By Eiwor Backelund
Eiwor, of Gateway Creation Tools in Sweden is a Genuine Contact Program Trainer. She is enrolled in master studies on Adult Learning and Global Change, an intercontinental program, based on distance learning through the internet. Eiwor works with the Genuine Contact Program as an independent consultant to organizations including communities, and offers trainings through the Genuine Contact Group Scandinavia.

Society is changing rapidly; you can no longer learn all the skills you need for the rest of your life during your school years. If societies of the future are to be economically competitive they need to become learning societies, organizations need to foster learning environments, and individuals need to become lifelong learners. The highly developed skills society is one way to be successful. Working with the Genuine Contact program fosters learning environments in organizations.

By Eiwor Backelund and Thomas Herrmann

The Genuine Contact™ Group Scandinavia is a network of Genuine Contact Professionals, who cooperate in doing public Genuine Contact Program workshops in mainly Sweden and Norway. Thomas Herrmann and Eiwor Backelund started offering the workshops in 2002, a few months after they graduated as trainers. Since then the number of trainers has grown so there are now eight certified trainers in Norway and Sweden. Four of them, Thomas, Eiwor, Eva P Svensson and Marianne Sempler have formed the network together with another GC Professional, Johann Rehnberg. Others are welcome to join.

Genuine Contact Mentoring Circle
May 31^st 2006 in Switzerland. Contact Urs Baumgartner, SIGNA AG for details.

14^th Annual Open Space on Open Space (OSonOS)
August 4-6, 2006 in Moscow, Russia. Contact Raffi Aftandelian for details and registration information.

German Speaking Genuine Contact Mentoring Circle
August 24-25, 2006 in Germany. Contact Myriam Mathys for details.

German Speaking Genuine Contact Trainers Meeting
August 26-27, 2006 in Germany. Contact Myriam Mathys for details.

Genuine Contact International Trainers Meeting
September 26-27, 2006 in Raleigh, North Carolina. A 2-day conference for all certified trainers in the Genuine Contact Program. Visit our website for details.

Genuine Contact International Mentoring Circle
September 28-29, 2006 in Raleigh, North Carolina. A 2-day conference for anyone who has participated in the Genuine Contact Program, has learned about Open Space Technology, or is interested in learning more about our holistic approach. Visit our website for details.

Annual Scandinavian Genuine Contact Mentoring Circle
October 27-28, 2006 in Stockholm, Sweden. Contact Ann Bowman for details.

Genuine Contact Mentoring Circle
November 15^th 2006 in Switzerland. Contact Marianne Gerber, SONETZ for details.

Would you like to see your event or conference listed here? If so, contact Rachel Assuncao at rassuncao@musango.ca with the details.

By Eiwor Backelund

High Skills. Globalization, Competitiveness and Skill Formation is a study on the demands that worldwide competition puts on learning. The world's changing nature requires a new configuration of skills including creativity, teamwork, employability, self-management and lifelong learning. The new challenge is to harness the emotional and creative energies of the workforce to innovate and produce quality goods and services.

"...how to reform social and economic institutions for high skill formation. This requires a holistic approach..."

Have you read a really great book that you think would deepen other's learnings about organizational development? Submit your book recommendation to Rachel Assuncao.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the Swedish segment of the GenuineContact.net website. Our thanks to Eiwor Backelund for her diligent work in translating the materials and to Amy Lenzo for her excellent work in putting the Swedish text online.

In every issue, we feature one drawing from our Genuine Contact™ program workshops by Reinhard Kuchenmueller, Visuelle Protokolle, Munich Germany. Reinhard did these drawings when he attended our workshops, drawing quickly and reflecting the learnings with an accuracy and an eye that delighted other participants. Reinhard is available to groups as a visual facilitator trained in the Genuine Contact™ Program. For more info about him and his work go to www.visuelle-protokolle.de. Click on the image for an enlarged version of the artwork.