A Dynamic Facilitation Manual and Reader: Evoking practical group creativity through generative dialogue

Rosa Zubizarreta and Jim Rough. Center for Wise Democracy, 2002.

This spiral-bound manual describes a transformational approach for facilitating dialogue in situations where people are highly invested, emotionally charged or polarized, and helping groups arrive at practical and creative breakthroughs.

Resource Link: http://www.wisedemocracy.org

A Handbook of International Peacebuilding: Into The Eye Of The Storm

John Paul Lederach and Janice Moomaw Jenner, Editors. Jossey-Bass, 2002.

This handbook offers conflict resolution professionals working in foreign countries a critical, step-by-step guide for dealing with difficult and potentially dangerous disputes in other nations. The editors have gathered a stellar panel of seasoned experts who illustrate how to approach international peacebuilding with effective actions and approaches gained through experience that will contribute ultimately to a more positive outcome. Based on the experience of the contributors' work as global peace brokers, the book includes a wide array of guidelines, pragmatic approaches, and models of constructive, culturally appropriate ways to respond to conflict.

Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787958794.html

A Manual for Group Facilitators

Brian Auvine. Center for Conflict Resolution; reprinted by the Fellowship for Intentional Community, 1981.

The role of group facilitator is often pivotal to good results for groups making the transition to consensus. The Manual is a great introduction to the concept of approaching the role of facilitator as someone who welcomes both rational and emotional input. The staff of the Center for Conflict Resolution put their experience in working with groups into A Manual for Group Facilitators. This is an informal outline detailing useful and effective techniques to help groups work well. More than a simple 'how to,' the manual contains a discussion of the values, dynamics, and common sense behind group process that have been verified by our own experience.

Resource Link: http://store.ic.org

A Model for an Introductory Dialogue on Abortion

Public Conversations Project.

The model described here was developed for the single session introductory dialogues on abortion that Public Conversations Project conducted in 1990-1992 (eighteen sessions) and 1995-1998 (ten sessions). Most of these dialogues took place on weekday evenings between 6:00 and 9:30 and involved four to eight participants who did not know one another ahead of time. Several participants were activists but few were highly visible leaders. All groups were evenly balanced with people who described themselves as ?“prochoice?” or ?“prolife.?”

A Practical Guide to Consensus

Chris Carlson and Jim Arthur. Policy Consensus Institute.

This 75-page step-by-step handbook walks readers through the stages of sponsoring, organizing, and participating in a public policy consensus process. Designed primarily for government agencies or departments, the guide also is useful for any other sponsor of - or participant in - a consensus building process.

Resource Link: http://www.policyconsensus.org

A Public Peace Process: Sustained Dialogue to Transform Racial and Ethnic Conflicts

Harold H. Saunders, International Institute for Sustained Dialogue. St. Martin's Press, 1999.

Harold Saunders, former Assistant Secretary of State and negotiator of the Camp David Accords and now Director of International Programs at the Kettering Foundation, distills over 35 years of experience working with conflicts across the globe. This book describes how sustained dialogue can help conflicting groups of citizens move toward resolution.

A Resource Guide for Hosting Conversations That Matter at the World Cafe

The World Café is an easy-to-use method for creating a living network of collaborative dialogue around questions that matter to the real-life situations of your organizations or community. In this beautifully illustrated booklet, Juanita Brown collaborates with Nancy Margulies and the World Café Community to articulate seven guiding principles for people to use to host their own Café. Learn about the thousands of people on five continents who have experienced the World Café, a model for setting up the ideal Café for your group, the roles of the hosts, crafting powerful questions, Café assumptions and etiquette, and more.

Resource Link: http://www.theworldcafe.com

Abortion Issue Guide

Public Agenda.

Where advocates on both sides see absolutes, the public seems to see conflicts and conditions, with solid majorities supporting a woman's right to an abortion if her reasons seem sound and if it's not too late in the pregnancy. On an individual level, medical technology is making the issue more complex. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=abortion

Active Listening

Active listening is a way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding. Active listening is a structured form of listening and responding that focuses the attention on the speaker. The listener must take care to attend to the speaker fully, and then repeats, in the listener's own words, what he or she thinks the speaker has said.

Addressing Language-Related Challenges in the Practice of Dialogue and Deliberation

Sandy Heierbacher (Director of NCDD). Unpublished manuscript, 2006.

The true power of dialogue and deliberation lies in their ability to surface new insights and innovative solutions when all voices are brought to the table. But while diversity is an asset to these programs, it brings with it a unique set of challenges. This paper addresses four broad challenges related to language and culture that dialogue and deliberation practitioners regularly face. These are: (1) the challenge of getting culturally diverse participants in the door; (2) the logistics involved in having multiple languages spoken in the room; (3) creating a safe space for those with other language/speech needs or differences; and (4) dealing with participants?’ existing preconceptions, assumptions and stereotypes related to language/cultural differences.

Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Heierbacher_language_paper.doc

Advanced Facilitation Strategies: Tools & Techniques to Master Difficult Situations

Ingrid Bens. Jossey-Bass, 2005.

From Ingrid Bens, the author of the best-selling book Facilitating with Ease!, this 272-page book is the next-step resource for project leaders, managers, community leaders, teachers, and other facilitators who want to hone their skills in order to deal with complex situations. Advanced Facilitation Strategies is a field guide that offers practical strategies and techniques for working with challenging everyday situations. These proven strategies and techniques are based on experience gleaned from hundreds of facilitated activities in organizations of all sizes and in all sectors.

Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787977306.html

After the Storm: Working Through the Implications of Hurricane Katrina

Public Agenda.

The aftermath of Katrina raises questions about poverty, race, energy policy, the federal budget, in fact just about every corner of American society and the purpose of government itself. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/katrina/katrina.cfm

Alchemy Consulting LLC

We are process experts who help teams around the world unleash their creativity to solve today's complex business issues. Alchemy gives you a system that works -- graphic recording, strategic illustration, process innovation, organizational strategy, leadership development -- leading you and your business to sustainable success. The Alchemy team, which provided their top-knotch graphic recording services at the 2004 NCDD conference in Denver, consists of Chris Chopyak, Patti Dobrowolski and Lois Todd.

Resource Link: http://link2alchemy.com

Alexander & Associates

Betty Alexander brings sixteen years of experience to her work in large system change and leadership development for public and private organizations. As a graphic facilitator, she uses her skills in deep listening, information synthesis, and intuitive visual processing to make group conversation visible. The real-time visual record of a meeting that she creates is designed to optimize group learning and productivity. It illuminates collective wisdom, creates understanding between multiple, contradictory and complex data, acknowledges individual contribution by reflecting what is being voiced by each person, and builds commitment through high participation in meeting processes.

Americans for Informed Democracy's Organizers Toolkit - Asian Relations

Nuclear weapons in North Korea. Trade with China. Economic development in India. The United States' relations with countries in Asia promise to be some of the most dynamic in the twenty-first century. Indeed, U.S.-Asian relations are the "the next big thing" in America's role in the world. But despite the importance of this relationship, public discourse fails to contextualize these issues in a constructive manner that focuses on the opportunities that exist for collaboration, rather than the dangers that are posed when powers collide. For this reason, Americans for Informed Democracy proposes its new initiative, The Next Big Thing: The Future of U.S.-Asian Relations.

Resource Link: http://www.aidemocracy.org/usasia.doc

AmericanValuesAre.com

AmericanValuesAre.com was designed to promote civic education and civic engagement. Civic education leads to responsible citizenship. Responsible citizens are the core foundation of our democratic system. Our guides are designed to encourage dialogue about what it means to be a citizen, and to energize more Americans to be engaged in shaping and interacting with their own government. We also hope to be able to inform and educate people on how to engage in the dialogue that leads to common ground and minimizes partisan debate that divides and demoralizes us.

Resource Link: http://www.americanvaluesare.com

America?’s Global Role Issue Guide

Public Agenda.

September 11th dramatically recast how the U.S. engages the world. The U.S. remains, as it has for the past decade, the world's sole remaining superpower. The question of how we relate to the world -- whether on economic globalization, the environment, human rights, global health crises, relations with China and Russia -- needs to be addressed, whatever happens in the struggle with al Qaeda. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=americas_global_role

Ascentum's Dialoguecircles Training

Ascentum's dialoguecircles training series includes a wide array of courses on consultation and dialogue (Introduction to Intermodal Consultation and Dialogue, Dialoguecircles Methodology for Consultation and Dialogue, Analyzing Results from Consultation and Dialogue Projects, etc.) designed to meet your needs. All courses and certification programs are based on our proven dialoguecircles methodology. Developed by Sandra Zagon, Joseph Peters and Manon Abud, experts in the consultation and dialogue field, our training courses are practical, relevant and dynamic.

Resource Link: http://www.dialoguecircles.com/training

Bigger Picture

Bigger Picture is a consulting company based in Scandinavia. We provide visual learning and dialogue tools and consulting services enabling ongoing sustainable organizational and personal change. We are a network of consultants, facilitators and illustrators joining forces to create learning designs and processes with visual support.

Resource Link: http://www.biggerpicture.dk

Brandy Agerbeck and Loosetooth.com

Brandy Agerbeck has mapped conversations in many industries: biotechnology, consulting, education, financial, food, insurance, medical, pharmaceutical, retail, technology, transportation, and utilities. She has graphically facilitated groups from 2 to 200 people, working with start-ups as well as Fortune 500 companies. Agerbeck is skilled in both hand drawing and computer illustration. Agerbeck has worked in front of thousands of people since 1996, and has a B.A. from Grinnell College in Studio Art.

Resource Link: http://www.loosetooth.com/Viscom/gf.htm