NCDD's Learning Exchange

20,000 Dialogues

20,000 Dialogues is a nationwide campaign to bring people of different faiths together using films about Muslims to stimulate discussion and promote understanding. It brings the concept of interfaith dialogue into the hands of ordinary people who want to make a positive difference. 20,000 Dialogues is a Unity Production Foundation (UPF) project in cooperation with Connecting Cultures, LLC.

Resource Link: http://www.20000dialogues.org

21st Century Town Meeting

AmericaSpeaks' 21st Century Town Meeting method creates engaging, meaningful opportunities for citizens to participate in public decision making. This unique process updates the traditional New England town meeting to address the needs of today's citizens, decision makers and democracy.

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

24 CFR Subtitle A

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2003.

Document from the Office of the Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, detailing the requirements for citizen participation in the use of funds from the government towards Housing and Urban Development directives.

Resource Link: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_00/24cfrv1_00.html

7 Stages

7 STAGES produces theatre that focuses on the social, political, and spiritual values of contemporary culture. Their Survivor Project, for instance, utilized the power of theatre and the momentum of the 1996 Summer Olympics to bring attention to war torn countries and the issue of survival as an every-day issue. Artists and companies from the Balkan states were invited to Atlanta for a series of performances, dialogues, and interaction with American artists.

Resource Link: http://7stages.org

A Community Builder's Tool Kit: 15 Tools for Creating Healthy, Productive Interracial/Multicultural Communities

Anti-Racism Initiative of the Institute for Democratic Renewal and Project Change, 2001.

This primer for revitalizing democracy from the ground up can be downloaded for free or ordered for $1.50 per copy.

Resource Link: http://www.race-democracy.org

A Conversation About Conflict

Search for Common Ground's "Conversations About Conflict" are 1.5- to 2-hour workshops that can be run for any given audience interested in conflict resolution. The purpose of the Conversation is to help people develop a new awareness of conflicts in our lives - how we currently respond to them, what they cost us, and the alternative approaches that can be used to deal with them in a more constructive manner. SFCG offers a dialogue guide and other resources to help you lead Conversations About Conflict.

Resource Link: http://www.sfcg.org/resources/training/resources_conversation.html

A Guide to Participatory Budgeting

Brian Wampler.

Participatory Budgeting (PB) programs are innovative policymaking processes. Citizens are directly involved in making policy decisions. Forums are held throughout the year so that citizens have the opportunity to allocate resources, prioritize broad social policies, and monitor public spending. These programs are designed incorporate citizens into the policymaking process, spur administrative reform, and distribute public resources to low-income neighborhoods. Download the 32-page guide directly from the NCDD website.

Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Wampler_PBGuide.pdf

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 Planning Tool for Thinking About the Future of the Public Service

Clerk of the Privy Council, 1996.

This document describes the process and the results of the Task Force commissioned by the Clerk of the Privy Council in August 1995. The Task Force used scenario building methodology to look at the future. This process, pioneered by the Royal Dutch Shell Group of companies in the early 1970's and increasingly used by the private and public sectors around the world, is essentially a method of encouraging and facilitating strategic thinking, planning, and dialogue.

Resource Link: http://www.myschool-monecole.gc.ca/Research/publications/pdfs/psfuture.pdf

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.