We spend a great deal of time and money planning and implementing events, convenings, and forums, but often at the end we wonder what we truly accomplished and although we made good connections, delivered our ideas, and generated dialogue – What Happens Next?
One Earth Future is an Operating Foundation that implements systems to deliver Peace through Governance. As our 7 programs work on varied programs from illegal fishing to piracy, women, peace and security to post-conflict rebuilding in Colombia, we host many events and technical meetings to advance our programs work and build our networks. As the Director of Global Events for One Earth Future, I was tasked with helping to elevate our programs to a new level of impact while developing our brand as world class conveners .
The focus of all of our event designs began to follow a new formula that was integrated into each event design and program strategy. Consulting with each program director we began to develop strategies that used the convening as the catalyst for social change. Our discussions included the following assessment:
Why are you doing this event?
What does your program hope to accomplish (short and long-term objectives)
Is the event designed to achieve goals? (speakers, breakout groups, attendees)
Does the theme and narrative drive the agenda and desired outcomes?
What do you want people to think, do, or say after this event?
These questions helped us to extend the impact of the event beyond the event itself to commitments to action and communities of practice that moved the program agenda full circle to ongoing activities.
This seems like a simple equation but events often fall short as they stop developing at the implementation and planning stages. Our event strategy goes far beyond the event itself and helps to deliver on new program initiatives such as: Investment in Somalia, fisheries development on the east coast of Africa, post-conflict development in Colombia. We begin with determining who needs to be in the room, how they are brought into co-creation and new idea generation, and what will happen moving forward. This type of event strategy then went beyond the programs to building our brand as an organization beyond the individual programs.
After my first year at One Earth Future, we began to look towards using events to bring us from our current state of technical meetings to a program that focused on the unique value proposition of all the programs under the One Earth Future umbrella. Our strength has always been multi-stakeholder collaboration and we have been extremely successful in putting systems in place that reduce violent conflict, especially in Somalia.
As we look to celebrating our 10 year anniversary, under the leadership of our founder, Marcel Arsenault and our President, Larry Sampler, we began to look at our global impact as an organization.
The Innovation in Partnerships series was launched in 2017 with the International Peace Institute in NewYork. We looked a unique convening that would be developed at the intersection of the SDG Global Goals and the One Earth Future programs. Each event is designed as in the World Café style, working in small groups to answer a series of questions that would lead to changes in mindset and behavior as new partnerships are recognized and new opportunities to make progress on the goals realized in future action.
Three key ingredients have led to tremendous success with our Innovation in Partnerships series:
Tables are curated to include people who may not always talk face to face in a casual, non-threatening gathering. e.g. fishing industry ceo’s with ambassadors and fisheries experts/ngo’s.
The event in Chatham House rules (no attribution, media or streaming) to the conversation.
The event coincides with a larger SDG initiative that the outcomes of the discussion will benefit. e.g. Innovation in Partnerships SDG 14 was hosted by the Swedish Ambassador who then included the industry reps and the OEF Secure Fisheries Director in the SDG 14 high level conference on Our Oceans.
The outcomes were measurable and impactful:
One Earth Future was included in ongoing UN high level policy work around illegal fishing.
We built social capital (developing social networks built on trust and cooperation for the social good).
Our Foundation name was introduced as high level conveners of UN Missions, Industry CEO’s, and experts.
As a result of the event, four industry representatives are now part of the SDG 14 working group, OEF Secure Fisheries program leadership are involved as part of the community of practice engaged in progress on specific targets of SDG 14 – to reduce illegal and unregulated fishing.
This series will continue with SDG 16: How To Measure Peace? SDG 12: Illegal and illicit mining, SDG 8: business in Fragile States. We will continue to develop new events as our programs develop and we realize the opportunities for growth and impact.
Recognizing the potential of events as a real catalyst for social change is a game changer as we continue to scale our work, collaborate with new partners, and build capacity and efficiency into event operations. A carefully designed event that leads to collaboration and collective action at an intersection that addresses many levels of interest is needed more than ever as our global goals call for new innovative partnerships committed to progress.