NCDD Commentary - October 17, 2004

Pre-Conference Resources for Beginners to Dialogue & Deliberation or Those New to the D&D Community

Submitted by Sandy Heierbacher, NCDD Convenor

People who attended the first National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation in 2002 received a binder packed with resources to help them navigate a conference that was bringing together the movers and shakers in numerous streams of practice that hadn?t before had the chance to learn from one another en mass. These streams of practice ? deliberative democracy, conflict transformation, intergroup dialogue, arts-based civic dialogue, etc. ? spoke different languages, even though their values and practices were much more similar than they were different.

So we provided conference participants with dozens of definitions of terms used in the workshop descriptions that they might not be familiar with (Appreciative Inquiry, choice work, systems thinking,?). We provided them with lists of the best D&D books, videos, facilitation guides, and more. We provided them with definitions of dialogue and deliberation quoted by key leaders from all of the streams of practice. Sample ground rules, training opportunities, internet resources?the list goes on.

We cannot provide you with a binder this year simply because in the past two years, we have expanded upon those resources and developed so many new resources (all of which are available to you already at on this website, for free) that we would have never been able to put together a manageably-sized, affordable resource for all of you.

Instead, I?d like to refer you to some of these great resources and encourage you to spend some time with them before the conference. If you are new to dialogue & deliberation, or if you have primarily worked within one particular stream of practice or with one or two specific models or techniques, you will have a better experience at the conference if you familiarize yourself with the resources below.

D&D Models & Techniques

Detailed (but not overly-long) descriptions of many leading models of dialogue and deliberation. Included whenever possible is specific information about what circumstances the models are best suited for, information about the organizations and networks affiliated with the model, and resources that are recommended for learning more about the model.

We recommend that you look over the information that?s posted about the models and techniques that you?re not too familiar with. You will hear most of these models ? Study Circles, Sustained Dialogue, Wisdom Council, AmericaSpeaks? 21st Century Town Meeting, Deliberative Polling, Appreciative Inquiry, and so on ? talked about at the conference, and you will appreciate having familiarized yourself with them.

www.thataway.org/resources/understand/models/models.html

Quick Reference Glossary

When you looked over the workshops we?re offering at the conference, did you notice terms you weren?t familiar with? Most likely, that term is used by a specific stream of dialogic or deliberative practice you haven't been involved in yet ? and, hopefully, it is defined in the glossary. Instead of discounting that workshop as one that?s not for you, look up the term to see if the workshop might be just what you?re looking for.

www.thataway.org/resources/understand/glossary.html

Leading D&D Organizations and Programs

The organizations listed on these pages are all pioneers in the dialogue & deliberation community. Categories include Process Leaders, Movement Builders, Communities of Practice, High-Tech Pioneers, Research Institutions, and more.

www.thataway.org/resources/explore/leaders/orgs.html

"Deliberative Dialogue to Expand Civic Engagement: What Kind of Talk Does Democracy Need?"

Martha McCoy and Pat Scully of the Study Circles Resource Center gave us permission to share this article with conference participants. It is an excellent article that distinguishes deliberation from dialogue and discusses the merits of ?the marriage of deliberation and dialogue.? Although the article focuses on the Study Circles process, it is a great introduction to public engagement processes and their principles. This is a very readable 19-page article that we highly recommend you take the time to read.

Download this article now.

Papers that will be Presented at the Conference

Another way to prepare yourself for the conference is to read the papers that have been submitted by several workshop presenters. The workshop entitled "The Contexts of Dialogue: Three Perspectives" has three scholarly papers affiliated with it. The workshops "Evaluation Methods for Dialogue & Deliberation: Roundtable Discussion" and "Public Engagement in Government Agencies: Examples from Practice and a Proposal to Create a New Practitioner Exchange Network" each have a paper as well.

Read the abstracts and download the papers

For Beginners?

If you?re a beginner to dialogue & deliberation, look over the ?What are Dialogue & Deliberation?? and ?Why do D&D Matter?? pages. There you?ll find quotes by some of the top leaders in the field explaining why the field you?re entering is vital for the health of your community, your country, and your entire planet.

And for Further Exploration...

The Resources Section at www.thataway.org is literally packed with crunchy D&D goodness. If you haven?t perused the NCDD website before, this is the one section not to miss!

www.thataway.org/resources/index.html

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