Category Archives: educational opportunities

MetroQuest Hosts Online Engagement Webinar, 6/14

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We encourage NCDDers tpo participate in an educational webinar on a case study of successful online engagement from British Columbia tomorrow, June 14th at 1pm that will be hosted by Metroquest, an NCDD organizational member. We originally heard about the webinar in the post below from the Davenport Institute and their Gov 2.0 Watch blog. You can read the post below, find the original post here, or go ahead and register for the webinar here.

Webinar: Online Engagement

Head’s up for a webinar offered by MetroQuest looking at how the city of Abbotsford, BC has implemented a successful online engagement called Abbotsfwd.

When: Tuesday, June 14, 2016
1:00-1:45 pm ET, 10:00- 10:45 am PT

Registration is required, but free of charge. You can register here.

More from the Metroquest description of the webinar:

This highly visual 45-minute webinar will present research findings and proven best practices, practical tips and award-winning case studies to guide agencies towards the successful application of online community engagement for planning projects. Participants will walk away with an understanding about how to leverage digital engagement to achieve unprecedented results using cost-effective tools. This session will feature our special guests Abbotsforward who will be online to talk about the innovative ways they combined online and targeted face to face community engagement to involve over 8,000 community members in the creation of an official plan for Abbotsford, BC. They will also share advice for agencies seeking to improve the breadth and effectiveness of their community engagement efforts and talk about the positive difference that broad community support is making in their implementation process.

You can find the original version of this Gov 2.0 Watch blog post at http://gov20watch.pepperdine.edu/2016/06/webinar-online-engagement.

Join Our Next Tech Tuesday Call with Urban Interactive Studios, May 17

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As we announced last month, NCDD is hosting another on of our fabulous Tech Tuesday webinars this Tuesday, May 17th from 1-2pm Eastern/10-11am Pacific, and you’re invited! This time, the event willTech_Tuesday_Badge feature Urban Interactive Studio (UIS), an innovative leader in public engagement technology and creator of the popular EngagingPlans and EngagingApps tools. You really don’t want to miss this one, so register today!

Are you looking for digital tools to make engaging a group or constituency you work with more versatile? Need to collect on-going feedback alongside face-to-face meetings? Have other planning and engagement issues that call for tech solutions? Then this is the Tech Tuesday call for you!

We will be joined by two members of the UIS team – NCDD supporting member, as well as Founder & CEO, Chris Haller, and Partnership Manager Emily Crispin. Together, Chris and Emily will give us an in-depth and behind-the-scenes look at both the EngagingPlans and EngagingApps tools that have been used by dozens of cities, companies, non-profits, and universities in multiple countries to help them engage their constituencies. You’ll have a chance to see both tools in action and hear about how the tools can be configured to suit specific project needs

There will be tons to learn from these two civic tech leaders, so we encourage you to join us on May 17th! We can’t wait to talk more with you then.

Learn more about our Tech Tuesday calls by clicking here.

NCDD Discount on Engagement Strategy Workshop, 6/23

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Our colleagues at Public Agenda, an NCDD member organization, are hosting a great workshop on engagement strategy this June 23 in Boston, just before the Frontiers of Democracy conference, and they are offering a $25 discount for NCDD members! That means the workshop is only $250 when you register before for the May 15 early bird deadline. It will be a chance to hone your skills and learn new methods and tools!  You can learn more and find the discount code in the announcement from Public Agenda below, or find the original version here.

Workshop: Public Engagement Strategy Lab

PublicAgenda-logo

Looking for assistance with organizing and sustaining productive public engagement? Struggling to decide how to combine online and face-to-face engagement? Frustrated with the standard “2 minutes at the microphone” public meeting? Want to know about the latest tools and techniques? Need expert advice on bringing together a diverse critical mass of people?

Join the Public Engagement Strategy Lab!

Who:
Leaders looking to revamp or strengthen their engagement strategies, structures, and tools

Date:
Thursday, June 23, 2016

Time:
9:30am – 4:30pm

Location:
Tufts University Medical School
145 Harrison Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02111

Cost:
Early Bird $275 (by May 15, 2016) or Regular $350 (after May 15, 2016)
Use the promo code NCDDMEMBER to get $25 off!

Registration Deadline:
Required by June 16, 2016, pending availability

Contact:
PE[at]publicagenda[dot]org or call Mattie at 212-686-6610 ext.137

Space is limited. Register today!

During the workshop, Public Agenda trainers Matt Leighninger and Nicole Hewitt will:

  • Provide an overview of the strengths and limitations of public engagement today
  • Help you assess the strengths and weaknesses of public engagement in your community
  • Explore potential benefits of more sustained forms of participation
  • Develop practical skills for planning for stronger engagement infrastructure, and
  • Demonstrate a mix of small group and large group discussions, interactive exercises, case studies, and practical exercises

This Strategy Lab is hosted by Tisch College, Tufts University as a preconference session for Frontiers of Democracy 2016. Participants in the Public Engagement Strategy Lab have the option of staying for the Frontiers of Democracy Conference. To register for the conference, click here.

The Public Engagement Strategy Lab will provide you with the tools and resources you need to authentically engage stakeholders in thoughtful, democratic processes. No more public forums and community meetings that lack impact. Move your public engagement planning forward with approaches based on the ideas and examples found in Public Participation for 21st Century Democracy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2015).

To register, follow this link. We hope to see you there!

You can find the original version of this Public Agenda announcement at www.publicagenda.org/pages/workshop-public-engagement-strategy-lab#sthash.wCLJLYPK.dpuf.

Upcoming IAP2 Trainings from The Participation Company

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If you’re looking to build your skills for public engagement, then we encourage you to check out the newly-released calendar of trainings from NCDD member organization, The Participation Company (TPC). TPC offers trainings that earn participants the International Association of Public Participation’s certificate in public participation, and NCDD members are eligible for a $20 per day discount! You can learn more in their announcement below or at TPC’s website here.

IAP2 Training Events in 2016

If you work in communications, public relations, public affairs, planning, public outreach and understanding, community development, advocacy, or lobbying, this training will help you to increase your skills and to be of even greater value to your employer.

This is your chance to join the many thousands of practitioners worldwide who have completed the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) certificate training.

Dates for IAP2’s Foundations in Public Participation (5-Day) certificate program:
PLANNING for Effective Public Participation (3-Days) and/or *TECHNIQUES for Effective Public Participation (2-Days)

  • June 1-3 – Omaha, NE (3-day Planning)
  • August 11-12 – Omaha, NE (2-day Techniques)
  • August 30-September 1 – Fort Collins, CO (3-day Planning)
  • October 24-28 – Denver, CO (3-day Planning and 2-day Techniques)
  • October 31-November 4 – Anchorage, AK (3-day Planning and 2-day Techniques)
  • November 3-4 – Fort Collins, CO (2-day Techniques)
  • December 5-9 – Salt Lake City, UT (3-day Planning and 2-day Techniques)

Please check their website for updates to the calendar.
*The 3-Day Planning is a prerequisite to TECHNIQUES

Dates for IAP2’s Emotion, Outrage and Public Participation: Moving from Rage to Reason (2-Days)

  • June 15-16 – Chicago, IL (2-day EOP2)
  • July 20-21 – Austin, TX (2-day EOP2)

The Participation Company offers discounted rates to NCDD members. Visit www.theparticipationcompany.com/training for more information and on-line registration.

Register for the Intro to NCDD Webinar, THIS Wednesday!

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As we’ve previously announced, we are excited to be hosting our first webinar introduction to NCDD this Wednesday, April 20th from 1-2pm Eastern / 10-11am Pacific, and we encourage you to register today to join us! This “get to know us” event is a great way for D&D newcomers and veterans alike to learn things about NCDD’s Small green NCDD logowebsite, resources, network, and staff that you might have never known. You won’t want to miss it!

During the webinar, our five NCDD staff members will take participants on a virtual tour of the NCDD website including the blog, resource center, events pages, the member directory and map, and the listservs. We’ll also include a run down of how to best use our social media resources, as well as some little-known tips and tricks for getting the word out about your work.

This intro to NCDD webinar is the perfect chance to make sure you know how to take advantage of all of the tools your NCDD membership offers for learning about the D&D world and connecting to others in the field. Plus you’ll get to meet the wonderful people on the NCDD team who help the whole thing run. But you time is running out, so you have to register today!

We especially encourage new members and folks interested in joining NCDD to attend, but the call is open to everyone! It will be a good refresher even for the most experienced members. on how to get the most out of NCDD’s website. Be sure to register today!

Host a 2016 Text, Talk, Act Mental Health Conversation

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It’s the time of year again to get ready for Text, Talk, Act – the youth mental health conversation initiative launched in 2013 by NCDD-supported Creating Community Solutions (CCS). As most of you know, Text, Talk, Act comes around every Spring to help young people start talking about mental health issues that they or their friends may be facing and connecting them with ways to get help, and we always encourage our members to host their own conversation.

On Text Talk Act days, young people across the country will be having a nationwide conversation on mental health and how to help a friend in need through a text messaging platform. Small groups receive discussion questions to lead them through a conversation that seeks to help end the silence about mental health, and you can host one of these transformational discussions!

Anyone can register to host an event as part of the 2016 Text, Talk, Act days. This year’s dates are:

  • April 19th (with Active Minds’ Stress Less Week)
  • May 5th (with SAMHSA for National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day)
  • May 21st (with the National Hook-Up of Black Women)
  • The month of June (with 4-H chapters across the country)

We know these events are helping make a difference in the lives of young people across the country, and we want to support this innovative way to engage young people in dialogue, so we encourage our NCDD members to consider signing up to organize a Text, Talk, Act event in your community! Be sure to check out the toolkit CCS created to support event organizers.

Also, don’t forget that schools, colleges, and community organizations that participate in this spring’s conversations are eligible to win the contest for one of five $1,000 prizes!

Contact Raquel Goodrich at rgoodrich@email.arizona.edu for additional information.

Want to know more about Text, Talk, Act? You can learn more in the video below or by visiting www.creatingcommunitysolutions.org/texttalkact.

Integral Facilitator & Meridian Univ. Collaboration Advances Facilitative Leadership

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We are happy to share the announcement below about a new facilitation training opportunity in California from NCDD Sustaining Member Rebecca Colwell of Ten Directions. Rebecca shared this announcement via our great Submit-to-Blog Form. Do you have news you want to share with the NCDD network? Just click here to submit your news post for the NCDD Blog!

Ten Directions & Meridian University Collaboration

We are pleased to announce an innovative professional training and development collaboration between Ten Directions and Meridian University, based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Ten Directions and Meridian University collaboration enables students who are pursuing graduate degrees at Meridian University to concurrently complete the Integral Facilitator certificate program for academic credit towards their degree program.

The Meridian University degree programs which are eligible to receive academic credit for participation in the Integral Facilitator Certificate Program are:

  • Integral MBA in Creative Enterprise
  • M.A. in Psychology
  • Ph.D. in Psychology (meets the educational requirements for psychologist licensure in California)
  • M.Ed. in Educational Leadership
  • Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership

How it Works 

Students enrolled both at Meridian University and Ten Directions can substitute 120 Integral Facilitator program hours for 12 quarter credits of Meridian coursework during the academic year in which they are participating in the Integral Facilitator training. Enrolled Meridian University students meet the academic requirements of Meridian’s programs, consisting of online learning, residential sessions, and reading and writing assignments related to the content of the Integral Facilitator Certificate Program.

Meridian Scholarship program for Ten Directions

Students admitted to both Meridian University and the Ten Directions Integral Facilitator Certificate Program are eligible to apply for a $5,000 scholarship, established especially for this program.

To Apply

To apply, please submit a separate application for each program, unless you have already been accepted into one of the programs.

Apply for Ten Directions training at www.tendirections.com/integral-facilitator
Apply for Meridian’s programs at www.meridianuniversity.edu

About Ten Directions
As many NCDD members know, Ten Directions provides premier developmental trainings for leaders, facilitators, coaches, consultants and change agents who wish to employ an Integral approach to facilitation and develop the competencies of facilitative leadership.

Ten Directions’ programs emphasize personal transformative practice to support the development of embodied presence, skillful perspective taking, masterful communication, compassionate engagement and fluid responsiveness to complexity. Our facilitation and leadership training programs are available in North America and Europe, including online programs, 3-day live Intensives and a 9-month Integral Facilitator Certificate program.

About Meridian University
Guided by an Integral Vision, Meridian University seeks to educate leaders with the capacities, skills, and knowledge essential for transforming the professions of Psychology, Business, and Education. The leadership capacities of courage, compassion, clarity, conscience, and embodied self-awareness together constitute the wisdom and integrity required for transforming the professions and the wider culture. Transformative learning at Meridian catalyzes the emergence of these capacities which, along with developing creative inquiry skills and acquiring professional knowledge, actualizes Meridian’s commitment to sustaining an education that transforms.

Registration Open for Frontiers of Democracy, Jun. 23-25

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In addition to our upcoming 2016 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation, we want our members to remember that the 2016 Frontiers of Democracy conference is coming up later this year. Frontiers has become a staple gathering of our field, and it is taking place this year from June 23rd – 25th at Tufts University in Boston.

Registration is now open, and the regular rate is $250 (but it’s free if you’re an alum of the Civic Studies Institute), but space is limited so make sure to register soon!

The theme of this year’s conference is The Politics of Discontent. Here’s how the organizers have framed the gathering:

Tisch College at Tufts University is proud to sponsor this annual conference in partnership with The Democracy Imperative and Deliberative Democracy Consortium. Frontiers of Democracy draws scholars and practitioners who strive to understand and improve people’s engagement with government, with communities, and with each other.

We aim to explore the circumstances of democracy today and a breadth of civic practices that include deliberative democracy, civil and human rights, social justice, community organizing and development, civic learning and political engagement, the role of higher education in democracy, Civic Studies, media reform and citizen media production, civic technology, civic environmentalism, and common pool resource management. This year, the theme of the conference is “the politics of discontent,” which we define broadly and view in a global perspective.

 

As always, most of Frontiers’ interactive sessions take the form of “learning exchanges” rather than presentations or panels, and proposals are welcomed. You can find the proposal submission form by clicking here.

You can find more information about the Frontiers of Democracy conference – including info about the featured speakers – on the conference webpage at http://activecitizen.tufts.edu/civic-studies/frontiers. We hope to see many of you there!

Register for D&D Climate Action Call using QiqoChat, 3/15

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We want to remind our NCDD members to be sure to register for the next D&D Climate Action Network (D&D CAN) conference call this Tuesday, March 15th from 5-7pm Eastern / 2-4pm Pacific. D&D CAN is being led by NCDD supporting member Linda Ellinor of the Dialogue Group and is working to build a community of practice that fosters mutual learning, sharing, and inspires collaboration around the complexities of climate change, and their monthly conference calls are a great way to connect with others in the field working to use dialogue and deliberation to address climate issues.

This month’s D&D CAN call will feature special guest Rev. Dr. Russell Meyer, the Executive Director of the Florida Council of Churches, who will be discussing the call’s theme – Reuniting Science & Spirit. You can register to save your spot by clicking here.

Here’s how D&D CAN describes the call:

We have enough climate change science. What’s out of balance are ways to talk about it and choose wise actions. To create safe places for sharing. To listen for what we don’t know. To explore together.

Russell will help us consider:

  • Why can religious frameworks make certain conversations about climate change difficult?
  • What languaging can we use in faith-based groups that is inclusive?
  • How can values and personal experience keep us together on the journey?

We are also pleased to share that D&D CAN is hosting this call using the QiqoChat platform, which is run by NCDD member Lucas Cioffi and about which we hosted a recent Tech Tuesday call (you can hear the recording of the call here). We are excited to see the combination of important dialogue and powerful technology, and this call promises to be one of D&D CAN’s best yet!

If you are interested in climate issues or if you are working with communities of faith, this call is for you. Be sure to register today or learn more about D&D CAN at http://ddclimateactionnetwork.ning.com.

Register for March Confab with Participatory Budgeting Project

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Join us on Wednesday, March 23rd for NCDD’s next “Confab Call.” We’ll be featuring NCDD organizational member the Participatory Budgeting Project and learning more about their exciting work with a rapidly expanding process. The confab will take place from 2-3pm Eastern (11am-12pm Pacific). Register today to secure your spot!

Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP)PBP-Logo-Stacked-Rectangle-web1 is a non-profit organization that empowers people to decide together how to spend public money, primarily in the US and Canada. PBP creates and supports participatory budgeting processes that deepen democracy, build stronger communities, and make public budgets more equitable and effective. Launched in 2009 and incorporated as a non-profit organization in the state of New York in October 2011, PBP now has offices in New York, Chicago and Oakland and has worked to bring participatory budgeting to numerous cities including Boston, San Jose, St Louis, and more!

On this Confab, we will hear from PBP’s Communications Director David Beasley about participatory budgeting, and PBP’s work to bring this approach to managing public money to cities, districts and schools. He’ll talk with us about the successes PBP has had working across the country and the challenges they face. We’ll also talk about PBP’s current PB Squared initiative (PB^2) which calls for ideas for how to make participatory budgeting better, and their upcoming Participatory Budgeting Conference in Boston. We’ll also be joined by Allison Rizzolo from Public Agenda, who will speak to their current work evaluating participatory budgeting. Come ready to learn more about this exciting work and to contribute your ideas about how to improve it further!

David is responsible for the strategic development and management of PBP’s communications, fundraising through individual giving, and their conference. He has trained dozens of advocates to be spokespeople for their movements and supported them through print and broadcast media engagements with organizations that include Safe Horizon, Scenarios USA, Hollaback!, and the Pop-Up Museum of Queer History, among others. David believes that telling better stories build movements that change culture.

As the Director of Communications at Public Agenda, Allison Rizzolo develops and executes communications strategies to broaden the impact of Public Agenda’s research and engagement work. A former teacher, Allison is also the co-author of Everyone at the Table: Engaging Teachers in Evaluation Reform.

For updates on about PB and best practices for empowering communities to decide together, sign up for PBP’s newsletter.

NCDD’s confabs (interactive conference calls) are free and open to all members and potential members. Register today if you’d like to join us!

About NCDD’s Confab Calls…

Confab bubble imageNCDD’s Confab Calls are opportunities for members (and potential members) of NCDD to talk with and hear from innovators in our field about the work they’re doing, and to connect with fellow members around shared interests. Membership in NCDD is encouraged but not required for participation. Register today if you’d like to join us.