This is the first time the conference has gone outside the United States since the inaugural there in 2002. The four-day conference starting November 16 will be held at the Soaltee Crowne Plaza.
The concept of appreciative inquiry was first incepted by two professors at the Weatherhead School of Management -- David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastava -- in 1987.
The revolutionary concept related to positive change was introduced to Nepal a decade later by Ravi Pradhan of Karuna Management, according to Ram Chandra Lamichhane, conference coordinator and general secretary of Imagine Nepal, the organization that has brought the conference to Nepal.
What is Appreciative Inquiry?
It is a concept which basically focuses on positive aspects and strengths of individuals and organizations rather than weaknesses and problems for development. It claims that an inquiry into problems or difficult situations will lead to finding more of the same but if one tries to appreciate what is best in itself, it will find more and more of those good things.
The official website of Appreciative Inquiry Commons says it is about the co-evolutionary search for the best in people, their organizations, and the relevant world around them.
“It involves systematic discovery of what gives “life” to a living system when it is most alive, most effective, and most constructively capable in economic, ecological, and human terms,” the site says.
It involves focusing on positive aspects like strengths, achievements, assets and unexplored potentials rather than negativity and criticism so that one can build on them for success.
Appreciative Inquiry utilizes a 4D process of Discover (identification of organizational processes that work well), Dream (envisioning of processes that would work well in the future), Design (planning and prioritizing processes that would work well), and Deliver (implementation or execution of the proposed design).
The conference organizers claim that appreciative inquiry and other strength-based approaches have been used with great success by the US Navy, Hewlett-Packard, the UN, Wal-Mart and Parker Hannifin, among others.
Why Nepal?
“The conference aims to support the continuing peace process in Nepal at this historic juncture of political change,” explains Lamichhane.
The last day of the conference will focus on peace and will include three persons directly involved in the initiation of peace process -- Krishna Sitaula of Nepali Congress, Pradeep Gyawali of the CPN-UML and Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara -- as panelists.
“We will also have Justice Albie Sachs, who was a member of the constitution drafting committee in South Africa following the end of apartheid, as the keynote speaker during the session with the political leaders,” Lamichhane adds.
Honorary Chair of the conference and co-founder of the concept Professor Cooperrider has in his message to the participants said, “This small but extraordinary country represents a region where Appreciative Inquiry has taken root in dozens of nation-wide programs, empowering its citizens -- including tens of thousands of women from different ethnicities.”
“I cannot imagine a more appropriate or inspiring setting for us to come together as a community of practitioners and scholars to learn from each other and advance the field of strength-based work together,” Cooperrider adds.
The organizers also expect to provide the participants an added attraction of the cultural heritage and natural beauty of Nepal. Two hundred sixty-seven persons, 52 of whom will participate online, including 40 Nepalis have registered as participants so far.
America provides the most number of participants at 68 while Great Britain (25), Canada (15), Australia (13), India (12) and Singapore (10) also have significant representation. “It´s a matter of pride that so many persons from such developed countries have come to Nepal to learn something,” Lamichhane opines.
Themes and speakers
The conference will focus on health, human development and education; leadership and coalition-building for peace justice and good governance; business, economic empowerment and social entrepreneurship; climate change, environmental renewal and sustainable prosperity; inclusive rural and community development; and spirituality and positive change.
Professor Cooperrider, Prof Martin Seligman, founder of the positive psychology movement, Justice Sachs, Bliss Browne, pioneer of the global imagine movement, and Jane Watkins, co-author of the world´s best selling book on Appreciative Inquiry, among others will provide keynote speeches during the conference.
premdhakal@myrepublica.com
Related story
Dr Lamichhane releases song on appreciative inquiry
