Author Archives: NCDD Community

Workshop on Building Trust through Civil Dialogue at National CSG meeting

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This post was submitted by supporting member Ted Celeste, former Ohio State Representative and initiator of the Next Generation initiative of the National Institute for Civil Discourse.

TedCelesteAfter a year of development, I will be co-facilitating a workshop and introducing several new practical modules at the annual national meeting of the Council of State Governments in Kansas City this month. This hands-on workshop was developed specifically for legislators around the country. Learn more at the CSG website at www.csg.org/2013nationalconference/Civility.aspx.

Ted Celeste served in the Ohio Legislature from 2007-2012. Known for working effectively “across the aisle” whether he was in the majority or the minority, he has lived his belief in respectful dialogue. One of the only candidates for state office who insisted on running a positive campaign, he won each of his 3 races with a comfortable majority in a swing district.  He was recognized for his emphasis on civil dialogue with the John Glenn Public Policy Institute’s Outstanding Public Service Award in 2011. Celeste lives in Columbus, Ohio, is married and has two daughters and 3 grandchildren.

Here is a description of the workshop:

The National Institute for Civil Discourse has developed an active discovery process, “Building Trust through Civil Discourse,” designed tobuild a new set of skills and attitudes about civil engagement with a goal of improving personal and group productivity. This interactive workshop, facilitated by present and former legislators, has been piloted in Nebraska and Ohio. This is your chance to experience the workshop, as well as preview several other skill-building modules available to your state.

Established in February 2011 at the University of Arizona, the National Institute for Civil Discourse is dedicated to integrating research and practice to support: a legislative and executive branch working to solve the big issues facing our country, public demand for civil discourse and media that informs and engages citizens.

Online dialogues on mental health with Zilino

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This post was submitted by Tim Bonnemann of Intellitics, Inc., an NCDD organizational member, via the Add-to-Blog form.

By now I’m sure everybody here has heard about the Creating Community Solutions initiative, part of the National Dialogue on Mental Health (if not, check the NCDD blog to catch up).

Zilino-ImageMy company, Intellitics, is working on an offering to support communities across the country that want to host online dialogues on the issue that are time-bound and outcome-oriented and closely follow the official discussion guide and other materials.

We’ll be hosting a Zilino online demo this Wednesday, September 4 to preview some of what this might look like:

Zilino Online Demo “Creating Community Solutions”
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
11am-12pm Pacific Time (2-3pm Eastern)

Register now at http://zilino-demo-20130904.eventbrite.com if you’d like to participate.

Hope you can join us!

Participate in research on public participation and win $50

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Research is underway to understand how participants perceive communication in public participation processes. With funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Social and Environmental Research Institute has developed a short online survey.

We need your help to spread the word about this important research.

Publics, stakeholders, or experts who are taking part in any public participation process are eligible. Please share this invitation widely. There is a drawing for several $50 cash awards.

Take the survey on a smartphone or computer at: http://fluidsurveys.com/s/Publicparticipation/

Thomas Webler
Social and Environmental Research Institute

World Cafe Learning Program offered via Fielding Graduate University

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This announcement was submitted by NCDD supporting member Amy Lenzo of The World Cafe & weDialogue via the Add-to-Blog form.

A World Cafe Signature Learning Program, “Hosting World Cafe: The Fundamentals” is offered in association with Fielding Graduate University.

Providing a fundamental understanding of The World Café theory and method, this course applies the World Café design principles to bring forth the creative power of conversation and engage questions that matter. Participants will develop the capacity to use the World Café in their own lives and work, and gain a basic understanding of World Café hosting practices.

WorldCafe-logoDETAILS:

  • 8 weeks; 6 CEUs; 19 CCEUs
  • Cost: $750 US Early Bird Registration (before Sept 15); $800 after that (costs include all required reading materials in e-format)
  • Presented by Bo Gyllenpalm and Amy Lenzo

Learn more at www.theworldcafe.com/learning-fundamentals.html. Register at https://secure.fielding.edu/forms/WC-reg.htm (registration closes September 22nd).

The course will be delivered online in asynchronous learning forums, designed as World Cafe tables, with required opening and closing “real time” sessions on September 29th and November 17th.

Juanita Brown will be hosting a World Café for the class on November 10th, and video-enhanced study groups with David Isaacs and other senior World Cafe hosts will be held on October 5, 19th, 26th, and November 5th, from 9 – 10:30am Pacific Time.

Questions? Contact us via email: learning@theworldcafe.com.

USAonRace.com

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Since 2008, USAonRace.com has been dedicated to increasing understanding about race, ethnicity and sponsoring the National Collegiate Dialogue on Race Relations and other community forums. USAonRace.com solely covers, on a daily basis, race-related news and events across the United States and around the world. USAonRace.com provides a place to go to learn and enter into a dialogue about race, racial tension, racism and discrimination that continue to impact contemporary society.

USA-on-Race-logoNCDD members who are interested in accessing the latest information on news, events and forums from USAonRace.com are invited to subscribe to their newsletter at www.usaonrace.com/content/members-and-supporters.  You are also welcome to contact publisher and executive director Janice Ellis directly at jellis@usaonrace.com or (816) 931-2200.

Resource Link: www.usaonrace.com

The Future of the Arts & Society: A Guide for Public Discussion

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The Interactivity Foundation has just produced a guide authored by fellow Natalie Hopkinson titled “The Future of the Arts & Society: A guide for public discussion.”

FutureOfTheArtsNatalie worked with a diverse group of people–sculptors and poets, curators and film scholars, rapper, playwright/actor, a waitress, graduate student, economist, an attorney–to generate these possibilities about the arts. They spent many months talking about the public decisions that we will have to make as the role of art in our communities continues to evolve.

They considered basic questions such as, “What is art for anyway?” (Please see the illustration above, for some of the ideas we batted around, rendered by the artist Calida Rawles.) They spent a lot of time talking about how financial support for the arts can and must change when it is harder and harder to control the flow of ideas and make a living on creative work. And they looked at arts education, cultural diplomacy and censorship.

The group came up with 7 policy possibilities it thought would be useful to frame discussions about the future of the arts.

This FREE download and printed copies are available as a tool for community organizations, churches, schools interested in having discussions about the arts and society from a variety of perspectives. The Interactivity Foundation is organizing a discussion series using the guide, starting West Palm Beach, Florida on August 21, 2013. Email arts@interactivityfoundation.org if you are interested in using the report and are seeking support.

Resource Link: www.interactivityfoundation.org/discussions/the-future-of-the-arts-society/

Group Facilitation Skills workshop with Sarah Fisk

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The Community at Work course, “Group Facilitation Skills: Putting Participatory Values into Practice” is being offered both October 1-3 and December 10-12, 2013. The course is taught by Sarah Fisk, PhD, and will be administered at Community At Work in San Francisco. NCDD members receive a 25% discount.

COURSE SYNOPSIS
This course teaches participants how to put participatory values into practice. Skill building is emphasized, with practice sessions in the following areas: stand-up skills; group-oriented listening skills; brainstorming technique; tools for prioritizing long lists; facilitating open discussions, breaking into small groups; using structured go-arounds; understanding and working with group norms; handling conflict respectfully; consensus-building technique; dealing with difficult dynamics; goal setting;agenda design; and procedures for making final decisions. Participants are exposed to more than 200 tools and techniques. Everyone receives a copy of the Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making.

FOR A COURSE OVERVIEW
Go to www.CommunityAtWork.com/groupfac1.html

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP LEADER
Sarah Fisk, PhD, is a nationally-known specialist in group facilitation and collaboration. She is a co-author of the internationally acclaimed Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. Sarah has been a featured speaker at the annual conferences of the International Association of Facilitators and the National Organization Development Network, and she holds an adjunct professorship at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Sarah’s corporate clients have included Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab & Company, Symantec, and many other Fortune 500 Companies. Her public sector clients have included the City of Edmonton Canada, Special Olympics and March of Dimes. Since 1996 Sarah has been a senior consultant with Community At Work, a San Francisco-based consulting firm that specializes in designing and facilitating participatory approaches to solving complex problems.

MORE INFORMATION
Contact Duane Berger: duane@CommunityAtWork.com or 415-282-9876

Training and Facilitation Tools from The Communications Center

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The Communications Center, Inc., based in Columbia, Missouri, is a consultancy led by Sarah Read and Dave Overfelt that helps individuals, organizations, and communities improve communication and thinking skills so they can work better together.

In addition to a workbook, The Communications Center has developed a number of products that support training and facilitation services. The following products are offered:

Dialogue Cards and Techniques
This set of cards helps individuals understand and practice dialogue skills. The cards can be used in training by small groups for a matching exercise, used in a mediation to help people better understand and evaluate communication patterns, and provided to individuals to help them on an ongoing basis to think about what is working and not working in their communications. We have successfully used these cards with a wide range of audiences — everyone from corporate teams to teens at a juvenile justice center.

Each purchase of the dialogue cards comes with a summary of dialogue techniques and a written procedure for using the cards.

Cognitive Error Worksheet
This worksheet can be used in training facilitators or to engage and educate participants before or during difficult dialogues.

Cognitive Error Worksheet for Schools and Teens
The examples in this worksheet have been adapted for use in trainings for teachers or teens.

“Conflict Resolution in a Box”
Originally designed for trainings, this bookmark has become one of our most useful tools. We use it for anything from quick introductions to the basic principles of conflict resolution to coaching in mediation or facilitation sessions. Once participants understand the graphics, it becomes an easy diagnostic tool that can be used by facilitators and participants to identify “the sticking places” in a difficult dialogue, and “unpack” the conversation so that it can move forward.

Set of Bookmarks
Our trainings frequently include “food for thought” slides that set forth a quote which highlights a particular point. We then include these quotes on “bookmarks” that clients take at the end of a session. Our clients have told us that these are easy to keep on hand and that they help with ongoing learning. These bookmarks, sold in individual or mixed packs of 10, can be customized with your name and address on the back for an additional cost of $10. Please contact us for this option.

These products can be purchased for individual use by other trainers and facilitators. We can also license these for use and provide electronic files to organizations for more regular usage. If you are interested in learning more about licensing arrangements, please contact us at info@buildingdialogue.com.

Resource Link: http://buildingdialogue.wordpress.com/products/

Song of a Citizen Video Essays & Interviews with D&D Leaders

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Song Of A Citizen has produced a second series of dialogue and deliberation-related videos. The first was a series of Video Op-Eds with esteemed political philosophers, academics, and leaders of major deliberative democracy organizations (see the NCDD resource listing here). Those were filmed at various locations around the country between 2008 to 2010.

EricLiuVid-screenshotThe more recent series features Q&A interviews with key practitioners and other experts in the dialogue and deliberation community, filmed at the NCDD Conference in October 2012. Most of them are on the SoaC site, and all of them are on SoaC YouTube Channel.

Now that “Song Of A Citizen” has produced a wide range of interesting and informative videos with field leaders and experts, as of August 2013 they are seeking funding for new productions designed to resonate with the general public.

Making films and videos that reach and impact millions of people is actually SoaC founder Jeffrey Abelson’s strong suit, as witnessed by his 30 year background as a creative filmmaker, whose work ranges from prime time PBS documentaries to high profile MTV videos. More about that can be found at http://jeffreyabelson.com.

Video interviews on the Song of a Citizens site: http://songofacitizen.com/songofacitizen.com/Video_Q%26A.html

Song of a Citizen YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDlxTRB4Z8g&list=PLNmpXlQNJcSNo65iOeiSlBjxD16kZTBMY

IAP2 2013 North America Conference: September 22-24 in Salt Lake City, UT

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This post was submitted by Tim Bonnemann of Intellitics, Inc., an organizational member of NCDD.

For anyone still undecided about attending what’s shaping up to be another great IAP2 conference, here are a few quick links to help win you over:

Any questions, please contact info@iap2usa.org. Hope to see you there!