Nine how-to resources on civil discourse for ABA Mediation Week 2011
The passage of Resolution 108 by the ABA House of Delegates has reaffirmed the role of lawyers in promoting civil discourse in public life. Many local organizers of ABA Mediation Week activities in October are focusing their efforts on civility, and using their events to advocate and demonstrate productive public discussion on issues of common concern.
Listed below are nine resources, published by some of the top nonprofit organizations in the field, that can help you learn more about how to organize, promote, and train for productive civil discourse. These are just a representative sample of the wealth of how-to information available; for more resources, view the web-sites of the organizations listed below, or visit the sites of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD) at www.ncdd.org and the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC) at www.deliberative-democracy.net.
Citizens Building Communities: The ABCs of Public Dialogue
This 2005 booklet from the League of Women Voters describes some of the basic principles involved in public dialogue processes, and acquaints the reader with what is needed to organize various types of gatherings, from small- and large-group interactions to online formats. Included are some basic planning questions as well as resources to help the reader conduct citizen engagement through dialogue at the community level.
http://www.lwv.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home§ion=Publications2&template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentFileID=3589
Resource Guide on Public Engagement
This 2010 Resource Guide from the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD) is packed with tools and stories to help you tackle contentious problems in your community. The Resource Guide showcases several tools created by leaders and practitioners in public engagement, and directs you to many other top-notch resources. Included in full is NCDD’s Engagement Streams Framework, which helps you navigate a range of dialogue and deliberation approaches and make design choices that best fit your purpose and resources.
www.ncdd.org/files/NCDD2010_Resource_Guide.pdf
Using Online Tools to Engage – and be Engaged by –The Public
This 40-page report from the IBM Center for the Business of Government (2011) begins to pull back the veil on how public managers can make use of the various online engagement tactics and tools currently available to them, and when they work best. The report describes common scenarios where public managers may find themselves needing, or using, public input. The report outlines a mix of ten different tactics managers may find useful for engaging the public online, and highlights over 40 different technologies in use today to support those kinds of engagements.
http://www.businessofgovernment.org/sites/default/files/Using%20Online%20Tools%20to%20Engage%20The%20Public_0.pdf
Public Engagement: A Primer from Public Agenda
This 2008 primer provides an introduction to the community engagement methodology that has been designed and extensively tested by Public Agenda. This document outlines the differences between authentic public engagement and "business-as-usual" approaches to public involvement, and offers a brief summary of the essential elements of successful public engagement efforts.
http://www.publicagenda.org/files/pdf/public_engagement_primer.pdf
Mini-Manual for Conversation Cafe HostsConversation Café is a simple dialogue process that is easy to organize and run, even by those with no previous facilitation experience. This 4-page manual provides you with everything you need to know to start and host a Café. Conversation Cafés are lively, hosted, drop-in conversations among diverse people about their feelings, thoughts and actions in this complex, changing world. The simple structure of Conversation Cafés – and their spirit of respect, curiosity and warm welcome – help people shift “from small talk to BIG talk.”
http://ncdd.org/rc/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ConvCafeHostManual.pdf
Fostering Dialogue Across Divides: A Nuts and Bolts Guide from the Public Conversations ProjectThis is the Public Conversations Project's definitive guide to conducting successful dialogues on the most heated topics. This 183-page publication will take even a first-time practitioner step-by-step through the process while providing experienced facilitators enlightening new insights.
http://www.publicconversations.org/docs/resources/Jams_website.pdf
Public Deliberation: A Manager’s Guide to Citizen EngagementThis report from AmericaSpeaks documents a spectrum of tools and techniques developed largely in the nonprofit world in recent years to increase citizens’ involvement in their communities and government. It also highlights ways in which public managers can develop an active approach to increasing citizens’ involvement in government at all levels. Written for the IBM Center for the Business of Government, the report is useful and informative to managers across the nation seeking new, innovative ways to engage citizens.
http://ncdd.org/rc/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Lukensmeyer-PublicDelibManagersGuide1.pdf
Deliberation and Your Community: How to Convene and Moderate Local Public Forums Using Deliberative Decision-MakingThis training manual is a compilation of materials used by people in the National Issues Forums (NIF) Network to train others in deliberative decision-making. It addresses deliberation as another way to decide and is based on how to use local public forums, especially National Issues Forums, as a venue for deliberation.
http://extension.missouri.edu/cd/pubdelib/trainmat.htm
Organizing Community-Wide Dialogue for Action and ChangeEveryday Democracy’s core ‘how-to’ resource is a comprehensive guide to involving large, diverse numbers of people in dialogue and action. Used in hundreds of communities, this time-tested process has allowed local leaders to gather citizen input, build bridges between different groups of people, stimulate volunteerism, and create more informed public discourse.
http://www.everyday-democracy.org/en/Resource.39.aspx