Looking Back at NCDD 2016 and What Has Happened Since

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ncdd2016-logoThe 2016 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation brought together 350 innovators in dialogue and deliberation to discuss the conference theme of Bridging Our Divides. Over the course of three days we discussed how to tackle some of today’s toughest divides, including partisan, racial, economic, and more. For a recap of the conference in numbers, see our earlier blog post.

Since the conference, NCDD has been producing and gathering media that captures our time together and the stories of our work. And, we’ve been following up on the conversations that happened at the conference and continuing the important work that began or was renewed in our time together.

Sharing the Stories of the Conference

At NCDD 2016 Keith Harrington of Shoestring Videos recorded our plenary sessions as well as short videos of participants. Keith is in the process of producing several videos, and has shared with us the following two videos:

Panel on Philanthropy and Fundraising

Mark Gerzon of the Mediators Foundation moderated a discussion among a panel of philanthropists about the constraints and opportunities facing our field’s efforts to bring people together across divides. Panelists shared their experiences funding bridge building efforts and answered participant questions about how we can all be better advocates for our work.

Panel on Journalism and Public Engagement

Peggy Holman of Journalism that Matters moderated a panel discussion among journalists, discussing both their work in engaging the public and discussing the opportunities they see for public engagement practitioners to partner with journalists.

ncdd_podcast_200x200Sharing More Personal Stories

In addition to video, for the first time ever at an NCDD conference we offered participants the chance to record stories and conversation in an audio room, run by sound designer Ryan Spenser. We recorded several conversations that would become our first episodes of our new NCDD Podcast. Check it out on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Google Play. Our first episodes are now live:

  • Listen to Barbara Simonetti, NCDD’s Board Chair, and myself discuss her metaphor for the D&D field as a utility
  • Hear the story of Conversation Café from co-creator Susan Partnow and past steward Jacquelyn Pogue, as they speak with NCDD Resource Curator Keiva Hummel about the process and their hopes for it under NCDD’s stewardship

Stories of bridging our divides were shared throughout the conference – in workshops, informal gatherings, and particularly in our first plenary session where we asked all participants to share a story of a time they witnessed divides being bridged.

We welcome additional stories of how you or those you are working with are bridging divides. In particular, we’d love to have people share using our Storytelling Tool. Using the tool gives NCDD the details for a great case story that we can share on our blog, so your story is shared with more people!

Last but not least, last week we shared our Storify page – take a look at that for a great recap of the social media activity during the conference, along with great photos and quotes!

Continuing this Work

Lots of inspiration was drawn from our time with you all at NCDD 2016, and we have been working to continue to address the needs and desires that arose at the conference. Some of the ways we’ll continue to do that include:

  • The Race, Police and Reconciliation Discussion List: The racial divide was a central part of the conference theme. Many workshops addressed this divide and we heard from three panelists in our first plenary about their work in this area (video coming soon!). Many participants expressed a desire to connect with others on this work, and so NCDD has launched a discussion listserv for folks interested in connecting with one another. So far, more than one hundred of you have joined! Learn more here and then join the listserv.
  • Our #BridgingOurDivides campaign: NCDD has continued our conversation at the conference over the past several months through our #BridgingOurDivides campaign. We’ve been sharing information and resources on social media and the blog. We also hosted a call for our community to talk about our post-election work. We’ll keep this conversation going in 2017, as this work is more important than ever.
  • el_badge_web_03The Emerging Leaders Initiative: NCDD has worked hard to bring students and youth to our conferences in 2014 and 2016, and in between we have been talking with these young and emerging leaders about how to get them involved in NCDD. This has all culminated in our new Emerging Leaders Initiative, which we’ll be more formally launching in 2017. We need to foster long-term resilience for the field of dialogue & deliberation, and we can do that best by intentionally cultivating our field’s next generation of leadership.

We had such a great time at NCDD 2016 connecting and re-connecting with you all and discussing how we can continue to do this important work of bridging our divides in today’s world. Let’s use what has been generated from the conference and continue to build upon it – our communities and our country need dialogue and deliberation right now.

winter break

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As friends know, I’ve been blogging almost daily here since Jan. 8, 2003 (with 3,313 posts so far). I usually try to rotate among political analysis, social theory, and some cultural commentary. While I expected Clinton to win the 2016 election, I looked forward to reducing the frequency of my topical political posts. Barack Obama is a leader for whom I feel unique regard and emotional commitment. I thought that once his eight years were over, I’d try to go a bit deeper into theory, while the US political system entered a period of–as I expected then–stalemate. Instead, on Nov. 8, we experienced the civic nightmare of a Trump victory. For the first time in nearly 14 years of blogging, I have focused essentially on one question every day: how to respond? Although this remains a comparatively low-traffic site, it saw enormous growth compared to any time in its history. Particularly popular posts (by my standards) have been:

We are about to take a family vacation, and I am also feeling the need for a mental break–not to retreat from political engagement (much as I would like to be able to consider that option), but to regroup and consider how to be most useful. Thus I am signing off until Jan. 2. Happy holidays!

Airport: Let’s Talk About It (Aeroporto Parliamone), Tuscany, Italy

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Case: Airport: Let's Talk About It (Aeroporto Parliamone), Tuscany, Italy

Dec 19 '16
Author: 
Igor Ferraz da Fonseca
A regional participatory process, coordinated by three municipalities in to inform and garner feedback from citizens on the proposed renovation of the Florence Airport. The process consisted of 5 bi-weekly face-to-face meetings, and ended with the submission of a final report to regional authorities.

the verdict on the Massachusetts Citizens Initiative Review

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Last summer, working with Healthy Democracy and the office of State Rep. Jonathan Hecht, we at the Tisch College of Civic Life organized the first Citizens Initiative Review in Massachusetts. A representative group of citizens deliberated intensively about a pending ballot initiative to legalize marijuana and co-wrote an informative statement about the initiative’s pros and cons that we helped to disseminate to voters. Watching them at work was a powerful antidote to the atmosphere of civic despair so prevalent in 2016.

Now a research team led by Penn State’s John Gastil has published an evaluation. These are some key findings (verbatim from this site):

The 2016 Massachusetts CIR panel achieved a high quality of deliberation, which enabled panelists to understand and consider key arguments for and against Question 4 (marijuana legalization ballot measure).

  • The 2016 Massachusetts CIR maintained either the same or a higher level of deliberation obtained in previous years and in other locations. The review provided participants with high quality information provided by strong teams of advocates and experts and created a respectful and open atmosphere for panelists to engage in deliberation.
  • The vast majority of participants reported learning enough about the measure, and most reported little difficulty processing information, arguments, and underlying values related to Question 4.
  • CIR panelists and neutral observers largely agreed in their assessment that the CIR was both analytically rigorous and conducted in a democratic fashion.

The 2016 Massachusetts CIR produced a clear and reliable Citizens’ Statement.

  • Claims made in the 2016 Citizens’ Statement generally were accurate and verifiable, though some elements reflected unchallenged expert testimony of indeterminate accuracy.
  • The 2016 Massachusetts Citizens’ Statement was clearly written in broadly accessible language, but the Statement could have been stronger with better direction in relation to the ordering of claims and the inclusion of values.

Voters rated the 2016 Massachusetts CIR Statement as useful and informative.

  • Nearly two-thirds of voters (65%) rated the Statement as “easy to read.”
  • The vast majority of voters rated the Statement as either “very informative” (42%) or “somewhat informative” (52%).
  • In deciding how to vote on Question 4, a third (32%) said the Statement was “very helpful,” and another 45% said it was “somewhat helpful.”

Voters shown the 2016 Massachusetts CIR Statement on Question 4 increased their issue knowledge and were eager to share its findings

  • Massachusetts voters were randomly divided into two groups—one reading just official information about Question 4 and the other reading those same materials, along with the CIR Statement. The CIR exposure group improved its knowledge scores on three of the four factual claims tested by becoming both more accurate in its beliefs and more confident in the correct knowledge those voters held.
  • Knowledge gains were found across three different voter groups, including those opposed to Question 4, those in favor, and those undecided on the measure.
  • A majority of voters (57-75%) said they would “probably” or “definitely” share these four pieces of information. This finding held true across all three voter groups (those opposed to, in favor of, or neutral on Question 4), though those in favor or opposed to the measure were somewhat more eager to share the information that aligned with their views.

When asked whether they would continue to believe findings in the CIR Statement even after being refuted by an alternative source, voters were divided. When the hypothetical refutation came from pro and con campaigns, roughly twice as many voters continued to trust the CIR versus those inclined to doubt it. When the refutation came from an “independent expert,” a plurality were more inclined to trust the expert.

Phoenix Launches First-Ever School District PB Process

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We were excited to learn recently that the team at the Participatory Budgeting Project, one NCDD’s member organizations, and Phoenix schools made history when they launched the first participatory budgeting (PB) process in the US to allow students across to deliberate on how to use district money. The effort will build D&D capacity in Phoenix’s student body, and we can’t wait to see how it goes. Read more about this historic initiative and how to spread School PB in the PBP blog piece below, or find the original here.

PBP-Logo-Stacked-Rectangle-web1Phoenix schools are making history AGAIN with PB

“We’re here to make history!” exclaimed Shari Davis, PBP Director of Strategic Initiatives, to a room full of students, teachers, principals, district administration, and sunshine.

Three years ago, the first high school-based PB process in the U.S. began at Bioscience High School in Phoenix, Arizona. This year, the Phoenix Union High School District (PUHSD) is launching the first school PB process in the U.S. to use district-wide funds, beginning with five public high schools and intended to expand across the district in future years.

On September 24th, PBP hosted a PB 101 Training for more than 60 high school students, teachers, principals, and PUHSD staff. The training introduced participants to PB by inviting them to take part in a mock PB process that began with idea collection and culminated in a mock vote.

After learning PB by doing it, trained facilitators worked with teams of students, teachers, and principals from each of the five high schools to begin planning individual PB processes; each team discussed goals for their process, which model of school PB to use, who could participate in each phase of PB, and how they would begin collecting ideas.screen-shot-2016-10-19-at-9-06-20-am

In what we could call a (brain)storm in the desert, discussion among high school teams resulted in their commitments to creating student-driven PB processes that will develop student leadership, magnify student voice, involve entire schools in meaningful and transparent experiences, and build healthy and respectful relationships between students, teachers, and parents.

The models of school PB selected by each team ranged from steering committees made of single classrooms to committees led by student government and existing clubs. Some schools began planning for large idea collection assemblies involving the entire student body; others discussed utilizing advisory periods and online forms to collect project ideas. Regardless of specific strategies, all schools prioritized plans to include students that don’t often engage in school processes.

In a concluding activity, students and teachers were asked to share one word to describe how they felt at the start of the workshop and one word to describe how they felt at the end. Many shared pairs of words that expressed feeling nervous, unsure, confused, or tired when they arrived and feeling excited, energized, intrigued, and supported as they left. A group of teachers said they looked forward to continuing to connect across school teams to learn from and support one another in launching school PB. After participating in the mock PB process, one freshman student described what he hoped PB would accomplish at his school: “I’d like to see PB help other shy freshmen like me gain confidence and come to have a voice in our school community.”

So, what’s the problem with – and potential for – school budgets?

School districts operate large and complex budgets, often with little participation from the students and community members they serve. Schools have used PB around the world to engage students, parents, teachers, and community members in deciding which school programs and improvements to fund. School PB builds understanding of school budgets, provides leadership development for students, directs funds to pressing needs and innovative ideas, and helps students learn democracy and active citizenship by doing it.screen-shot-2016-10-19-at-9-09-40-am

Sound like something that could strengthen your school? Wondering how to start?

In response to increasing interest in School PB, PBP developed a free guide to PB in schools with 18 lesson plans and six worksheets – which walk through planning, idea collection, proposal development, voting, and implementation – to help teachers bring PB into their classrooms. Earlier this summer, PBP hosted a free webinar to review the Guide’s content and to support educators in learning how to use tools that strengthen the school community, cultivate collaboration, public speaking, and research skills, and teach democracy by doing it. Take the first step towards introducing PB in your school by downloading our free guide and watching our webinar!

You’re invited to join the movement!

It starts with you! Join the Phoenix Union High School District, Overfelt High School, the MET High School, Sullivan High School, and others in a growing movement for school PB. PBP welcomes you to take the first step in bringing your school community closer and educating your students in an engaging democratic process by downloading our free Guide, watching our Webinar, and centering your students as leaders in planning this student-driven participatory process.

Looking for more in-depth support from PBP?

Direct inquiries about working with PBP to launch PB in your school to Ashley Brennan at ashley@participatorybudgeting.org.

You can find the original version of this PBP blog piece at www.participatorybudgeting.org/phoenix-schools-are-making-history-again-with-pb.

Phoenix Launches First-Ever School District PB Process

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We were excited to learn recently that the team at the Participatory Budgeting Project, one NCDD’s member organizations, and Phoenix schools made history when they launched the first participatory budgeting (PB) process in the US to allow students across to deliberate on how to use district money. The effort will build D&D capacity in Phoenix’s student body, and we can’t wait to see how it goes. Read more about this historic initiative and how to spread School PB in the PBP blog piece below, or find the original here.

PBP-Logo-Stacked-Rectangle-web1Phoenix schools are making history AGAIN with PB

“We’re here to make history!” exclaimed Shari Davis, PBP Director of Strategic Initiatives, to a room full of students, teachers, principals, district administration, and sunshine.

Three years ago, the first high school-based PB process in the U.S. began at Bioscience High School in Phoenix, Arizona. This year, the Phoenix Union High School District (PUHSD) is launching the first school PB process in the U.S. to use district-wide funds, beginning with five public high schools and intended to expand across the district in future years.

On September 24th, PBP hosted a PB 101 Training for more than 60 high school students, teachers, principals, and PUHSD staff. The training introduced participants to PB by inviting them to take part in a mock PB process that began with idea collection and culminated in a mock vote.

After learning PB by doing it, trained facilitators worked with teams of students, teachers, and principals from each of the five high schools to begin planning individual PB processes; each team discussed goals for their process, which model of school PB to use, who could participate in each phase of PB, and how they would begin collecting ideas.screen-shot-2016-10-19-at-9-06-20-am

In what we could call a (brain)storm in the desert, discussion among high school teams resulted in their commitments to creating student-driven PB processes that will develop student leadership, magnify student voice, involve entire schools in meaningful and transparent experiences, and build healthy and respectful relationships between students, teachers, and parents.

The models of school PB selected by each team ranged from steering committees made of single classrooms to committees led by student government and existing clubs. Some schools began planning for large idea collection assemblies involving the entire student body; others discussed utilizing advisory periods and online forms to collect project ideas. Regardless of specific strategies, all schools prioritized plans to include students that don’t often engage in school processes.

In a concluding activity, students and teachers were asked to share one word to describe how they felt at the start of the workshop and one word to describe how they felt at the end. Many shared pairs of words that expressed feeling nervous, unsure, confused, or tired when they arrived and feeling excited, energized, intrigued, and supported as they left. A group of teachers said they looked forward to continuing to connect across school teams to learn from and support one another in launching school PB. After participating in the mock PB process, one freshman student described what he hoped PB would accomplish at his school: “I’d like to see PB help other shy freshmen like me gain confidence and come to have a voice in our school community.”

So, what’s the problem with – and potential for – school budgets?

School districts operate large and complex budgets, often with little participation from the students and community members they serve. Schools have used PB around the world to engage students, parents, teachers, and community members in deciding which school programs and improvements to fund. School PB builds understanding of school budgets, provides leadership development for students, directs funds to pressing needs and innovative ideas, and helps students learn democracy and active citizenship by doing it.screen-shot-2016-10-19-at-9-09-40-am

Sound like something that could strengthen your school? Wondering how to start?

In response to increasing interest in School PB, PBP developed a free guide to PB in schools with 18 lesson plans and six worksheets – which walk through planning, idea collection, proposal development, voting, and implementation – to help teachers bring PB into their classrooms. Earlier this summer, PBP hosted a free webinar to review the Guide’s content and to support educators in learning how to use tools that strengthen the school community, cultivate collaboration, public speaking, and research skills, and teach democracy by doing it. Take the first step towards introducing PB in your school by downloading our free guide and watching our webinar!

You’re invited to join the movement!

It starts with you! Join the Phoenix Union High School District, Overfelt High School, the MET High School, Sullivan High School, and others in a growing movement for school PB. PBP welcomes you to take the first step in bringing your school community closer and educating your students in an engaging democratic process by downloading our free Guide, watching our Webinar, and centering your students as leaders in planning this student-driven participatory process.

Looking for more in-depth support from PBP?

Direct inquiries about working with PBP to launch PB in your school to Ashley Brennan at ashley@participatorybudgeting.org.

You can find the original version of this PBP blog piece at www.participatorybudgeting.org/phoenix-schools-are-making-history-again-with-pb.

Register for Conversation Café Confab Call on Monday

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In case you missed our post last week, we want to share a friendly reminder encouraging our NCDD network to register for our next Confab Call this Monday, December 19th, from 1-2pm Eastern/10-11am Pacific!Confab bubble image

This Confab will feature the insights of long-time NCDD members Susan Partnow and Vicki Robin – two of the three original co-creators of the Conversation Café (CC) process that NCDD now stewards – and leading practitioners from across the country who host Cafés in their communities.

The CC process is easily accessible and flexible enough to be picked up quickly by many people, helping them move from “small talk to big conversation.” Monday’s call will be the perfect opportunity to learn all about the history of Conversation Café, connect with the network of people already hosting Cafés, learn the basics of being a host, and share your thoughts on how NCDD can best support the CC network.

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You won’t want to miss this collaborative conversation – make sure you register today for the call! We look forward to talking with you Monday!