more than 2.5 hours of sleep. I can't complain too much though. We had a great time at the "final dinner" and then Bob and Virginia took us out dancing at the Narragansett Cafe where the band Chiva Bus was playing fun dance music.
T picked me up from the airport and whisked me off to the home of our good friends for an afternoon/evening of walking in the woods, games, great food and even better companionship. T took me home after I fell asleep in the chair.
So what do I say about the Summer Institute to wrap things up? What have I not said yet that might be meaningful now a week or so later? Here is a summary:
It was a great three weeks, fast-paced, demanding, intense, and full of global coastal issues presented in a way that allowed connection with opportunities for doing things better here.
I enjoyed the opportunity to get a bigger-picture view of coastal management challenges and tools, interacting with other practitioners including both the other participants and the instructors. The instructors have practical experience with program development and implementation as well as an academic understanding of coastal issues.
The accommodations on the URI campus were far from luxurious, and it was a long time to be away from home and the office but I had some really capable people back home to take care of things. And, after a few glitches, I was able to get fully connected to the Internet and my local network drives so I could stay on top of things for the most part.
The course gave me the opportunity to focus my attention on our upcoming evaluation and think about how to measure the impact of our work more broadly than I had been able to do in the past. I also came away with a pile of other tools and strategies for tackling challenges and a global network of new friends and colleagues that are all working on dealing with similar issues even if their places look different than the place I work.
I'd have to say it was well worth it.
1 comment:
Thanks for your blog covering the Summer Institute, we are glad your experience was what we intended, especially so that you were surrounded by an international cast of characters.
Just to expand your mind a little further, I am currently reading Theory Uby C. Otto Sharmer of MIT. It captures what I think we are trying to do in a blend of systems thinking, mystical, and organization theory language. You can read excerpts here: http://www.theoryu.com/theoryu.html
Don Robadue
Post a Comment