Meetings are frequently designed to manufacture products, whether in the form of books or videos, or in the form of declarations, resolutions or strategic action plans. And, as in wider society, the kinds of meeting organization that favour such productivity are frequently incompatible with evocation of the kinds of quality which enhance any sense of well-being. Ironically the declared, or implicit, objective of meetings is often to elaborate a strategy to improve the quality of life. But the divorce between method and objective is already evident in the meeting itself. The latter too often manifests in a preference for simplistic feel-good processes.
Appropriate challenge is required to evoke valued elusive qualities in a meeting.
They are not to be captured by ready-made definitions, indicators or processes. Just as there is a vital distinction between the frothy adjectives of a tourist brochure and the actual experience of a memorable location, so the essential qualities valued in sustainable communities are not those which can be readily named. An economically and environmentally viable household is no indicator of the sustainable quality of the relationships of those living there. Life under impoverished conditions in a garret is often remembered by a family as being qualitatively superior to that in a palatial residence. Comprehension of appropriateness is itself a challenge.