Large Group Design Skills for Leaders and Consultants
Paid NCDD members receive a 15% discount (saving over $200!) off this three-day course: “The Collaboration Imperative,“ facilitated by Nancy Aronson, Ph.D and Gilbert Steil Jr. The program’s goal is to share with participants the magic of whole systems work, and equip them with the tools to design their own large group meetings whether they involve 30 people or several thousand. Large group methods, virtually unknown twenty years ago, are being used worldwide to address complex organizational and community issues. These large group working sessions are task focused and results oriented. They have proven to be an invaluable method for strategic planning, organization design, working specific strategic issues, process re-design and for complex projects that cross the boundaries of functions, departments and organizations. They build the indispensable relationships needed for coherence and alignment within an organization or community.
The fee for the seminar is $1490 ($1267 for NCDD members). Contact Ferne Kuhn at 610-725-0444 or [email protected] for more information – or visit gilsteil.com.
Posted by Andy Fluke on February 24, 2008.
The Association for Conflict Resolution (www.ACRnet.org) is working on the summer issue of ACResolution magazine and they are seeking contributions that focus on the topic of Social Justice and address key concerns from the points of view of interveners, parties, and theorists from all practice areas. Do conflict resolution and transformation theory and models effectively address them? What are the consequences when social justice is not attended to? How is social justice critical to the outcome and process of conflict intervention? For more information about ACR publications and submission guidelines, please visit the ACResolution website. Authors do not have to be ACR members. Deadline is May 15, 2008.
Posted by Andy Fluke on February 24, 2008.
Nominations for the 2008 Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award are now being accepted and the public is invited to advise the Gleitsman Program in Leadership for Social Change of those individuals whose efforts you feel should be recognized. Every other year (alternating with The International Activist Award) $100,000 is awarded to an honoree, or honorees, for their activist efforts in the United States to confront, challenge and correct social injustice. These individuals, because of their courage and persistence, have become leaders in efforts to change the way we live. Complete information, including a nomination form, can be found on the website of the Center for Public Leadership, JFK School of Government, Harvard University.
Posted by Andy Fluke on February 23, 2008.
Everyday Democracy (www.everyday-democracy.org) asks: How is your community “Making Every Voice Matter”? and they want you to show it by making a video to show what you’ve done to create positive change in your community and it might even be showcased at their Making Every Voice Matter conference in June. They’re especially interested in seeing how you engaged all kinds of people to talk and take action on an issue facing your community. You not only have the chance to tell your community’s story and produce a great video, but you can also win $1,000! So, grab a camera and start filming today! The deadline to enter is March 26th. Learn more on the contest’s web page.
Posted by Andy Fluke on February 23, 2008.
During the coming year, the Boston Research Center for the 21st Century (www.brc21.org) will hold a series of events exploring how our conceptions of death affect the way we live, individually and collectively. The first event, called “Understanding Death, Appreciating Life”, is a public event to be held at the BRC on Wednesday, February 27, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Mary Catherine Bateson will provide opening comments, and Harvard professors Harvey Cox, Nur Yalman, and Tu Weiming will offer reflections in a dialogue format. Visitors to their website will be able to access stories on this and related events throughout the year, as well as more information about other events.
Posted by Andy Fluke on February 22, 2008.
The Great Expectations project of Philadelphia, PA (organized by The Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board and the Project on Civic Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania) is launching a series of citywide forums in which region residents will have the opportunity to read the final version of the Citizens Agenda for the current administration and talk with members of City Council about what it means for the future of Philadelphia. The completed agenda is based on citizen input from the Great Expectations Citizens Convention. The Agenda’s 12 priorities are: Arts and Culture; Budget and Taxes; City Services; Crime; Education; Environment; Knowledge Economy; Neighborhoods in Flux; Planning and Zoning; Poverty; Reform and Leadership; and Transportation. A forum is scheduled in each of the ten Philadelphia City Council districts beginning on February 19 and running through March 6. More information can be found at: www.greatexpectations07.com.
Posted by Andy Fluke on February 22, 2008.
from a National Charrette Institute press release…
We at NCI invite you to join us and your colleagues as we inquire, share and learn about charrettes and NCI Dynamic Planning on our new blog, the National Charrette Institute Community Forum. The blog currently contains dozens of valuable tips, tools and techniques that were previously found in NCI’s monthly e-newsletters, now categorized and searchable. We look forward to this forum becoming a place for discussion, shared learning and problem solving for those interested in NCI Dynamic Planning and charrettes around the world. Non-archived posts will be open for comment, and we welcome feedback and personal experiences. We encourage readers to use the Contact/Submit page for questions, “war stories,” and success stories. We will post them with our own comments and leave them open for public comment. We are excited to host this unique forum, the first of its kind for the discussion of public participation and collaboration in designing healthy, sustainable and feasible community plans.
The National Charrette Institute is a nonprofit educational institution based in Portland, Oregon. They teach the transformative process of Dynamic Planning to create healthy community plans.
Posted by Andy Fluke on February 20, 2008.
Everyday Democracy (formerly the Study Circles Resource Center) is hosting monthly “water cooler” sessions on their www.DemocracySpace.org blog. On Thursday (February 21), from 1 and 2 pm Eastern, organizers will meet to share tips on how to use the Internet to spread the word about the work you’re doing for positive change in your communities. There will be a special emphasis on videos as Everyday Democracy launches its first-ever video contest, but Facebook, blogs, MySpace, and other online tools will be discussed, too. To take part, all you need to do is log on at www.democracyspace.org between 1 and 2 p.m. Eastern.
Posted by Sandy Heierbacher on February 19, 2008.
University of Tennessee’s Institute for Public Service, in cooperation with the National Issues Forum, is presenting a Deliberative Dialogue Facilitator Training March 13th 9am-4pm and March 14th, 8:30am-12pm in Knoxville, TN. This training is designed for those who have an interest in playing a key part in the deliberative dialogue process. You do not have to be a subject matter expert as this training will provide you with the skills to facilitate a deliberative dialogue in your community. For more information about registration please contact Sarah Holley at (865)974-9847 or via email at .
Posted by Andy Fluke on February 18, 2008.
NCI Charrette Certificate Trainings
NCDD paid members can benefit from a 10% discount towards the upcoming trainings from the National Charrettes Institute being held in Portland, OR, March 10-14, 2008. The NCI Certificate Program includes the necessary tools and techniques to prepare you for planning and managing a charrette. Charrettes capable of transformative community change require careful planning and execution. The NCI Charrette Planner® and NCI Complete Charrette Manager™ certificate courses give you the framework and the hands-on skills to successfully utilize the powerful Dynamic Planning process. To register, visit the training information page on the NCI website.
You can learn about additional training discounts for NCDD members here.
Introduction to NCI Dynamic Planning at CNU XVI, April 2 in Austin, Texas
from the NCI Community Forum blog:
Take the first step toward your NCI certificates. This is a stand alone course that describes how a charrette works within the context of NCI Dynamic Planning, a comprehensive project management process that begins with the project vision and ends with the plan’s implementation. Upon the completion of this course you will be eligible to complete your NCI Charrette Planner® certificate by taking just one additional NCI module. Participants include anyone who wants to know about this powerful collaborative planning process, from elected officials to planning staff, from developers to concerned citizens. You do not need to register for the CNU conference in order to attend this training. AICP and AIA credit hours will be awarded for this training. Click here for more information and to register.
Since this training is associated with another event, the NCDD discount does not apply.
Posted by Andy Fluke on February 18, 2008.
NCDD member and director of the Democracy Imperative, Nancy Thomas, has sent us some information about a great job opportunity at UMass Boston: Director of Community Engagement.
Complete details after the break… (more…)
Posted by Andy Fluke on February 18, 2008.
NCDD’s high-energy, highly participatory conferences bring together practitioners, scholars, public leaders, trainers, artists, activists, teachers, and students from all of the various streams of practice that exist in this critically important field. Join us in Austin, Texas for our fourth National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation: Creating Cultures of Collaboration. NCDD Austin will take place October 3rd through 5th, 2008 (with pre-conference trainings on the 2nd)!
Here’s a few links to help you learn all about NCDD 2008:
We hope to see you there!
Posted by Andy Fluke on February 17, 2008.
Our friends at the Global Dialogue Center are holding a cool Women’s Leadership Gathering on their website (which is really worth seeing, if you haven’t before). This special online conversation day is will celebrate the 2008 International Women’s Day and bring new friends together across the world. Talk with one another, share stories, and explore questions throughout the day on March 7th in an interactive online space focused around three conversation themes:
- LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP: Missteps, Milestones, and Miracles
- BIG CHANGES: Reinventing Work and Life
- CHANGING THE WORLD: Putting Our Differences to Work
Download the brochure for more details, or register for the free event.
Posted by Sandy Heierbacher on February 16, 2008.
Town halls in five U.S. cities (Kansas City on March 8th, Phoenix on April 5th, Jackson, MS on April 19th, Portland, OR on April 24th and Philadelphia on May 13) will offer citizens the chance to examine a potential effort by healthcare agencies that would create a national “biobank.” Although biobanks provide a valuable research tool for scientists studying disease, some people have concerns, such as the use of personal information in the hands of employers, insurers, or law enforcement agencies.
Citizens who attend these important town halls will to deliberate in-the-round using various action learning techniques, collaborative work groups, and form a task force based on appreciative inquiry, to explore critical questions on genetics and vote using eForum keypads to express shared policy recommendations to scientists and policymakers alike.
No matter what your viewpoint is, we want to hear it. We want to explore it, vote on it, and build upon it so as to help the community’s consensus provide the necessary check and balance on institutional policymaking. Spread the word by posting a flyer at your local library, coffeehouse, gym, place of worship, workplace, community center, etc.! If you want a flyer to post in your neighborhood or want more information, e-mail Alexander Moll at .
Posted by Andy Fluke on February 16, 2008.
After three years in production, the documentary based on the Dialogue Public Art Project will premier in San Francisco on March 9th at 7:30pm in San Francisco at the fun & funky Opera Plaza Theatre with other showings planned throughout the year. The DVD is also available. In addition to the feature documentary, they’ve included nine bonus features: deleted scenes, background interviews, World Cafe short movie and more.
Posted by Andy Fluke on February 16, 2008.
