Category Archives: public participation

Creating Community Solutions Alliance Wins IAP2 USA Project of the Year

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We wanted to share the great news that last month, the Creating Community Solutions Alliance received the International Association of Public Participation’s USA Project of the Year Core Value Award.

ccs-logoNCDD is one of six organizations that make up the core CCS alliance — including the National Institute for Civil Discourse (the lead partner), Everyday Democracy, the National Issues Forums Institute, the Deliberative Democracy Consortium and AmericaSpeaks.

Creating Community Solutions won for its work in bringing people to the table for the national dialogue on mental health dialogue. To date, Creating Community Solutions has helped organize almost 200 community dialogues on mental health, and through our innovative Text, Talk, Act program, we have engaged thousands of young people in a conversation on mental health. Go to http://iap2usa.org/corevaluesawards2014 learn more about the award.

Congratulations also to NCDD members Doug Sarno and John Godec, who were recognized for their role in the St. Vrain Valley School District project “Leadership St Vrain – Empowering Parents through P2,” which won Research Project of the Year.

Creating Community Solutions has been an integral component of the National Dialogue on Mental Health, launched by President Obama and supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) as well as other agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education.

CCS has organized or supported three main forms of participation around the question “How can we work together to strengthen mental health, particularly for young people?”:

  1. CCS-Map-11-17-14In the cities of Albuquerque, Birmingham, Columbus, Kansas City, Sacramento, and Washington DC, one of the CCS organizations helped form a local steering committee, led by the mayor, for a large-scale deliberative process leading to a metro-wide action plan for strengthening mental health, with up to $200,000 raised in each city for the implementation of the plan.
  2. In nearly 200 cities and towns thus far, CCS has helped local organizers host deliberative forums or town meetings.
  3. On December 5th, 2013, April 24th, 2014 and October 6, 2014, CCS held “Text, Talk, and Act,” a nationwide, text-enabled, face-to-face discussion on mental health.

In all three formats, participants used an array of materials produced by CCS to learn more about mental health, survey some of the options for strengthening mental health, and recommend measures to be included in local action plans. Metro-wide action plans are being implemented in six cities.

Participant satisfaction levels were high for both the large-scale deliberative events and the “Text, Talk, and Act” dialogues. Throughout all the participation formats, participants consistently named the same core themes for strengthening mental health.

Over 1,500 people have been engaged in the six lead cities, over 1,600 in the other communities, and an estimated 3,500 in “Text, Talk, and Act.”

If you haven’t been following this project, there is much to dig into on the website at www.creatingcommunitysolutions.org. You can also look back on NCDD’s blog posts in the CCS tag at www.ncdd.org/tag/creating-community-solutions. NCDD is very proud to be part of this award-winning project!

 

Public Agenda Partners with WNYC Public Radio

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PublicAgenda-logoWe are very excited to share that our friends at Public Agenda, an NCDD member organization, recently announced that they have formed a new partnership with WNYC, the premier public radio broadcaster in New York. The partnership is the inaugural project for PA´s new Deborah Wadsworth Fund, and will be aimed at really understanding what issues New Yorkers are thinking about:

Through focus groups and a major survey, Public Agenda and WNYC will illuminate the concerns, priorities and aspirations of local residents when it comes to the public policy issues our region faces. The research will place a special emphasis on those issues that residents most want to have a voice in and where they feel their personal input and involvement is most needed.

Findings from the research will be released in the second half of 2015 in a public report, and will inform programming on The Brian Lehrer Show and other WNYC programs. As such, we view the research not as a set of conclusions, but rather a means to spark conversations that can help the public work together with civic leaders and public officials on solutions to our most pressing challenges.

There has long been a powerful potential for collaborations between D&D organizations like PA and public media – especially public radio – and we are so pleased to see this partnership taking shape. The focus groups and survey research will only be the beginning:

The research will help Public Agenda and WNYC pull out the topics that matter most to residents, set a frame for discussion of those topics based on what residents have to say about them, and host public dialogue on them.

“This collaboration will elevate the priorities of the public in our area and promote dialogue about what they care about, rather than let partisan politics or interest groups set the agenda,” said [Public Agenda President Will] Friedman about the partnership… The results of the research will guide subsequent on-the-ground work in the New York region.

We congratulate Public Agenda and WNYC on starting this important work, and we are looking forward to hearing more about it as it moves forward and starts to produce results!

You can learn more from the original announcement about the project on Public Agenda´s blog by visiting www.publicagenda.org/blogs/new-wnyc-partnership-will-engage-new-yorkers-on-their-top-concerns.

6 Guiding Questions for Online Engagement from CM

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On one of their recent capacity building calls, our friends at CommunityMatters – a partnership in which NCDD is a member – had a great discussion about online engagement. They distilled a list of key questions to help people think about and plan for online engagement that are incredibly useful. We encourage you to read more about them below or find the original CM blog post by clicking here.

CM_logo-200pxDigital engagement is the latest buzz when it comes to public participation. We hear about the great work of Code for America. We read articles claiming digital engagement is the “new normal.” Our brains spin trying to keep up with new tools and terms—Gov 2.0, civic technology, hackathons, digital citizenship. The list goes on.

Pete Peterson, executive director, Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership and Alissa Black, investment partner, Omidyar Network work with local governments to improve public engagement efforts. They know that despite the buzz, many cities and towns are hesitant to try more than a website or social media.

Pete and Alissa joined CommunityMatters to share ideas on getting started and going deeper with online public engagement. If your town is thinking about diving into the digital realm, consider these six questions.

Why engage the public? Nail down your goals for public participation before selecting a tool. Want to inform the public about a recent policy decision? A well-designed website will do the trick. Looking to collect ideas for a community plan? Consider an idea aggregation tool like Mindmixer or Neighborland. Public Pathways: A Guide to Online Engagement Tools for Local Governments presents a framework for categorizing and selecting online tools based on four engagement goals: inform, consult, collaborate and empower.

What kind of traffic visits the government website? Your municipal website is the natural place to host an online conversation. But, how many people regularly visit the site? What audience does it attract? Santa Monica, California (pop. 91,812) wanted input on its budget and general plan and took a hard look at web traffic. But the municipal site wasn’t garnering much visitation. The city partnered to host online engagement platforms on the local newspaper’s website to maximize participation and reach new audiences.

What is the outreach plan? It’s a no-brainer that you need to spread the word about face-to-face meetings. Online public engagement is no different. The latest and greatest technology isn’t enough to attract users—you still need to actively recruit participants. Trying to connect with a particular audience? Reach out to hyperlocal blogs or ethnic newspapers. Looking for intergenerational conversations? Steven Clift of e-Democracy.org recommends a mix of email and web-based technology.

How are we engaging people offline? Online public engagement is about complementing—not replacing—offline engagement. With Engage Oakland in Oakland, California (pop. 400,740), organizers encouraged public meeting attendees to share feedback online. Creating space for parallel online and offline conversations reinforced the whole process—online discussions motivated people to attend face-to-face meetings and kept those already involved at the table. The online space also allowed residents to stay in the loop without attending a meeting.

Are these the conversations we’re looking for? Take a look at examples from other cities and towns (our call notes are a great place to start!). Research the types of questions asked and issues addressed. You’re off to a good start if examples reflect what your town is looking to accomplish.

Y’all ready for this? Dust off that Jock Jams cassette and gather your posse. Online engagement is far from a contact sport, but you still need a strong team. What does readiness look like when it comes to digital public engagement? Here are a few essentials: dedicated staff to ensure government is responsive to online conversations; a marketing and outreach strategy to attract participants;committed resources for the project (and ideally, for sustaining online engagement long-term). Most of all, a willingness to dive in and try something new!

Read through the call notes and listen to the recording for more stories and insight on digital engagement from Pete, Alissa and our call participants.

You can find the original version of this post by Caitlyn Horose on the CommunityMatters blog at www.communitymatters.org/blog/key-questions-ask-successful-online-public-engagement.

Last Day to Add to Our Conversation on D&D Barriers

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As we announced last month, NCDD is looking for input from our community on the important conversation we started during our national conference about overcoming the biggest barriers to and in our work, and today is the last day to add to that conversation via our online engagement space hosted by Codigital.

GroupWithBubbles-600pxThe period for input in the online space will end tonight at midnight, so if you haven’t already, please make sure to visit www.ncdd.codigital.com to help us identify new and existing strategies for overcoming the four barriers for effective dialogue and deliberation work that our NCDD community has said are most pressing:

  1. Lack of trust in our democracy, in our leaders, and in one another
  2. Unequal access to D&D practices and to government
  3. Lack of cohesion as a clearly delineated field of practice with all parts in communication
  4. Structural barriers within our democracy and in our own infrastructure

We want to hear your thoughts and ideas – what do you think we can or should do as a field to overcome these challenges?

At the same time, we also want you to hear each others, and there are a lot. As of last night there were 145 ideas being discussed, and nearly 4,800 votes cast on them! All of us have great ideas, and we want to hear yours, so make sure that you contribute to the conversation today before it’s over! could not be more excited to see such great participation from our members.

NCDD’s hope that the Codigital activity will help us get a sense of what ideas and actions resonate most with the whole community, which can then help us devise clearer paths forward on how to overcome our field’s most biggest challenges.

Thank you so much to all of you who have already made this post-conference engagement project a huge success, and we look forward to sharing the results with you soon.

Mathews Center Hosts Teachers’ Institute, AL Issues Forums

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We are pleased to share about a couple of announcements about from our friends with the David Mathews Center for Civic Life – an NCDD organizational member – about some exciting work they are doing in Alabama. We originally found these announcements separately on the National Issues Forums Institute’s blog, but we’re combining them here to make sure NCDDers hear about it all.

First, for all of our education-oriented members, be sure to note that the Mathews Center is hosting a great civic learning training for teachers this January:

The Mathews Center is pleased to announce that registration for Teachers’ Institute 2015 is now open. Teachers’ Institute is an interactive, hands-on professional development experience designed to equip teachers with skills and tools to increase active civic learning in the classroom and beyond. The workshop will be held January 15 – 16, 2015 at the American Village, and A+ Education Partnership and Alabama Public Television will be co-sponsoring the event.

Registration is free*, but space is limited. Reserve your spot today HERE. For more information, contact DMC Program Director Cristin Foster at cfoster@mathewscenter.org.

* The Mathews Center will reimburse substitute pay for all attendees. CEUs will be provided.

Second, if you live in Alabama, the Mathews Center is launching a yearlong series of dialogues across the state on children’s health:

After months of work, the David Mathews Center for Civic Life is excited to announce that we are kicking off Alabama Issues Forums (AIF) 2014 – 2015 in two weeks. During the yearlong series, we will be focusing on “Minding Our Future: Investing in Healthy Infants and Toddlers.” The first forum will be held on Thursday, November 13 from 6:00 – 8:00pm at the Harris Early Learning Center in Birmingham, Alabama. The Early Care and Education Work Group of the Children’s Policy Council of Jefferson County is convening the event, and everyone is invited.

If you are interested in convening a “Minding Our Future” forum in your community, please contact DMC Program Director Cristin Foster at cfoster@mathewscenter.org.

You can learn more about the David Mathews Center for Civic Life at www.mathewscenter.org.

“Vote” for A Better Democracy – Join NCDD TODAY!

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XS Purple NCDD logoHappy Election Day, everyone!

As we come to the close of yet another contentious and at-times ugly election season, we are reminded again of the importance of the work that the NCDD community does. As reflected in our “Democracy for the Next Generation” theme for our recent national conference, we believe NCDD and the amazing innovators we represent are a part of the solution to the broken politics of our time. In helping people really communicate, bridging gaps and partisan differences, building better civic infrastructure, and engaging our communities, what we are all doing is working to build a better democracy.

SusanAndMartinSignsThat is why, as we recently announced, our NCDD annual membership rates are increasing tomorrow, Nov. 5th. We are committed to growing our work and its impact on the shape of our democracy’s future, and to support that growth, we will be relying on our amazing community for support.

So we are asking you on this Election Day to “vote” for NCDD and the better democracy we are building by joining or renewing as a member today. Your membership and continued support of NCDD is an investment in the growth of this work and of a new kind of politics, and we hope that you will decide to grow your investment today!

But if you act now and join or renew before midnight tonight, you can lock in the lower membership rates and access to all of our great NCDD benefits for two years instead of one! We want to let everyone take advantage of the old NCDD membership rates, but this is seriously your last chance, so you have to visit www.ncdd.org/join today.

We have not asked our members to pay higher membership rates since 2006, and we don’t take this change lightly. But we see this increase as our way of doubling down on building a more robust civic infrastructure and investing in the success of our wonderful D&D community.

Don’t put it off any longer! Join NCDD or renew/upgrade your membership today!

National Harwood Public Innovators Lab, Dec. 16-18

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We highly encourage you to read the announcement below from our friends at The Harwood Institute, an NCDD organizational member. They are offering one of their great Public Innovators Lab trainings December 16th-18th, which NCDD members can get a 15% discount on. Be sure to check out the announcement below or learn more and register by clicking here.

HarwoodLogoNational Harwood Public Innovators Lab

December 16-18, 2014 in Alexandria, VA

Deepen Your Relationship with the Community

Communities across America are accelerating their change efforts with The Harwood Institute tools and methods shared in the Lab. It’s helping them engage people in new ways, generate new visibility and deepen their ability to lead change with community partners.

The Harwood Institute has a 25-year track record of success in helping individuals and communities accelerate their change efforts and achieve their strategic goals.

The Public Innovators Lab is open to all community leaders engaged in building a community’s capacity for change. It provides both the foundation of the Harwood approach coupled with a strong focus on concrete application. After the three-day training you will be able to:

  • Engage your community beyond the usual suspects to understand people’s shared aspirations.
  • Shift your relationship with the community through engagement – so that you aren’t simply seen as a customer service provider but are building will for people and groups to act together as partners.
  • Create or modify your strategies so they are aligned with your community’s capacity for change efforts – what we call a community’s “rhythms” or Stage of Community Life.
  • Assess the conditions that enable change in communities – what we call public capital – and learn how to build strategies to achieve your mission and create these conditions at the same time.

Cost: This 3-day course is $1,095.

Participants learn how they can use The Harwood Institute’s frameworks to start changing the way they and their organizations or community teams are doing their work, so that their efforts become more effectively rooted in the context of their communities. Having an orientation such that you use the community, not the conference room, as your reference point for the day-to-day and strategic decisions you make- we call this turning outward.

Learn more about the Public Innovators Lab and view the agenda at www.theharwoodinstitute.org/lab.

You can always learn more about the other great discounts available to NCDD members by visiting www.ncdd.org/discounts.

Workshop on Facilitation Under Fire from PCP, Nov. 11-12

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We hope that NCDD members will take advantage of a great training on handling challenging moments in facilitating being offered from our partners with the Public Conversations Project. Also be sure to note that there is a 15% discount for dues-paying NCDD members, so make sure to learn more below and register before the Nov. 3rd deadline if you’re interested!

Public Conversations ProjectDid you attend the workshop at the NCDD 2014 conference on “Facilitating with Grace Under Fire” with Public Conversations Project’s Bob Stains and Maggie Herzig? And did you wish there could be more? As it turns out, Bob and Maggie are teaming up again in just a couple weeks for a two-day iteration of that workshop entitled “Facilitating With Purpose and Poise – Even When Things Get Hot.”

This workshop, which will take place just outside of Boston from November 11-12, will prepare facilitators for handling difficult moments while facilitating. In this workshop, you will:

  • Develop deeper awareness of the personal, social, and cultural attributes you bring to the facilitator role that may help or hinder you in “staying grounded” when working with people whose views, styles, or identities differ from yours
  • Take away core questions you can ask yourself that will help you see through the fog of confusion in difficult moments
  • Gain clarity about resources at your disposal when a clear response or direction is not obvious
  • Build skills through role-play for deciding when and how to address difficulties
  • Learn preventive strategies that can be employed before people are in the room together or in the opening phase of the meeting

The workshop at NCDD 2014 required us to bring in extra chairs, so as we thought of people who would be interested in our two-day workshop, of course NCDD came to mind first! You can find out more about the workshop here, and, if you’d like, you can register directly here.

We are asking people to register by November 3 to confirm their spot, but if you register with a friend, both of you will receive 20% off with our Bring A Friend rate.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email Katie Hyten, Program Manager at Public Conversations, at khyten@publicconversations.org.

Institute for Civility in Gov’t Offers New “Civility Training”

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We want to make sure that NCDD hears about a great new training on civility being offered by the Institute for Civility in Government – an NCDD organizational member. We all know our nation’s civic life needs more civility, so please learn more about their training below or contact ICG to sign up.

InstituteForCivilityInGov-logoThe Institute for Civility in Government is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, grassroots non-profit organization founded in 1998, and is a member of NCDD. The Institute works to reduce the polarization of our political and legislative processes by facilitating dialogue, teaching respect, and building civility in both the public and private spheres. Our programs are a laboratory of civility, creating a model and setting a tone for each generation to experience and adopt as their own.

Maintaining civility makes life easier and more pleasant for everyone, but sometimes it can be a challenge. In response to popular demand, the Institute has developed and now offers online Civility Training based on our book, Reclaiming Civility in the Public Square – 10 Rules That Work.

The online course is divided into two sections. The first section teaches the ten rules. The second section provides real-life scenarios and then asks which of the ten rules are illustrated in the example given.

This short course helps people to not only be able to identify ten essential civility skills, but also to reflect on their application in daily life. The course has a wide range of applications, and is available for a small fee through the Institute’s website at www.instituteforcivility.org and/or at www.civilitytraining.org.

For more information, contact Cassandra Dahnke at 713-444-1254 or Tomas Spath at 281-782-4454, or email us at info@instituteforcivility.org.

Public Conversations Project Searches for New Exec. Director

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We want to make sure NCDDers see a letter that we received from our partners at the Public Conversations Project asking for our help with their search for a new executive director. PCP is a long time NCDD organizational member that does important work across the country and the world, and we encourage you to read their request and pass along the information about their opening to those in your network you think would be qualified. If that may be  you, then learn more below and don’t miss out on this great opportunity!

Public Conversations ProjectDear NCDD friends.

It was good to see many of you at the 2014 conference! I’m writing to let you know that Public Conversations Project has just launched a search for an Executive Director. This initiative follows a very productive year with an excellent interim director who has led us through a strategic planning process and prepared us to move forward with focus and impact.

I hope you can find the time to read the job description and pass it on to suitable candidates and/or to colleagues and friends who are well placed to circulate it further. We need to move speedily before the holidays distract potential candidates—and us! The deadline is November 17th.

Read the Executive Director job description here or download a PDF of the Executive Director job description here.

With appreciation for whatever you can do to help us find a good match,

Maggie Herzig​
​Senior Associate
Search Committee member
Public Conversations Project
Watertown, MA