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Pre Forum Sessions

Corniche

The Art of Framing Powerful Questions: Conversational Leadership and the World Café
With Thomas J. Hurley and other World Café hosts
(2 days: 12-13 April)
Tuition: $1000
 How do we frame powerful questions that can help us bridge boundaries, inspire breakthrough thinking, and foster innovative action? What processes support our engagement with those questions, so that our interactions help us awaken collective intelligence, develop new systemic capabilities, and shape positive futures? What are the personal and collective capacities needed to design and host conversations for collaborative learning, community building, and the creation of new knowledge?

Using the principles and process of the World Café to guide our inquiry, we’ll engage these questions and explore the theory and practice of conversational leadership, which involves bringing the voices of all stakeholders to bear on an organization or community’s most critical questions through the wise use of powerful process technologies now available to us. In situations of complexity and change, the art of crafting powerful questions and our emerging tools for accessing collective intelligence help us discover shared purpose, develop strategies that engage and have ownership by all, and illuminate new possibilities for effective action in pursuit of common aims.

Register for "The Art of Framing Powerful Questions"

Post Forum gatherings are also being finalized and are expected to include, SoL Global Coordinators, a Researchers gathering among others.

Welcome to SoL
Onboarding Session
April 12 from 4-5:30pm

This session will give participants the opportunity to learn about the origins and history of SoL and the larger, global SoL community. Current SoL members Michael Killingsworth (Shell), Ismet Bayar (SoL Turkey) and Frank Schneider (Founding SoL) will share their experiences from participating in and contributing to the SoL community. They will provide various examples of how members organize themselves to create together what they could not create on their own and discuss ways of how to effectively engage in a learning community such as SoL.

After the session, participants have learned about

  • - The history and structure of SoL and the SoL community
  • - Collaborating and working together in the SoL community
  • - Ways to participate in and contribute to SoL as a learning community.

Pre and Post Forum Cultural Excursions

Explore Oman and make new friends. Join us on one or more of the selected pre and post Forum tours that highlight and showcase the best of Oman; its people, landscape and culture. You can sign up for these from the special Forum hotel registration site that will be forward to you when you register.

  • Muscat City Tour (Half-Day)
  • Nizwa “Inspiring Interior” Cultural Tour (Day Trip)
  • Wahiba Sands and Wadi Bani Khalid - “Desert Dream”

Muscat City Tour (Half-Day) - “Mystic Muscat” - Sunday, April 13th

We begin our tour with an architectural gem and a glimpse into one of the world’s great religions by visiting the Grand Mosque. From stately grandeur, tranquility and reflection we dive into the hustle and bustle and color of daily life at the Muttrah fish and vegetable markets where we will mingle with Omanis and people from faraway lands. We will take the opportunity to visit the nearby Muttrah Souk, a feast for the senses, where old and new come together and where many Omanis still buy their daily household supplies. Explore the side streets and alleyways where the air is redolent with spices and the scent of frankincense and myrrh. Close your eyes and listen for the rhythms of daily life, breath in the exotic fragrances. We then drive along the Corniche and to the capital area where we stop in front of the Sultan’s Palace on a picturesque bay flanked by the old Portuguese forts, of Jalali and Mirani. We end our visit with another gem, the Bait Al Zubair Museum for an introduction to Omani culture and history.

Cost - $40 (Note: price slightly higher if 80 person minimum is not met)

Nizwa & Jabrin (Day Trip) - “Inspiring Interior” Saturday April 12th & Thursday, April 17th

A journey back in time through the Sumail Gap that divides the Western and Eastern Hajar mountains to the old capital of Oman, Nizwa, famous for its unique round fort and silver souq where silversmiths can still be seen plying there centuries’ old craft. After visiting the souq and the fort, we drive toward Jabrin stopping to see several sights along the way. Jabrin fort is one of the most magnificent forts of Oman with its painted ceiling, dungeons, and hidden passages. This trip showcases some of the natural beauty and diversity of Oman. Return to Muscat in the evening.

* Picnic Lunch on Saturday, April 12th
Lunch at Nizwa Fort on Thursday, April 17th

Cost - $100 (Note: price slightly higher if 80 person minimum is not met)

Wahiba Sands and Wadi Bani Khalid - “Desert Dream”
(Overnight Trip) Friday & Saturday April 18th & 19th

Day 1: We begin our journey to the Wahiba Sands mid morning. From Muscat we travel to Fanjah and through the Sumail Gap. We pause to observe village life in Sumail. And then continue on to Rawdah and the pit weavers of Al Akdar. A picnic lunch is served in the shade of a date palm plantation. We will see the Bronze Age ruins at Lizq before carrying on to the Wahibah Sands or the undulating golden sands. The great Wahiba sands are longitudinal dunes 200 km long and 100 km wide running south from the Eastern Hajars to the Arabian Sea. Located to the south of Muscat, the Sands are reached by crossing the Hajar Mountains. Enjoy a Bedouin BBQ followed by exploring the dunes and an opportunity to try your hand at camel riding. Sleep under the stars or in a traditional Barasti Hut.

Day 2: Depart in the morning after breakfast for Wadi Bani Khalid. Wadis are green, lush oases of palm trees, grasses, and flowering shrubs. Drive past the nearby village with its endless date plantations. Reach the magnificent Wadi. It is the best-known wadi of the Sharqiyah region. Its stream maintains a constant flow of water throughout the year. Large pools of water and boulders are scattered along the course of the wadi. As a geographical area, Wadi Bani Khalid covers a large swath of low land and mountains. The pools are cool, clear and deep; a perfect stetting for a short hike and a swim. Alternatively, take an extended hike through the canyon. Return to Muscat late afternoon.

Cost - $225 (Note: price slightly higher if 20 person minimum is not met)

“Other Possibilities:”
Sunday, April 20th

  1. Nizwa & Jabrin (Day Trip) - “Inspiring Interior”
  2. Wahiba Sands and Wadi Bani Khalid - “Desert Adventure” (Day Trip)
  3. Wadi Shab (4WD) - “Coastal Trek” (Day Trip)
      4. We set out after breakfast in A/C 4WDs at 0830 hrs. Travel along the beautiful coast of Muscat. First stop is at Bimah sinkhole, a geological formation and scenic wonder. We then proceed to Wadi Shab, a beautiful wadi. Hike for about 40 minutes. At the end of the hike is a swim in crystal clear pools. We then backtrack to the white sands of the Fins beach. Picnic lunch and relax on the beach. Return to Muscat.

Note: Contact Mark Tours for “Other Possibilities”