Category Archives: From the Community

Ideation Nation Contest

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We wanted to share the post below from our partners at the Davenport Institute’s Gov 2.0 Watch blog about an exciting chance to win $5,000 in the Ideation Nation Contest. Find out more, and good luck in the contest!

DavenportInst-logoMindMixer and Code for America are hosting a nationwide contest for ideas of how to improve the ways citizens and governments work together:

MindMixer and Code for America are teaming up for a month-long, nation-wide call for ideas. From September 24 through October 31, we’re asking Americans to share their informed ideas about how to improve the ways citizens and governments work together.

This is a chance for citizens to be a part of something bigger — an opportunity to share thoughtful community-building ideas that could be a catalyst for creating better communities. While most people are not experts in economics or policy, they are truly the firsthand experts about the communities they live in, with different perspectives from policy makers and government leaders.

You can read more about how to participate in the contest here, and follow ideas here.

Participate in the National Dialogue Network’s inaugural topic!

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NDN logoThe National Dialogue Network — winners of the 2012 NCDD Catalyst Award in the civic infrastructure category — launched a few weeks ago with their inaugural topic, ”Poverty & Wealth in America.”

Led by John Spady, the National Dialogue Network (NDN) seeks to coordinate local conversations into mindful national dialogue.

NCDD encourages all of you to get involved so we can learn as much as possible from this project!  Here are two things you can do right now:

  1. Download the “conversation kit” to host/facilitate your own gathering of family, friends, neighbors, or community at www.NatDialogue.org/get-involved; or
  2. Participate on your own by reviewing the background materials and answering their national survey directly at www.is.gd/aloxol
  3. Show your support of the project by contributing a modest (or not-so-modest) donation at www.GoFundMe.com/NatDialogue

The NDN network is a nonpartisan, voluntary working group of practitioners, educators and researchers in the fields of public engagement, governance, creative leadership, civic renewal, dialogue, deliberation and participatory decision-making in public issues. They’re building a voluntary civic infrastructure that connects conversations across the U.S. among folks who wish to examine a difficult and complex community issue with others who see the situation or challenges with differing perspectives, disciplines, or ideologies.

The NDN coordinates distinct individual and community conversations giving everyone a “sense of place” and voice within the larger national dialogue. NDN’s dedicated volunteers seek to revitalize and promote civic infrastructures within communities where all who choose to participate will impact the national conversation by:

  • Focusing intently on an issue over time with others;
  • Listening to the opinions and ideas being discussed in your community and across the United States; and
  • Speaking up about your own opinions and ideas in conversations with your family, friends & community.

Good luck to our good friends at the National Dialogue Network as they launch an ambitious project with a modest amount of funds!  We welcome all those who get involved to share here what you’re doing, how you found the materials, and what you think can be learned to inform the next round.

Announcing the Online Facilitation Unconference: Oct. 23-25

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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?

iaf_key_logoOnline 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:

Canada Germany Ghana Finland France Netherlands Poland Spain Sweden Taiwan United Kingdom United States

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:

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

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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:

Engaging in Aging (Featured D&D Story)

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D&D stories logoWe are highlighting another example of dialogue and deliberation in action today, and this time it is a project called Engaging in Aging. This mini case study was submitted by Doug Ross of Collaborative Solutions via NCDD’s Dialogue Storytelling Tool, which we recently launched to collect stories from our members about their work.

We know that there are plenty of other stories from our NCDD members out there that can teach key insights about working in dialogue, deliberation, and engagement. We want to hear them! Please add YOUR dialogue story today, and let us learn from you!

Title of Project:

Engaged in Aging

Description

Engaged in Aging was previuosly known as Continuing the Conversation. The “conversations” originated in day long conferences about aging called Winter Forums. These took place every Winter in Sarasota, FL.

My role was to allow some of the participants to meet to continue these provocative conversations. Attendees were common, ordinary citizens with some interest in the challenges of an aging population.

Sarasota County has more people over the age of both 65 and 85 than any other large county in the USA — 32% and growing – so we have trhe right field to study these things.

Which dialogue and deliberation approaches did you use or borrow heavily from?

  • Open Space / Unconference
  • World Cafe
  • Sustained Dialogue
  • Bohm Dialogue

What was your role in the project?

Mostly facilitator, and also a participant.

Lessons Learned

Dialogue, by whatever name applied, is the key value in getting people to open up about what touches them on this issue. From several years of using “World Cafe” and a decade ago using “Open Space”, I’ve learned to value the smaller group sizes. Even introverts can manage a group of 4 or 5! I also facilitate “Mastermind Groups”, and again size and trust are keys to success.

Join an Online Conversation on Resilience for New Economy Week

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This post was submitted by NCDD member Hina Pendle of New Economy Coalition 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!

neweconweekNCDD members are invited to join the New Economy Coalition’s Hina Pendle and Ben Roberts for an online conversation tomorrow, October 15th from 9-10:30am Pacific/12-1:30pm Eastern time. The conversation is part of the New Economy Week, and the theme will be “Growing Resilient Organizations, Leaders, and Culture.” Make sure to register ASAP by clicking here.

Join an online conversation and connect with other New Economy Week participants from across the nation around the theme of resilience.

“Build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” — Buckminster Fuller

Those of us growing a new, co-prosperous economy amidst the old, crumbling, unsustainable system know that it’s not only what we do that matters, but also how we do it. How can we build long-term resilience? How do we turn setbacks into powerful opportunities? How do we prevent suffering unintended consequences? How do we maintain organizational energy when it often seems like the deck is stacked against us, there’s too much to do and not enough time to do it?

Join us to consider these questions and the key dimensions of a resilient enterprise and a resilient culture.

A resilient enterprise…

  • Rides the rapids of change brilliantly
  • Grows from the inside out
  • Anticipates and prepares for the unknown
  • Retains essential functions during disturbance
  • Sees people as the organization’s most valuable asset
  • Has agile systems, infrastructure and flexible architecture

In a resilient culture, people are…

  • Happy, healthy and achieving their potential
  • Co-operative, co-laborative, co-ordinated, co-intelligent, considerate
  • Inspired by the vision and a mission that unifies the enterprise
  • Fully participating in the functioning organization
  • Have relationships that work

IMPORTANT: Vist the following URL to register for the call: http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/conference/register/P8U32VBQXOZWUG19

This conversation on resilience is just one piece of the New Economy Week. New Economy Week is

…an opportunity to shine a light on the thousands upon thousands of things that everyday people are doing right now to build a new kind of economy. These innovators are all around us engaged in the work of growing co-operative and independent enterprises, democratizing and stabilizing finance through credit unions, finding new ways to share skills and goods, new ways to measure success, and new ways to meet growing human needs on an all too finite planet.

From October 12-18, we will be highlighting events, actions, reports, works of art, and other projects across the United States and Canada. By calling attention to the thousands of things people are doing right now to build a new kind of economy, we hope to inspire more participation in this movement and catalyze a conversation on the need for deep, systemic change.

You can learn more by visiting www.neweconomyweek.org.

Webinar on Libraries & Civic Engagement, Nov. 5th

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Mark your calendars and be sure to join our partners at the National Issues Forums Institute and the American Library Association for their upcoming webinar on Tuesday, November 5th, from 4-5pm Eastern Time.  You can read more about the webinar below, or find the original NIF blog post by clicking here.

Guides for Community Discussions:
National Issues Forums (NIF) and Others
Webinar

Register now

Tuesday, November 5th, 2013
4:00-5:00 p.m. EDT; 3:00 – 4:00 pm CDT; 1:00 – 2:00 PDT

Please join us for this one-hour webinar about issue books, videos, and other guides available to help librarians bring their communities together to talk in productive, civil, and interesting ways. A growing and diverse array of nonpartisan, non-agenda-driven materials about important public issues are available from the National Issues Forum Institute and other sources.

Presenters for this webinar include: Patty Dineen from the National Issues Forum Institute, and Carolyn Caywood, and Nancy Kranich, both from ALA’s Center for Civic Life. They will review and show examples of available materials; describe how these guides can support engaging library programs; and give examples of how librarians have used them in their communities. Time will be available at the end of the webinar for Q&A as well as Suggestions/Stories.

This webinar is the fifth in a civic engagement series produced by Programming Librarian and is sponsored by the ALA Center for Civic Life.  Check out Webinars 1-4 by clicking here.

Don’t forget to register today for the call by visiting the following URL: www.programminglibrarian.org/online-learning/guides-for-community-discussions-nif.html.

Winners of the Successful Communities Contest

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CM_logo-200pxNCDD would like to join our partners with CommunityMatters in congratulating the winners of the Successful Communities contest!  The contest encouraged local groups to create projects to improve their communities, and awarded $500 to four winning communities, and the winners were recently declared:

Last month, CommunityMatters asked people to come together, listen to our August call on the Secrets to Successful Communities with Ed McMahon, then decide on one completely achievable action for making their community more successful. To sweeten the deal, the Orton Family Foundation offered $500 to four communities that came up with an idea or strategy for success. Sixteen of the 17 parties came up with a next step for taking action.

Public voting helped us select the following four entries to win $500. Congratulations to Discover Downtown Middlesboro, Upstream Arts Collective, the Medfield Cultural District, and Old Time Ozark Traditions! We’ll keep an eye on these projects over the coming months and share their progress with yo

We encourage you to learn out more about the winning projects here on the Community Matters blog, and check out the Successful Communities Gallery by clicking here. Congratulations again to the winning communities: Middlesboro, KY, Silverton, OR, Medfield, MA, and Mountain View, AR! Here’s hoping your projects continue to grow and improve you communities!

Urban Matters: National Parks and Urban Settings (Featured D&D Story)

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D&D stories logoWe are highlighting another example of dialogue and deliberation in action today, and this time it is a project called Engaging in Aging. This mini case study was submitted by Bruce Jacobson via NCDD’s Dialogue Storytelling Tool, which we recently launched to collect stories from our members about their work.

We know that there are plenty of other stories from our NCDD members out there that can teach key insights about working in dialogue, deliberation, and engagement. We want to hear them! Please add YOUR dialogue story today, and let us learn from you!

Title of Project:

Urban Matters: National Parks and Programs in Urban Settings

Description

As part of the 2012 City Parks Alliance “Greater & Greener Conference,” 39 leaders from the National Park Service (NPS) met in New York City for an “affinity caucus” on national parks and programs in urban areas. The group identified actions to develop a national urban agenda for the Service.

Over the winter, a small group of “urban strategists” worked with the NPS Conservation Study Institute and the Collaborative for Innovative Leadership to develop engagement strategies to create and then implement such an urban agenda. I was part of the strategists group, and found it to be rewarding, both personally and professionally. As urban park professionals, we prototyped a process to foster “communities of practice” around the caucus recommendations.

The central tenet of the work going forward is, the National Park Service is relevant to all Americans. NPS must engage a broad spectrum of the country’s diverse population, 80% of whom live in metropolitan areas, with the places and narratives that have shaped America. Our strategy group recognized that an approach is needed that allows NPS staff at all levels in urban parks and programs to “step into their power.” As NPS advisor Meg Wheatley often points out, innovators within NPS already have many of the answers we need. Our task as an agency is to identify “better means to engage everyone’s intelligence in solving challenges and crises as they arise.”

On May 10, the Collaborative began the “Urban Matters Engagement Series,” a series of webinars and other engagement activities which will take place over the coming months. Approximately 65 NPS employees, and some partners, joined in the 90-minute webinar with hopes to re-engage participants from last year’s urban caucus, and to further the charge from NPS Director Jon Jarvis to craft a progressive urban agenda for the Service.

What was your role in the project?

I was one of about 8 “strategist” testing methods of engagement and innovation.

Lessons Learned

As is typical we offered the “chat” function on the WebEx, as well as access to a blog immediately following the session with hopes that people would engage in conversation. We were disappointed with the amount of interaction—almost none.

We are struggling with how to best bring together those interested in a progressive National Park Service urban agenda in a way that will inspire innovation and community building. Future sessions are tentatively scheduled for June and July. We welcome any ideas for how to proceed.

Where to learn more about the project:

“Greater & Greener Conference:” www.urbanparks2012.org

Conservation Study Institute/Collaborative for Innovative Leadership: www.nps.gov/csi/COLLABORATIVE/COLLABORATIVE.html

The 90-minute WebEx: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi2D1LJoEVM&feature=youtu.be

For more about “Urban Matters”: sites.google.com/site/urbannps/home

Healthy Democracy Wins IAP2′s 2013 Project of the Year

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We hope you will join us in extending a huge congratulations to our friends at Healthy Democracy, who were just awarded with the IAP2 2013 International Project of the Year Award for their Citizens’ Initiative Review project, which we recently highlighted on our blog. Both Healthy Democracy and IAP2 USA are members of NCDD, and we couldn’t be more pleased to celebrate both organizations’ excellent work. 

You can read more about all of IAP2′s 2013 awards in their press release below. Congratulations to all the award winners, and here’s hoping that 2014 brings even more great projects and bigger successes for the field!

International Core Values Awards celebrate Excellence in Public Participation

IAP2 logo

(Salt Lake City, Utah USA) – At the IAP2 North American Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, the International Association  for Public Participation (IAP2) announced the 2013 International Core Values Awards honoring award winners from around the IAP2 Federation Presiding Member, Ms. Nomi Muthialu congratulated the winners on behalf of the Board of Directors and national affiliates. “IAP2’s seven Core Values go to the very heart of our association and guide how we think about and practice authentic public participation. The laureates of the 2013 awards represent best practice in our field, and serve as model of excellence for others to emulate.”

Healthy Democracy (Portland, Oregon, USA) was selected the IAP2 International Project of the Year for their entry, “The Citizens’ Initiative Review” which addressed the question: how can we strengthen ballot measures as a tool for public participation in government by giving voters the unbiased information they need to make informed decisions? Tyrone Reitman, Executive Director of Healthy Democracy, said, “We’re honored to see the Citizens’ Initiative Review recognized as project of the year by the leading international organization for public participation. Our moderators, panelists, and supporters have done a tremendous amount of work to develop a fair, unbiased process that improves the initiative system for Oregonians.”

Finalists for the “best of the best” international award were gathered from entries submitted by national affiliates in Australasia, Canada, Southern Africa and the United States. Other winners recognized this year include:

IAP2 International Member-at-Large Project of the Year Award winner Intelligent Futures in partnership with O2 Planning + Design (Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada) were recognized for their entry entitled, “Our Wascana”. “This project was a unique opportunity to combine creativity in engagement with long-term strategic thinking. By combining place-based engagement, creative graphic design, social media and face-to-face workshops, we were able to really understand how much the community values the Wascana Centre. This was a crucial element to planning the next 50 years of Wascana and beyond,” notes Mr. John Lewis, President of Intelligent Futures.

The City of Calgary, Calgary Transit (Calgary, AB, Canada) received Highly Commended recognition for their entry entitled, “Route Ahead: The 30-year strategic plan for Calgary Transit.”

In addition, the 2013 Project of the Year awards presented by IAP2 national affiliates include:

In Southern Africa: Sonja Pithey Consulting the “City of Cape Town S78(3) Waste Review Stakeholder Engagement” process.

In Australasia: City of Marion, South Australia “Making Marion – A Community Plan towards 2040.”

In the USA: City of West Hollywood, Social Services Division, “City of West Hollywood 2013 Community Study: Engaging, Listening, Learning” as well as Healthy Democracy “The Citizens’ Initiative Review”.

“We are delighted with the response to the 2013 IAP2 Core Values Awards competition from public participation practitioners all over the world. This is a testament to the huge growth of our field of expertise”.

Special thanks were extended to the international jury members, Ms. Leanne Hartill, IAP2 Federation Director (Australia), Mr. Rodolfo Lewanski, University of Bologna, IAP2 Italy (2012 Award Winner). Ms. Patricia Munro, World Café Europe, (Germany) and Ms. Fiona Cavanagh, Centre for Public Involvement, (Canada).

Media inquiries: Iris Almeida-Côté, IAP2 International Headquarters. Email: iris@iap2.org Website: www.iap2.org