Discounted Trainings for Paid NCDD Members    

One of NCDD’s core values is inclusiveness, so NCDD members are not required to pay the annual membership fee. In order to encourage those who can pay the fee to do so, paid members are eligible for discounts on the following trainings, courses and certificate programs offered by our partners - many of the most respected organizations in the field. Click here to learn more about joining (only $50 for individuals or $100 for organizations!).

1. Alchemy’s Graphic Recording Classes
2. Bay Area Nonviolent Communication’s Living Peace Intensive Residential Retreats
3. Breakthroughs UNLIMITED Trainings
4. The Center for Strategic Facilitation Trainings
5. Center for Wise Democracy’s Dynamic Facilitation trainings
6. Certificate Program in Dialogue, Deliberation & Public Engagement
7. Co-Creative Stakeholder Engagement Workshop
8. The Collaboration Imperative: Large Group Design Skills for Leaders and Consultants
9. Community at Work’s Group Facilitation Skills Training
10. Dialogue Partners Trainings
11. Future Search Workshops
12. Harwood Public Innovators Lab
13. IAP2 Certificate Course in Public Participation
14. Leadership Strategies’ The Effective Facilitator Course
15. Louise Diamond’s Advanced Training Program for Change Agents
16. National Charrette Institute Trainings and Certificates
17. PublicDecisions.com Online Trainings
18. Public Conversations Project Trainings

Certificate Program in Dialogue, Deliberation and Public Engagement

Fielding Graduate University’s fifth graduate level Certificate Program in Dialogue, Deliberation, and Public Engagement is being held this fall (August 15, 2008 through January 15, 2009). I have heard only great things about this program, and I recommend it highly to anyone who wants to earn some credentials in D&D but isn’t quite ready for a doctorate.

This distinctive program focuses on recent innovations in dialogue, deliberation, and public engagement featuring outstanding faculty who have played key roles in developing these approaches. It strives for the development of mastery in our practice of dialogue and deliberation.

Designed and delivered in collaboration with The International Institute for Sustained Dialogue, the Kettering Foundation, and the Public Dialogue Consortium, the program features an outstanding faculty of scholar-practitioners (Hal Saunders, Barnett Pearce, Phil Stewart, Keith Melville, Jan Elliott, John Dedrick, Linda Blong, Kath Fisher). It also features guests in phone dialogues who are widely recognized scholars and innovative practitioners. Previous featured guests have included Carolyn Lukensmeyer, Juanita Brown, Martha McCoy, Bob Stains, Shawn Spano, Frank Barrett, Joe Peters, Janette Hartz-Karp and Jim Fishkin.

Come join us and learn with others from different backgrounds and countries who share your energy and enthusiasm for this work. Learn in two face-to-face workshops, online, and on the phone with world renowned practitioners. To help make it easy for those attending the NCDD conference, the first face-to-face workshop will take place in Austin, Texas immediately after the conference.

Here’s what a few previous participants had to say:

• “The DDPE certificate program is exceptional.”
• “Altogether an outstanding experience.”
• “The Program was extremely valuable.”
• “This program has had, and continues to have, a huge impact on my thinking and the way I do my work.”

For a course outline and to check out other testimonials, see www.fielding.edu/hod/ce/dialog/index.html. You can also check on the website to see when the next informational conference call is being held.

Tuition is US $3490 if you register by the early bird deadline of July 15, 2008. NCDD members’ tuition is only US $3,140 (10% discount). Registrants enrolling after July 15 will be charged US $3,740 ($3,390 for NCDD members). Register at https://www.fielding.edu/forms/ce/ce_registration.htm.

Louise Diamond’s Advanced Training Program for Change Agents

This advanced training program will cover the four core areas, or Four Wisdom Ways, in which understanding and skill are critical to the success of Social Change:

• Systems, the Way of the One (Intensive: January 11-14 in Santa Fe, New Mexico)
• Power, the Way of Right Relationship (Intensive: April 11-14 in Santa Fe)
• Transformation, the Way of Quantum Change (Intensive: July 11-14 in Lincoln, Vermont)
• Cooperation, the Way of Creative Synergy (Intensive: October 10-13 in Lincoln, VT)

The course is offered as a year-long program of intensive study and training, structured on a seasonal basis. Each season’s program, beginning in winter of 2008, covers one of the Four Wisdom Ways and consists of: a 4-day intensive workshop with Louise Diamond and Guest Faculty; monthly study materials; teleconference calls with experts in the field; and online dialogue on specific topics.

Though the course is designed as an integrated four-season program, participants may choose to take one or more seasons separately, space permitting. A modified home-study option is also available for those for whom the travel and the on site intensive are not viable.

Paid NCDD members receive a 10% discount off regular registration rates, or 5% over and above other discounts you are eligible for. Registration for the entire program (all four seasons) is $3,500 (paid NCDD members deduct $350). Registration for one season is $950 ($855 for NCDDers); registration for two seasons is $1850 ($1665 for NCDDers); and registration for three seasons is $2730 ($2457 for NCDDers). The home study option, which includes all study materials, access to the teleconferences and online dialogue, plus mentoring by program assistant, is $350 per season ($315 for NCDDers).

Limited scholarship assistance is available. For more info and to register, go to www.louisediamond.com/training.html.

Leadership Strategies’ The Effective Facilitator Course

Learn the techniques our facilitators use to achieve amazing results through groups! How do you get groups to develop workable, realistic solutions? Our flagship course delivers the tools and techniques you can use immediately! We show you how to motivate a group, build consensus, manage dysfunction, maintain focus, generate ownership and inspire to action.

LSI offers this training dozens of times throughout the year throughout the U.S. and internationally. Directed by Michael Wilkinson, Leadership Strategies, Inc. is well-known for their high-quality facilitation trainings and certificate program. No Facilitation Class Offers You More:

• 300-page workbook
• 10 principles, over 90 techniques
• 10 detailed agendas
• 6 practice sessions
• Videotaping
• Spring Forward - we encourage you to implement your learning by providing a 60-day check-in to confirm your progress
• We reinforce your learning by sending you The Maximizer, a monthly refresher on one of the course techniques
• You also receive an autographed copy of The Secrets to Masterful Meetings, written by our CEO

NCDD members receive a 10% discount on all public or private classes. Public 4-day classes are $1895 ($1705.50 for paid NCDD members). 3-day training courses are $1495 ($1345.50 for NCDD members). Contact Sandra Liburd at 800-824-2850 x20 or register at https://www.leadstrat.com/coursereg2.asp. You can also learn more about The Effective Facilitator at www.leadstrat.com/effectivefacilitator.shtml or about all our public course offerings at www.leadstrat.com/pcs.shtml.

PublicDecisions.com Online Trainings

PublicDecisions.com offers practical online trainings for people who work with stakeholders and the public to solve problems, craft policies/programs or achieve social change. Their multi-audience website serves differing skill levels and learning needs around the practice of public involvement.Classes are conducted live, and quality is ensured by limiting class sizes to a small number of participants. All you need is high-speed internet and a phone (or Skype). Paid NCDD members save 20% on all PublicDecisions classes, which are typically $95 for 60-minute courses (discount may not be combined with other coupons or offers). Contact Paul Coelus at for details on registering at the discounted rate. Learn more about PublicDecisions.com’s trainings.

Courses cover topics like:

• Working With Native American Communities
• Top Ten Reasons Not to Involve the Public in Your Decisions
• Graphic Design for Enlightened Communication
• Community Planning Events: Why and How to Organize Them
• Integrate the Public’s Values into Facility Siting Decisions: Turn NIMBY into GUMBY
  
• Become an Active Listener: Communicate Effectively with Angry and Upset People

Breakthroughs UNLIMITED Trainings

The following three trainings make up the Masterful Facilitation Institute: Becoming An Inspired Facilitator (download PDF flyer) with Myriam Laberge, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator, and Brenda Chaddock, to build confidence and skill at designing and facilitating successful meetings, retreats, and sessions. These highly experiential programs enhance facilitation performance and produce extraordinary group results.

For more details, download the Masterful Facilitation Institute PDF Brochure, send Myriam Laberge an email to , or call her at 604-943-9133. To register, download the Registration Form and email the completed information back to .

The Competent Facilitator: Essential Skills for Guiding Groups
October 6-8, 2008 at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, Simon Fraser University – Vancouver, BC, Canada

If you or your staff lead meetings in any setting, whether at work or in your community, solid facilitation skills are critical for obtaining successful outcomes. This three-day experiential program will give you a practical foundation in facilitation theory and practice.  As a competent facilitator, you will be able to use your skills and knowledge to achieve effective results in guiding and enabling groups to move towards their goals and find their own answers. You will know how to create participative environments, and capably use a variety of approaches to help groups achieve their objectives and desired outcomes. You will be able to recognize and honor diversity, support groups to higher performance and creativity, leverage different learning styles, and minimize tension and conflict. Learn more.

The Inspired Facilitator: Achieving Mastery in Engaging Organizations and Communities
October 27-29, 2008 at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, Simon Fraser University - Vancouver, BC, Canada

A deep dive into the principles, theories, practices, and processes for understanding, designing, and facilitating complex group dynamics and multi-stakeholder situations. Using different theoretical frameworks as useful constructs, participants will dialogue, analyze, experiment and practice how to transform (and as needed, rescue) design and facilitation situations, nurture the emergence of group creativity and wisdom, while remaining centered, authentic and present. Learn more.

Community at Work’s Group Facilitation Skills Training

This is Community At Work’s renowned 3-day workshop based on the international best-seller, Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. Sarah Fisk, Ph.D. and Sam Kaner, Ph.D., co-authors of the Facilitator’s Guide, take turns leading these workshops focused on “putting participatory values into practice.”

Most trainings take place at Community At Work in San Francisco, California, where most of the trainings take place.

Paid NCDD members receive a 25% discount off of the $1895 - $795 sliding scale. (The best discounted adjusted fee for those who are self-employed or working for a community-based nonprofit is thus $596.25.) Please indicate that you are a member of NCDD at the time of registration. For more information and registration email or phone Duane Berger at 415-641-9773. Both Sarah’s and Sam’s workshops typically sell out early, so be sure and contact Duane ahead of time.

The Center for Strategic Facilitation Trainings

The Center for Strategic Facilitation (CSF) is a partnership of consultants in the San Francisco Bay Area experienced in training, facilitation and organizational development. The CSF Senior Partners are Marti Roach, Marieann Shovlin, Jane Stallman and Catherine Tornbom. Paid NCDD members receive a 20% discount on CSF trainings (write “NCDD member” on the top of your registration form before you mail it in).

CSF is committed to expanding the use of participatory approaches and methods by individuals, organizations and communities. It is affiliated with The Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA), a leader over the past four decades in promoting lasting change in communities, nonprofits and businesses. We utilize a distinct and proven approach developed by the ICA, called the Technology of Participation.

ToP® Facilitation Methods Course

This 2-day intensive course presents the fundamentals of the Technology of Participation (ToP®) methods, with hands on training to increase effectiveness, consensus and creativity in meetings. If you take one course to learn more about facilitation, this is it! This course is being offered July 31 - August 1, 2008 in San Francisco, California and October 23-24, 2008 in Oakland, California. $545 (only $436 for paid NCDD members).

ToP® Strategic Planning Course

If you want to design and lead effective strategic planning processes, this 2-day course will provide a powerful model and set of tools. Pre-requisite: ToP® Facilitation Methods. The course is being offered September 18-19, 2008 in Oakland, California and December 11-12, 2008 in South Bay, California. Registration is $545 (only $436 for paid NCDD members).

Facilitation Fundamentals Course

Participate in an information-filled introduction to the core concepts and practices of facilitation, including the role of the facilitator, agenda planning, key facilitative behaviors. This afternoon-long introductory course is designed for those new to facilitation or those seeking to brush up on fundamental best practices. The course is being offered November 4, 2008 in Oakland, California. $145 (only $116 for paid NCDD members).

Graphic Facilitation Course

Explore more ways to add imagery and graphics to your facilitation, training, consulting or coaching toolkit. This one-day graphics application lab will help put you at ease in developing visual/iconic imagery to improve your facilitation skills. We will rehearse the basics and deepen your skills so that you feel prepared to express yourself with confidence. Taught by Cheryl Kartes, a master ToP Facilitator and graphic artist. This course is being offered July 25, 2008 in Oakland, California. $295 (only $236 for paid NCDD members).

Public Conversations Project Trainings

The Public Conversations Project offers some of the best dialogue trainings out there. Paid NCDD members receive a 15% discount off of all PCP trainings. Learn more at www.publicconversations.org, or register by contacting Alison at 888-PCP-TEAM x13 or .

PCP’s The Power of Dialogue (POD): Constructive Conversations on Divisive Issues
Through experiential exercises, an extensive dialogue simulation, presentations and demonstrations, participants in this 3-day workshop will learn how to apply the key elements of Public Conversations Project dialogue facilitation. Shifting communication and relationships - not beliefs - by:

• Creating conversational structures that prevent destructive debate and foster constructive dialogue
• Preparing a forum for new ways of speaking and listening through pre-dialogue contacts between facilitator and participants
• Partnering with participants in the planning of the dialogue to insure their commitment to and investment in the process
• Facilitating from a collaborative stance
• Reflection between participants and facilitators on the events of a dialogue to shape what happens next

The next Power of Dialogue training is in Watertown, Massachusetts, November 12-14, 2008. Learn more about this workshop.

Let’s Talk: Skills for Hard Conversations

For years, people have asked us, “How can we talk about challenging, awkward or divisive issues with children, partners, colleagues and friends?” This one-day workshop applies PCP’s approach to conversations with people with whom we wish to have a good relationship with over time.

Through live demonstration interviews and coached practice exercises, we will emphasize: preparing to speak, which involves getting clear on our purposes; inviting the other person to speak in a way that is respectful and collaborative; speaking directly and clearly about our own experience and feelings; and listening openheartedly to the other person, with resilience and a commitment to understanding the ways that their experience and perspective may be different from ours.

The next Let’s Talk workshop will take place in Watertown, Massachusetts on Friday, September 26, 2008. Learn more about this workshop.

Inquiry as Intervention: Crafting Questions with Purpose and Impact

Questions are not only for eliciting information. They can set the tone for interaction, reflection, relationship development and problem-solving. The choices practitioners make about which questions to ask, as well as when and how to pose them, have an enormous impact on how all parties listen, pay attention, and respond to each other.

Focus on the power of crafting, asking, and responding to questions. Evaluate the potential for questions in your own practice. In this workshop, you will:

• experience the power of deliberately crafting and responding to questions
• practice crafting different types of questions to elicit thoughtful responses
• examine the shaping power of language and conversational structure on relationships and the trajectory of conflict.

Human Resources professionals, Organizational Development consultants, clergy, journalists, teachers, therapists, mediators, and others all have used their learnings from this workshop in their professional and personal lives. It works either on its own, as an introduction to The Power of Dialogue, or as a “refresher” course for those who have taken a PCP training but would like to delve more deeply into the process of inquiry.

The next Inquiry as Intervention workshop will take place in Watertown, Massachusetts on Monday, October 20, 2008. Learn more about this workshop.

National Charrette Institute Trainings and Certificates

Charrettes are typically a potent combination of modern design studio and town meeting, with a dash of the teamwork from an old-fashioned barnraising mixed in. Most start with a hands-on session for citizens and continue in an around-the-clock, energetic push until a plan is finished about a week later. A charrette can be a breakthrough event that helps overcome inertia and creates a meaningful master plan. More about charrettes.

Paid NCDD members receive a 10% discount on all NCI trainings. Visit www.charretteinstitute.org/programs.html for details on the upcoming trainings NCI is offering.

NCI Charrette Planner® Certificate

This certificate is geared toward public and private planning staff, development managers and advocacy group staff. This information is invaluable both for those who hire others to conduct charrettes and for those who will be conducting charrettes themselves. By the end of the program you will have practiced the complete process for planning a charrette.

NCI Complete Charrette Manager™ Certificate

Charrettes are dynamic with unique challenges. Charrette managers must be quick on their feet and have a large toolbox of processes and skills.  The NCI Charrette Management training equips professionals with the necessary tools for managing large charrettes.  This 1.5-day training is an in-depth study of the most challenging aspects of the multiple-day charrette.

NCI Public Meeting Facilitator™ Certificate

The comprehensive charrette manager must know how to handle the most volatile public meetings. In just two days you will gain the lessons learned from some of the toughest charrettes and learn how so many potential problems can be defused by knowing how to properly set up and facilitate public meetings. You will finally be able to relax while conducting a large meeting, knowing that you have the most effective tools and preventions in place. Today, the range of abilities of people who are running charrettes varies as much as the definition of the charrette process itself. Adding an NCI certificate to your credentials distinguishes you as someone with the most advanced process tools and puts you ahead of the competition for high profile jobs that require substantial public involvement.

Dialogue Partners’ Trainings

Dialogue Partners Inc. offers specialized trainings in public involvement. Most DPI programs are delivered by Stephani Roy McCallum. Stephani is President of IAP2, Senior Consultant and Owner of Dialogue Partners Inc., and certified trainer with IAP2. She boasts an impressive expanse of consultation and facilitation experience in a variety of diverse settings, on a wide range of controversial subjects. Stephani is an IAF Certified Professional Facilitator and holds certificates in public policy moderation, community development, and facilitated planning.

Paid NCDD members receive a 15% discount off the regular registration rate for DPI trainings. More info about the trainings can be found at www.dialoguepartners.ca/training.

Calming Conflict and Controversy in Public Involvement Course

Dialogue Partners’ one-day “Calming Conflict and Controversy in Public Involvement” course helps identify and develop communication skills, engagement skills and behaviors that will assist in creating positive and productive engagements, diffusing conflict and eliminating defensiveness in public participation exchanges. Often, a lack of knowing where to begin or how to undertake public participation initiatives results in confusion and conflict between the organization and its stakeholders. Conflict resolution and communication skills can go a long way in diffusing the degree of its intensity, especially if these tools are used before the public involvement forums are conducted.

Dialogue Partners’ Group Facilitation Skills for Public Involvement Course

Dialogue Partners’ 2-day “Group Facilitation Skills for Public Involvement” course provides the guidance, skills and knowledge necessary to learn the basics of group facilitation – with a focus on facilitating public and stakeholder involvement. Participants will learn facilitation skills to calm controversy, expand positive participation, build consensus and move discussion forward.

The Collaboration Imperative: Large Group Design Skills for Leaders and Consultants

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 goal of this three-day course, “The Collaboration Imperative,“ facilitated by Nancy Aronson, Ph.D and Gilbert Steil Jr., is to share with you the magic of whole systems work, and equip you with the tools to design your own large group meetings whether they involve 30 people or several thousand.

Here’s How You Will Benefit…

• Discover the System Coherence framework as a platform for large group designs.
• Learn how to listen for systemic issues.
• Determine when, why and how to apply large group methods to capture the expertise that is distributed throughout the system - your organization or community.
• Deepen your foundation of large group design principles.
• Apply these principles to a design uniquely tailored to your own situation - a real case.

The Collaboration Imperative Seminar offers:

• An extensive notebook with all course materials, including “tried and true” meeting activities.
• In-depth case studies.
• Peer consultation on your own meeting design.
• Presentations and discussion of design principles and seminal large group models.
• A CD that includes tools and design templates you can re-produce for creating your own designs.
• The opportunity to gain from the experience and knowledge of facilitators who have been successfully creating and facilitating large group meetings for over 20 years.

The next course is scheduled for October 22-24, 2008 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NCDD members receive a 15% discount. The fee for the seminar is $1490 ($1267 for NCDD members). Contact Ferne Kuhn at 610-725-0444 or for more information - or visit gilsteil.com.

The Center for Wise Democracy’s Dynamic Facilitation Trainings

The Center assists communities in creating Wisdom Councils - randomly-selected, facilitated ‘juries’ reflecting the larger diversity of the community - which engage in dialogue about the larger system and arrive at creative consensus on shared visions. These visions in turn serve to increase the quality of the dialogue among the larger community. “Dynamic facilitation“ is used to facilitate Wisdom Councils, and the Center provides trainings in dynamic facilitation regularly.

Dynamic Facilitation skills are helping individuals and organizations address big issues in the US and around the world. Savvy leaders are using these skills to help groups think together creatively and collaboratively to achieve sustainable, win/win outcomes in workplaces, schools, government agencies, and community settings. Read NCDD’s full description of Dynamic Facilitation.

Upcoming trainings will be held October 10-12, 2008 in Tri-Cities, Washington and November 18-20, 2008 in Port Townsend, Washington.

NCDD members receive a 20% discount on DF trainings which, for nonprofits, are regularly $795 for the 3-day training. The government rate is $995 and the corporate rate is $1195. To register, please contact DeAnna Martin at or 206-965-8498. You can also learn more about the trainings at www.tobe.net/info/general.html.

Alchemy’s Graphic Recording Classes

Graphic Recording is a powerful tool that enables groups of people to work together in highly effective, collaborative and satisfying ways. It’s a visual system that captures information, ideas and documents and interactively supports group process. To the casual observer, the essence of recording is the ability to listen, take quick accurate notes and draw. Beneath the surface exist overall process consulting, filtering/synthesis skills and graphic architecture skills. Alchemy’s exciting six-hour training will give you a solid introduction to:

The WHAT of Graphic Recording:

• Roles of a graphic recorder; before, during and after a meeting
• Dynamics and process experienced by a group and you as the recorder

HOW to Graphic Record:

• Core Recording Skills
• Process Skills
• Information Skills

Upcoming Graphic Recording classes are scheduled for September 12, November 2, and November 7 in Denver, Colorado and September 5, November 7 in Seattle, Washington.

Alchemy is a respected graphic recording consultancy based in Denver, Colorado. Paid NCDD members receive a 20% discount off the $500 registration rate, so they pay $400. Go to www.link2alchemy.com/learning_00.html for more details, or email Kathleen Clevenger at with questions or to register.

Future Search Workshops

Future Search is an innovative, highly participatory planning process that allows people to discover a set of shared values or themes (common ground) and build new dynamics such as inclusion and collaboration into their organization or community. Future search is not owned by anyone and all are encouraged to use the process and experiment with it.

Managing a Future Search - A Learning Workshop

At this unique, interactive workshop for business, nonprofit, public sector and community leaders, participants:

• Develop a theory and practice of facilitating large, diverse groups.
• Learn how to enable a community, corporation, or organization to transform its capability for action and rapid change.
• Acquire the tools needed to design, organize, and manage Future Search conferences with integrity, in any sector or culture.
• Understand key issues in matching conference tasks and stakeholders.
• Transcend conflicts and gain commitment for making and implementing action plans, applying this proven and carefully structured process.

Presenters Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff, Ph.D. are co- authors of FUTURE SEARCH: An Action Guide to Finding Common Ground in Organizations and Communities. They work with whole systems across all sectors. Sandra and Marv are co-directors of Future Search Network, a non-profit voluntary association of 350 practitioners worldwide dedicated to learning, colleagueship, and community service.

Paid NCDD members are eligible for a 30% discount. The workshop runs one evening, two full days and a morning. Learn more. http://www.futuresearch.net/method/workshops/descriptions.cfm?wsid=1

“Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There!” - An Advanced Facilitation Workshop

This facilitation workshop is based on the newly released book, “DON’T JUST DO SOMETHING, STAND THERE! Ten Principles for Leading Meetings That Matter,” and is presented by the authors - internationally-known facilitators and Future Search co-creators Sandra Janoff and Marvin Weisbord.

The workshop presents a philosophy, theory and method for transforming diverse work groups of all kinds. This seminar, integrating system change and personal growth theories is for experienced leaders who want to increase their capacity to help large, diverse groups stay task-focused and accomplish ambitious goals. Future search experience is not necessary for this workshop. This workshop runs one afternoon, one full day and one morning.

The next scheduled training is set for December 7-9, 2008 in Seattle, Washington. The regular registration rate for this training is $1195. Paid NCDD members are eligible for a 30% discount (only $836.50). Learn more or register.

Co-Creative Stakeholder Engagement Workshop

If you are interested in building a network of trust-based stakeholder relationships, and are looking for new ways to engage stakeholders to resolve complex issues, this two-day executive workshop is for you. Stakeholder engagement is a critical 21st century competency in today’s complex, dynamic, and interconnected world, yet companies, government agencies, and community/civil society organizations often find it difficult to work with diverse and conflicting stakeholder needs.

This two-day workshop led by Ann Svendsen and Myriam Laberge is for senior decision-makers and experienced practitioners who want to enhance their strategic abilities and skills in co-creative stakeholder engagement. During the course, you will explore leading-edge thinking, models and tools for engaging across multiple stakeholder boundaries.

The next workshop will take place October 16-17, 2008 in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada). Registration fees range from $850 to $1,850 for community, government and business participants (Canadian dollars). To receive a 10% discount, paid NCDD members should register by contacting Devon Knight, Workshop Registrar, by phone at 604-677-2758. For more information, visit www.sfu.ca/cscd/cli.

IAP2 Certificate Course in Public Participation

The Perspectives Group is offering The International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) certificate program in the DC area four times in 2008. The course consists of a series of three courses over five days. These courses allow public participation professional to master the basics of how to design and deliver a public participation program and enhance their existing skills. Upon completion of all courses, students will be awarded a Certificate in Public Participation from IAP2.

Douglas Sarno is an IAP2 Master Trainer and was part of the team of developers that designed the IAP2 Certificate Training Program. He has over 20 years of experience in planning and implementing public participation programs and has written and spoken widely on public participation issues. He has designed and implemented successful and effective public participation programs throughout the world. Doug has also developed training and guidance for public participation programs for numerous agencies, and regularly conducts independent evaluations of public participation programs. Doug has delivered the IAP2 training dozens of times, to over 1,000 students, and the Perspectives Group is one of the nation’s leading firms in the application of public participation programs.

The next certificate courses will be held September 15-19, and December 1-5, 2008 in Washington DC Metro Area.

The registration fee for the 2-day courses, “Planning for Effective Public Participation” and “Techniques for Public Participation” is $650 (each); registration for the one-day “Effective Communication for Public Participation” course is $325. Paid NCDD members are eligible for a 15% discount on these registration rates ($1381 instead of $1625 total for all three courses). Go to www.theperspectivesgroup.com/capabilities/training.html to learn more, or look over the 2008 training brochure (which includes the registration form). Write “NCDD Member Discount” at the top of the registration form you send in with the discounted payment; they’ll verify with us that you are a paid member.

Bay Area Nonviolent Communication’s Living Peace Intensive Residential Retreats

Come and stretch your heart muscles and explore the practice of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) at one of the Living Peace retreats led by Bay NVC’s senior trainers. The retreats feature tasty (mostly organic) food, beautiful settings, and dedicated support of individual and small group learning.

Increase your ability to:

• Build relationships based on compassion and understanding
• Accurately understand other people’s feelings and needs
• Be assertive and negotiable at the same time
• Break patterns of thinking that lead to anger and depression

Upcoming retreats will be held September 5-10 in New Lebanon, New York and September 12-17 in Ben Lomond, California.

At BayNVC, we have a deep joy in and commitment to making NVC available to all people regardless of their financial means. We would also like to extend a special welcome to NCDD members to honor our shared appreciation of dialogue and deliberation. Thus, we ask NCDD members to pay the most they could for the retreats, minus 20 percent. Learn more about our philosophy of money at www.baynvc.org/nvc_money.php. Register for any of these retreats at www.baynvc.org/retreats.php.

Harwood Public Innovators Lab

The Harwood Public Innovators Lab is an intensive, four day experience that will help you create new pathways to accelerate change and engender authentic hope in your communities – finding ways to get past the negative conditions in public life that stand in the way of progress. During the Lab you will examine how you can see, think about, and engage in your work from three important perspectives – how you engage communities; how you think about your organization’s role in change; and what you need to do as an individual to be effective and stay true to your own values.

Rich Harwood founded the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation to help people imagine and act for the public good. For almost 20 years, he and his colleagues have been evolving both the ideas and the practical approaches for changing the negative conditions in society that too often divide people and keep them from making progress in their neighborhoods, communities, and the nation as a whole. At The Harwood Institute, we seek nothing less than to spark fundamental change in American public life - so that people can tap their own potential to make a difference and join together to build a common future.

We are a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works within a long tradition of small, catalytic, and public-spirited organizations in American history that have sought to improve public life and politics. Our current work is focused on bringing to scale our innovations so that people and organizations across the nation can gain affordable access to this content and make it their own. Central to these efforts is our work to cultivate new public innovators and build new boundary spanning organizations that will serve as catalysts for change and hope in communities across the nation.

Registration for the March 2008 Lab was $995 ($895.50 for paid NCDD members). For this 10% discount, enter “NCDD” into the special code field when registering. Register here or learn more here, or by emailing Cindy Page at or calling (301) 656-3669.