Announcing the Next Stage Facilitation Intensive, Jan. 8-10

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Roshan Bliss

We are pleased to highlight the post below, which came from NCDD Sustaining Member Becky Colwell of Integral Facilitator 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!

Explore what is happening on the developmental edge of facilitation, and what it means to you — join Integral Facilitator for our Next Stage Facilitation intensive training this January 8th-10th, 2014, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In this three-day workshop, you’ll learn new ways to be a more Integral Facilitator who can make any dialogue and collaboration more successful and to help your groups, teams, stakeholders, and cultures cohere. There has never been a better time than now to invest in developing your awareness and capacities as a facilitative leader.

We promise a deep dive into your personal presence, and more than a taste of integral expression in groups. Engage in compelling conversations about your work with groups, and try new practices that stretch the embodiment of who you are in this increasingly important role.

Engage yourself more fully in service of the future that wants to emerge
Meet the challenge of more complex real-life issues and conflict
Integrate the interior and exterior experience of groups
Cut through the clutter of techniques and methods to get to the heart of the matter
Navigate conflict, shadow, emotions and power politics
Enjoy richer, deeper and more satisfying engagements

Our fans speak for us:

“Next Stage Facilitation is the highest iteration of working with groups which will actually create a real and positive change in the world.” — Dorothy Tanguay

For more information, visit us at www.integralfacilitator.com/programs/next-stage

Civic Studies Field Continues to Grow

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Roshan Bliss

This post comes via Dr. Peter Levine, a civics scholar, philosopher, and NCDD supporting member. Peter recently announced on his blog that he will be helping convene a “civics studies mini-conference” this January in New Orleans as part of the Southern Political Science Association meeting.

Civic studies is an emerging discipline that holds a great deal of value and potential for deepening the work of our field. I personally participated in Peter’s Summer Institute of Civic Studies last year in Boston, which helped me see first hand that the work Peter and his academic peers are doing to advance the discipline has a great deal to offer in terms of expanding and refining our own work in engagement.

We will definitely be keeping an eye on the gathering and the progress of the civic studies movement, and we encourage NCDD members, especially our academic friends, to do the same.

Civic Studies Mini-Conference

Soon after the volume entitled Civic Studies is published, a daylong discussion of the same topic will take place at the Southern Political Science Association meeting (January 10th, 2014, in New Orleans).

As Karol Soltan and I write in the volume, the phrase “civic studies” is quite new. A group of scholars coined it in 2007 in a collaborative statement entitled “The New Civic Politics: Civic Theory and Practice for the Future.” Civic Studies does not mean civic education, although it should ultimately improve civic education. Instead, in the words of original framework, Civic Studies is an “emerging intellectual community, a field, and a discipline. Its work is to understand and strengthen civic politics, civic initiatives, civic capacity, civic society, and civic culture.”

The framework cites two definitive ideals for the emerging discipline of civic studies “public spiritedness” (or “commitment to the public good”) and “the idea of the citizen as a creative agent.” Civic studies is an intellectual community that takes these two ideals seriously. Although new, it draws from several important strands of ongoing research: the Nobel-Prize-winning scholarship of Elinor and Vincent Ostrom on managing common assets; deliberative democracy; public work; the study of public participation in development; the idea of social science as practical wisdom or phronesis; and community-based research in fields like sociology.

Here is the agenda for the mini-conference:

Civic Studies “Conference Within a Conference”

Friday, January 10, 2014, New Orleans, LA

9:45 to 11:15am – Author Meets Critics for Peter Levine’s We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For

Author: Peter Levine (Tufts University)
Critic: Olivia Newman (Harvard University)
Critic: Ryan McBride (Tulane University)
Critic: Thad Williamson (University of Richmond)
Critic: Rumman Chowdhury (University of California, San Diego)
Chair: Susan Orr (College at Brockport, SUNY)
* Albert Dzur participating remotely via skype

1:15 to 2:45pm – Roundtable “What is Civic Studies?”

Participant: Karol Soltan (University of Maryland)
Participant: Peter Levine (Tufts University)
Participant: Tina Nabatchi (Maxwell School Syracuse University)
Participant: Thad Williamson (University of Richmond)
Chair: Peter Levine (Tufts University)

3:00 to 4:30pm – Teaching Civic Studies

Participant: Katherine Kravetz (American University)
Participant: Timothy J. Shaffer (Wagner College)
Participant: Alison Staudinger (University of Wisconsin, Green Bay)
Participant: Donald Harward (Bates College)
Participant: Susan Orr (College at Brockport, SUNY)

4:45 to 6:15pm – Author Meets Critics for Paul Aligica, Institutional Diversity and Political Economy: The Ostroms and Beyond

Author: Paul Aligica (George Mason University)
Critic: James Bohman (Saint Louis University)
Critic: James Johnson (University of Rochester)
Chair: Karol Soltan (University of Maryland)
Critic: Samuel Ely Bagg (Duke University)

You can find the original post on Peter’s blog here: http://peterlevine.ws/?p=12782.

Dialogue Insights and Trainings from Public Conversations

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Roshan Bliss

We read a great piece recently from our friends and organizational members at the Public Conversations Project reminding us about the importance of intentionally preparing ourselves for difficult conversations and presenting new training opportunities to hone our preparedness. Dialogue, deliberation, and other forms of public engagement aren’t always about moving forward together – sometimes we have to work through heavy issues or open conflicts between groups.

As Public Conversations’ Bob Stains writes in the article, if we aren’t ready for the emotions and reactions these conversations can provoke, it can derail the whole dialogue:

…The more intensely I care [about the subject of the dialogue], the higher the conversational stakes, the more likely it is I’ll say something I regret. The thing I’ve said that causes regret is almost always an automatic comeback: a knee-jerk reaction rather than an intentional response, usually defending myself or attacking the other in some way. My reactions in those moments can set others off and then sweep us along a downward-spiraling pathway to pointless argument, misunderstanding and damaged relationships. As I look back on those moments, I wish I’d been able to approach them differently.

Many of us have seen this happen before, or even been the ones reacting from a less-than-productive place, and it reminds us that being prepared for dialogue is ongoing work.

Lucky for us, the Pubic Conversations Project announced in the same post that it will be offering two new two new workshops for the first time this spring called Preparing to Succeed and Facilitating Public Meetings. These trainings will focus on preparing for and facilitating difficult public meetings that will help practitioners show up and perform at their highest level. These two new trainings will be added to Public Conversations’ Fall 2013 – Spring 2014 workshop schedule for trainings on dialogue design, skillful facilitation, powerful practices of inquiry, and more. And NCDD members get a 15% discount on all Public Conversations trainings, so make sure to let them know you’re with us!

But you don’t have to wait until Spring to get new dialogue tools. We’ll leave you with some of the great preparation tips that Bob shared in his blog piece. Next time you’re getting ready for dialogue, consider thinking back to these kinds of questions:

You can prepare for a hard conversation by yourself or with a partner by asking reflective questions. Here are some sample questions from The Uncertain Path to Dialogue: A Meditation, an article by Founding Associate Sallyann Roth:

What do I do that shuts others down?

What makes it possible for me to listen to them?

How can I keep from being taken over by the belief that the other person or group is really the problem?

And more questions to ponder from our pre-dialogue preparatory interview process:

When have you had a constructive conversation with someone with whom you disagree on this issue?

What aspects or qualities of yourself to you want to make sure to bring out, and what do you want to make sure to restrain in order for you to be at your best in the upcoming conversation?

Finally, simply taking some time to think about your purposes for engaging in the conversation will go a long way. What do you care about? What are you hoping for? What do you want to make sure to avoid? How do you want the relationship to be after this conversation? Stepping back and reflecting on these and other questions beforehand can help you respond intentionally rather than automatically. It can prevent future regrets about things said and turn a potentially destructive conversation into one of mutual learning, understanding and respect.

We hope you can put some of these reflections to use in your own work. You can find the full post on the Public Conversations Project blog, Doing Dialogue, by clicking here: blog.publicconversations.org/preparing-to-connect/#.UoGP_Pl-TS0.

Webinar on Community Discussions & NIF Guides

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Roshan Bliss

Last week, the American Library Association (ALA) hosted a one-hour webinar titled Guides for Community Discussions: National Issues Forums (NIF) and Others designed to help public conveners find out more about issue books, videos, and other guides available to help them bring their communities together to talk in productive, civil, and interesting ways. The webinar focused specifically on the resources provided by our partners at the National Issues Forums Institute.

If you missed the live webinar, don’t worry! The recording is now available online, and you can find it by clicking here. You can still hear the great insights and information shared by presenters Carolyn Caywood, and Nancy Kranich, both from ALA’s Center for Civic Life, and Patty Dineen from the National Issues Forum Institute. They review and show examples of available discussion-starting materials, describe how these guides can support engaging library programs, and give examples of how librarians have used them in their communities.

This webinar was the fifth in a civic engagement series produced by Programming Librarian and is sponsored by the ALA Center for Civic Life. We encourage you to can find our more about the first four webinars at www.programminglibrarian.org/civic-engagement.html#.Ui9qXGRgZ38.

You can find out more about this webinar by checking out NIFI’s initial announcement of the webinar or its recent post about the recordings.

Int’l Course on Participatory Methods in India, Spring 2014

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Roshan Bliss

This post was submitted by NCDD member Varun Vidyarthi of the Manavodaya Institute of Participatory Development via our Submit-to-Blog Form. Do you have field news you want to share with the rest of us? Just click here to submit your news post for the NCDD Blog!

You’re invited to participate in a two-week program titled “People Based Development – Concept and Practice” is a unique experience in participatory development in India. It combines inputs in classroom with field visits involving direct interaction with villagers. This will be the seventeenth international course at the Manavodaya Institute that is known for its pioneering contribution to the self help movement in India.

The program is based on the following lessons learned at Manavodaya:

Participatory development is a process that builds on people’s own capacity and resources and it can be initiated by outsiders through deep dialogue.
The process of participatory development is feasible even among the very poor and illiterate.
A successful participatory development process requires a clear vision, strategy, and suitable values among facilitators of the process.
Participants from earlier programs have used the method among refugees in Norway as well as people with learning disabilities in the UK.

For more info about Manavodaya’s work you can find their website at www.manavodaya.org.in, visit Manavodaya’s Facebook page, or check out their informative and inspiring video below:

Announcing the Online Facilitation Unconference: Oct. 23-25

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Roshan Bliss

NCDD is proud to be collaborating as a Media Partner in next week’s Online Facilitation Unconference! The Unconference is a free, fully digital convergence of folks from around the world interested in sharing and learning about virtual facilitation (i.e. facilitating and moderating online).

You can read the event description below or find out more and register for the Unconference at http://ofu13.eventbrite.com. You won’t want to miss this innovative event, so make sure to register ASAP! We’d love to see lots of NCDD members participating.

The Online Facilitation Unconference is part of the first-ever International Facilitation Week, which you can find out more about on the International Association of Facilitators website.

Facilitation Across Time and Space: How to Create Change Through Virtual Environments?

Online Facilitation Unconference 2013

A community-driven event as part of International Facilitation Week

When it comes to helping groups and communities achieve their desired outcomes, technology is playing an increasingly important role. But how can we really deliver the same value in virtual environments that we know how to deliver in person? How can we operate with the same integrity?

This informal, community-driven event will bring together experts and novices, professionals and volunteers, to share and learn together and to explore the challenges and opportunities we have before us.

As an unconference, the participants will be in charge of defining the topics and setting the agenda.

Come join us. Free to attend!

PS: More information will become available shortly. Watch this space for updates!

What?

An informal, community-driven event for people to share and learn about the exciting world of facilitating in virtual environments.

When?

This event will take place during and as part of International Facilitation Week, October 21-27, 2013.

Start: Wednesday, 10/23 in the morning (Pacific Time)
End: Friday, 10/25 in the evening (Pacific Time)

Cornerstone activities:

10/23 (morning PT): Kick-off for the Americas, Europe, Africa
10/23 (evening PT): Kick-off II for the Americas, Asia, Australasia (tentative)
10/24 (9-10am PT): Twitter chat “Facilitating a Diverse Group of People” (follow #facweekchat)
10/25 (evening PT): Closing

Why should I attend?

If you are already an online facilitation expert, this is a great opportunity to share your knowledge with others.

If you are new to online facilitation, this will be a great opportunity to make new connections with people who share your interest. Hopefully, we’ll all learn a few things!

This is an international event. Expect to meet fellow facilitators from these countries:

An “unconference”? How does that work?

An unconference is a conference where sessions are programmed and led by the attendees. They are hands-on, flexible, a little casual but very hard working. All the sessions are open for attendees to define, describe, and lead. You’ll find the format to be energizing and entertaining.

We will set up a website that will allow participants to suggest and schedule sessions on any topic they think is relevant. Participants can then sign up for any session they are interested in.

Session hosts are free to choose their preferred session format and delivery channel, e.g. webinar, conference call, Google hangout, chat… you name it!

Everyone is encouraged to help document the sessions they attend, share any lessons learned and provide feedback on what worked and what could be improved next time. We may provide volunteers to help with documentation and reporting.

We plan to offer some kind of kick-off and closing session as well as a “lounge” where participants can hang out in between sessions.

Potential session formats:

Small-group discussion
Classroom presentation
Tool demo
Panel disucssion

Potential session topics:

How-tos
Case studies
Academic research

Do I have to be there for the entire 60 hours?

Of course not! We’re still working on the details, obviously, so thank you for bearing with us.

At the beginning (Wednesday), we’ll spend some time on introductions, identifying a first round of topics, suggesting and scheduling sessions etc. We hope to offer some kind of (synchronous) kick-off activity where people can first connect with one another. And we’ll have a website where this coordination can take place throughout the day and maybe even into the second day (asynchronously).

Our guess is this process will take a while. Plus we want to build in a minimum of lead time. So once a sessions has been scheduled, we want to make sure we can announce it to all attendees.

In the end, the average participant may only spend 2-3 hours total to attend a couple of sessions they are interested in. You are welcome to spend a lot more time, of course, but we don’t expect anyone to be present the entire 60 hours.

How much does it cost to attend?

The event is free to attend. We ask for a small donation to help cover costs.

Are you looking for sponsors?

Yes! We are looking for sponsors to help us offset the cost of organizing, technology setup and documentation. Details soon! Contact us if you’d like to get involved.

How will you spend the money?

We want to make sure every session gets properly documented. To that end, we’d like to hire a few students with facilitation background to write session summaries and help us capture the key take-aways. So essentially, this is a scribe / harvester role.

Another area we’d like to staff is our lounge area where people find a friendly welcome and receive help with any technology issues. This is a greeter / tech support kind of role.

We also want to report session impressions and outcomes in a timely manner via our website and social media. Maybe follow up with session hosts or participants, do a few interviews etc. This is a reporter / community weaver role.

Provided the event goes well (i.e. lots of interesting sessions, all well documented), we’d like to produce a final report. This will likely require the help of a professional editor and graphic designer.

If we have leftover funds, we will reimburse the volunteer organizing team, albeit symbolically (probably a fixed-sum stipend for everyone).

Finally, if we can pull it off, we’d love to do t-shirts (hey, who said you can’t have give-aways at a virtual event, eh?). We’re asking for t-shirt size in the sign-up form, just in case. However, we realize this is absolutely a nice-to-have and would definitely require very strong sponsor support.

Donor list

Thank you to all of our donors for raising a total of $235 so far:

Up to $50:

Tim Bonnemann
Sandy Heierbacher

Up to $25:

Debra Bridgman
Raines Cohen
Laurie Dougherty
Kathryn Elliott
Betsy Morris
1 anonymous donor

If you’d like to donate, just choose “Participant + donation” in the sign-up form and enter the amount you’d like to give.

How can I get involved?

There are many ways people can support this project. Please contact us to be included in future communications. Our interactive website will be available shortly.

Let us know your ideas. What would you like this event to be like?
Join the planning team
Help setting up our web infrastructure (we’ll keep it lean, but a few things need doing)
Help get the word out in your community
Suggest a session
Host a session
Attend a session
Help with documentation
Help with coverage during the event (e.g. social media)
Become an event sponsor
Become a media partner
Write a blog post
Share resources

Who are the organizers?

Core team:

Tim Bonnemann, Founder and CEO, Intellitics, Inc.
Tricia Chirumbole, Facilitator & Scrum Master, Mojo Collaborative
Douglas Ambort
Helen Wythe
Fedor Ovchinnikov, Participatory Leadership Consultant and Facilitator

Supporting members:

John Kelly
Birgitta von Krosigk

Want to join the organizing team? Please contact us to be included in future communications.

Media partners

Thank you to our media partners:

National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD)

Please contact us if you’d like to become a media partner.

Have questions about Online Facilitation Unconference 2013? Contact The OFU13 Team

NCDD discounts on upcoming Harvest Moon trainings

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Sandy Heierbacher

Art of Hosting Participatory Leadership and Social Collaboration, near Vancouver, November 11-14, 2013

Based on Bowen Island, British Columbia, Canada, Chris Corrigan and Caitlin Frost form the core partnership of Harvest Moon Consultants. As stewards within the Art of Hosting community of practice, Chris and Caitlin bring years of facilitation and teaching experience and connections to a worldwide network of partners and friends to their work. Caitlin Frost is a certified facilitator of The Work of Byron Katie and helps leaders become free of the stressful thinking that prevents them from stepping into complexity. Chris Corrigan is a well known facilitator of Open Space Technology, World Cafe and other participatory methods and is a sought after writer and teacher of the Art of Hosting, Open Space Technology and other participatory dialogue approaches.

Harvest Moon offers trainings in the Art of Hosting as well as The Work of Byron Katie in British Columbia and elsewhere in the world. The Art of Hosting is a workshop exploring participatory leadership, complexity world views, design tools and leadership practices for facilitators and leaders working in the context of complex strategic initiatives. Harvest Moon is pleased to offer discounts on our corporate and non-profit rate for NCDD members. Dues-paying NCDD members receive a 20% discount off our corporate price of $1125 or 5% of our our non-profit price of $925.

For more information about our offerings, please contact Caitlin Frost at caitlin.frost@gmail.com and visit our training page at http://aohrivendell.withtank.com/.

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

in Leadership and Facilitation:

Art of Hosting – Participatory Leadership and Social Collaboration, Bowen Island, BC
November 11 – 14 2013

in The Work:

Being Peace North Vancouver - Mondays Jan 20th – Feb 17th
The WORK@work – What is holding you back? (telecourse) – Jan 22 – Feb 26, 2014
Being Peace, Bowen Island – March 7-9, 2014

NEW IAP2 Training Event in 2014, presented by The League of Extraordinary Trainers

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Sandy Heierbacher

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.

Emotion, Outrage and Public Participation (EOP2): Moving from Rage to Reason (2 days)
January 9-10, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois

Please check their site at www.extraordinarytrainers.com/schedules periodically as they are working to confirm additional 2014 event locations in Tempe, Kansas City, Nashville, Austin and Boston.

LET offers Early Bird Registration Discounts. Dues-paying NCDD members receive a 10% discount on all trainings — and a 20% discount if you register by the Early Bird Deadline. Email them directly to take advantage of your NCDD member discount, at info@extraordinarytrainers.com.

Advanced Stakeholder Workshop from Vivien Twyford

Posted on October 6, 2013 by NCDD Community

This post was submitted by Cassie Hemphill via our Submit-to-Blog Form. Do you have field news you want to share with the rest of us? Just click here to submit your news post for the NCDD Blog!

First time in the US! Join us in Missoula, MT, November 7 and 8 for Twyfords‘ “Collaborating in Complex Times: Advanced Stakeholder Engagement.”

Go beyond traditional models of engagement. Explore ways to engage multiple stakeholders with different perspectives and strong interests in co-creating enduring solutions to complex dilemmas. Learn new strategies to avoid or manage potential challenges and risks to your projects. Topics include:

Collaborative leadership
“Wicked problems”
Complexity theory
Cynefin framework
The paradox of power
The appreciative approach to positive change
How collaboration creates cohesion and alleviates fragmentation
The Collaborative Governance framework
Presenting a business case for collaboration
Collaboration skills

Co-sponsored by the IAP2 Intermountain Chapter; University of Montana College of Forestry and Conservation, Bolle Center for Forests and People; and Montana Communications.

Take advantage of your 25% NCDD discount with the Future Search Network!

Posted on September 17, 2013 by NCDD Community

This post was submitted by Jennifer Neumer of the Future Search Network via our Submit-to-Blog Form. Do you have field news you want to share with the rest of us? Just click here to submit your news post for the NCDD Blog!

Please join us this December 9 – 11, 2013 for the Future Search Training Workshop with Sandra Janoff. Save 25% off with your NCDD discount! We offer non-profit discounts as well!

Managing a Future Search – A Learning Workshop (MFS) is for facilitators, leaders, students and managers who want to learn how applying Future Search principles enables a community, company or organization to transform its capability for action. Participants will acquire the tools needed to organize and manage Future Search conferences with integrity in any sector or culture.

Future Search Workshop participants will learn:

How to manage a meeting in which the target of change is a whole system’s capability for action now and in the future.
Key issues in matching conference task and stakeholders.
A theory and practice of facilitating large, diverse groups.
How to keep critical choices in the hands of participants.
How freeing yourself from diagnosing and fixing enables diverse groups to come together faster.
Basic principles and techniques that can be used to design many other meetings.

Date: December 9 – 11, 2013

Fee: $1690. (SAVE 25% when you mention this special NCDD offer! Ask about all nonprofit, student and group discounts as well!)

Location: At the Crowne Plaza Philadelphia West in Philadelphia, PA, USA.

For more info, you can contact Jennifer at 215-951-0328, 800-951-6333, or email her at fsn@futuresearch.net.

Want to get a better sense of what a Future Search looks like? Click here too see just one example of Future Search being used around the world at a Youth Future Search in Ireland.

Future Search Network co-sponsored, and Sandra Janoff facilitated, a G8 Youth Summit in Northern Ireland in May, 2013. It was held in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh in the same location and one month prior to the G8 Summit where President Obama and the other 7 world leaders met. 110 young people from across the country created a shared agenda. The youth voice, with their dreams for the future, was brought into the G8 Summit the following month. Their report was translated into each of the 7 languages.

Registration: www.futuresearch.net/frms/workshop/signup1.cfm

More info: www.futuresearch.net/method/workshops/descriptions-50748.cfm

Civic Studies

An intellectual community of researchers and practitioners dedicated to building the emerging field of civic studies

Category Archives: educational opportunities