696sum06AlembicaProject

Kaspia, however, was due for an unexpected decline. Many factories abandoned the city for cheap labor overseas. The city's infrastructure declined along with tax revenues. With greater mobility, youth left the region for greener pastures in the metropolises of the east. The hot springs became polluted by a plume of chemical waste that fanned out through the moist, porous soil from the chemical plants on the north side of town. No more tourists. Many farms were abandoned as entire families left or died out without heirs interested in carrying on their agricultural legacies. Some farms returned to woodland, some became absorbed into one mega-farm run by an international conglomerate with only a Quonset hut as local headquarters, and some survived, increasingly run-down and unproductive. Kaspia lay at the confluence of three climate zones and in the mid-20th century, it was buffeted by the worst elements of all three. Extensive flooding made the region a by-word for disaster, and then a dry spell caked the riverbeds before the weather returned to normal in the 1980s. When all was said and done, the only people interested in Kaspia and Alembica were the sociologists and economists who came to the area to write dissertations and articles. Still, none ever answered the question of how such a region that had throve and flourished so vitally for so long had been bushwhacked by the modern world and pretty much left for dead. By 2006, Alembica was a depressed city of some 350,000 people, with Kaspia, shaped somewhere between a circle and a square, 1,500 square miles of 650,000 souls (not counting Alembica’s 350,000) living in smaller cities, towns, and rural areas. In 2003, Cynthia Bellows moved to Alembica attracted by the cheap real estate. She purchased a large mill building near the center of town. Flamboyant and outspoken, she made many friends and not a few enemies, although the good feeling she engendered was stronger by nature than its matching hostility. She opened an art gallery featuring her paintings and work of artist friends from her former home. Soon she was renting studio space to several other area artists, and opened a small coffeehouse in the building as well. Over the next couple of years, a few thousand other like-minded souls were drawn to the area by its cheap prices, peaceful ambiance, and beautiful hills, forests, and waterways. Some were retirees, others just looking for a place to get away, and some had lost their jobs and decided upon a change of life. Those with children irritated some of the locals by raising questions about the quality of the school system, while other Kaspian natives were taken with the energy of the newcomers, many of whom had worked in the high-tech and entertainment industries. This is a group project. However, for purposes of grading and evaluation, I will keep track of each person’s individual contributions; the course is structured so that there will be substantial opportunity to evaluate each person’s work independently. All the materials will be delivered on-line although you are free to meet with one another as well, although that is not necessary. What are our primary educational goals (as opposed to our project goal of restoring Alembica to glory)? The course objectives are spelled out elsewhere, but in terms of this project, the idea is to create a “charged community” among ourselves, at least within the bounds of a 3-credit course and the on-line delivery system. Our community itself will operate according to principles of creativity as described in our three main texts. In addition, we will take up issues of policy-making, strategic planning, and organizational change within a framework in which creativity is the driving developmental force. Through the combination of more traditional course assignments (readings, written assignments, discussions, feedback) and our more hands-on exercise in creating change, we will maximize the learning experience, both in terms of theory and especially in terms of practical application.
 * The Scenario**
 * The City and Region**: Alembica is the chief city of the region of Kaspia, famous for its geographic and climatological diversity. In its earliest incarnation, Alembica was the site of a ferry crossing and water mill that both served and were serviced by the Kaspian River. Soon, other establishments grew around the mill and docks on both sides of the crossing, the most prominent being a popular distillery and tavern whose display of glassware used in the distiller’s alchemical art gave its name to the burgeoning town. The manufactories along the river and the original mill were well positioned to take advantage of the Industrial Revolution early in the 19th century, and Alembica became a center for furniture, textiles, and chemical production. Other industries flourished too. The city boasted one of the first mass transit systems in the world and became a distribution center for the railroads. Its superb cuisine, based on Kaspia’s famous truffles, mushrooms, wine, and freshwater fish, as well as its natural beauty and hot mineral springs, made it a natural for a thriving tourist trade well into the 20th century.
 * The Change Agents**: In 2006, the city of Alembica won a major federal “Vitalization” grant, as they came to be popularly known, to be applied to urban and regional development throughout the Kaspian region, but recognizing its chief city’s central role in the process. After much fruitless discussion, it was decided to bring in some outsiders to coordinate the efforts of the city and provide the task with much-needed initiative and expertise. They chose a firm known as “Systems Seer” and by the summer of 2006, the Systems Seer staff was on the job. (That’s us, by the way).
 * Our Mission:** To lead Alembica and Kaspia through a process that 1) is creative by nature in its methods and organizational approaches, 2) leads to the city and region becoming creative engines within the broader society, and 3) produces dramatic and enduring results in revitalizing the area economically and culturally.
 * How We’ll Proceed:** All class members, including myself, are members of Systems Seer. We will each take on different responsibilities throughout the project which, oddly enough, is exactly the duration of this course! I will provide you with assignments, some of which may be more specific to the course than the project, but all of which can be applied to the project. I will also change the conditions from time to time, especially if we seem to be reaching a dead end.