Links to Web Resources
Hundreds of useful links are compiled on the following pages along with brief descriptions or more information.
- Collective Inquiry & Community Conversations
- Community Building & Collaboration
- Community Change & Activism
- Conflict Resolution & Peacebuilding
- Deliberative Democracy & Public Policy
- Intergroup Relations
- Online Dialogue & Deliberation
- Public Participation & Civic Engagement
- Youth Dialogue & Deliberation
Below, we've listed the links that we consider ?the best places to start? in each category. To find more links in a given category, use the menu above.
Collective Inquiry & Community Conversations
Appreciative Inquiry Commons
'AI Commons' is devoted to the sharing of academic resources and practical tools on Appreciative Inquiry and the rapidly growing discipline of positive change. The site is hosted by Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management. Appreciative Inquiry is the coevolutionary search for the best in people, their organizations and the relevant world around them.
www.appreciativeinquiry.cwru.edu
Conversation Caf?
Vicki Robin, a pioneer in the voluntary simplicity movement, came up with the idea of using the "conversation caf?" model in attempts to take her ideas of simpler living to a higher level. Her organization has more than 60 trained caf? hosts and has spread internationally after a tremendous start in Seattle.
David Bohm Resources
This site provides a plethora of links to articles, books and information about and by David Bohm, a well-respected contemporary physicist whose contributions to science and philosophy include a kind of free-form, sustained dialogue.
Open Space Institute - U.S.
The Open Space Institute - US is one of many Open Space Institutes worldwide, all born and raised by the efforts of volunteer members. The Institute is an inclusive learning community that provides access to resources on Open Space and connects individuals and groups to inform, inspire, mentor, and sustain each other in opening and holding space. Open Space Technology is one way to enable all kinds of people, in any kind of organization, to create inspired, self-organized meetings and events. In Open Space meetings, events and organizations, participants create and manage their own agenda of parallel working sessions around a central theme of strategic importance.
Community Building & Collaboration
Center for Collaborative Policy
The Center is a joint program of California State University, Sacramento and the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific. The mission of the Center is to build the capacity of public agencies, stakeholder groups, and the public to use collaborative strategies to improve policy outcomes. The Center produces a quarterly newsletter called The Collaborative Edge.
Community Based Collaboratives Research Consortium
CBCRC is a network of researchers, mediators and facilitators, government agencies, community groups and environmental groups which seek to understand and assess local collaborative efforts involving natural resources and community development. CBCRC provides a venue for the sharing of research, evaluation and case studies; emerging stewardship issues and practice and policy outcomes concerning community based collaborative processes.
Demos
Demos was founded in 1999 as a national research and advocacy organization to help create a new long-term vision for American society. Demos works on two of the most urgent challenges facing the U.S. today: strengthening our democracy and creating more broadly shared prosperity. Demos conducts original research and builds networks of civic and economic reformers to help turn ideas into action.
National Civic League
NCL is dedicated to strengthening citizen democracy by transforming democratic institutions. NCL accomplishes its mission through technical assistance, training, publishing, research, and the All-America City Awards, the nation's oldest and most prestigious community recognition program.
National Community Building Network
NCBN was formed in 1993 to facilitate collaboration and mutual sharing among community building efforts in poor communities. These programs enable community members to build on their own strengths and resources to improve their communities.
PolicyConsensus.org
Home of the Policy Consensus Initiative and the National Policy Consensus Center. The Policy Consensus Initiative is a national nonprofit organization that works with states to promote collaboration to achieve more effective governance. The National Policy Consensus Center provides assistance to state leaders in addressing difficult policy issues using consensus-based governing models.
Community Change & Activism
Changemakers
Changemakers, an initiative of Ashoka - Innovators for the Public, focuses on the rapidly growing world of social entrepreneurship by providing inspiration, resources, and opportunities for those interested in social change throughout the world. Includes the vast Changemakers Library, which offers a plethora of social change tools and resources, categorized under such topics as Effective Governance, Children/Youth and Conflict Mediation & Resolution.
IGC Internet
The nonprofit Institute for Global Communications (IGC) offers activists in the areas of peace, environmentalism, feminism, and anti-racism a place on the Internet to learn, meet, and organize. Or go directly to the AntiRacismNet: www.antiracismnet.org
Pioneers of Change
Pioneers of Change is an emerging global learning community of committed, young people in their 20's and early 30's, from diverse cultural, social, and professional backgrounds.
Pop Sustainability, Inc.
Pop Sustainability has created a global youth culture campaign to promote a more humane, ecologically sound and economically just society through the arts, Internet and live events. By using the industries of popular culture, the means of mass media and the modern codes of advertising, Pop Sustainability is selling an ethic of awareness and personal responsibility to people to effect positive change. Pop Sustainability intends to build momentum to become a worldwide social movement.
Southern Catalyst Network
SCN is a regional alliance devoted to combating prejudice and bigotry in the Deep South. SCN links activists and organizations working to promote democratic values and organizing against prejudice and hatred. Their website is designed as an information clearinghouse for activists and provides a wide range of material that can be used by progressive non-profits to strengthen their work for social justice. SCN offers free resources and materials such as a newsletter highlighting models of effective social justice organizing and an on-line newsletter highlighting diversity resources and news items.
Conflict Transformation & Peacebuilding
The Alliance for International Conflict Prevention and Resolution
The Alliance for International Conflict Prevention and Resolution (formerly known as ACRON) is a network of the United States' most pre-eminent conflict prevention and resolution organizations. Formed in 1999 and incorporated in 2003, the Alliance is the only U.S.-based organization dedicated to uniting conflict management organizations and reaching out to related fields.
Association for Conflict Resolution
ACR is a professional organization dedicated to enhancing the practice and public understanding of conflict resolution. ACR represents and serves over 7000 mediators, arbitrators, facilitators, educators, and others involved in the field of conflict resolution and collaborative decision-making. ACR was launched in January 2001, when the Academy of Family Mediators (AFM), the Conflict Resolution Education Network (CREnet), and the Society for Professionals in Dispute Resolution (SPIDR) merged into one organization.
CRInfo
The Conflict Resolution Information Source (CRInfo) is a cooperative effort to strengthen the conflict field's information infrastructure. The site has catalogued over 8,000 web, hard copy, audio and video resources.
CODEP
Founded in the UK in 1993, CODEP (the Conflict, Development and Peace Network) is a multi-disciplinary forum for academics, organizations and practitioners involved in exploring the causes of conflict and its impact on people's lives. Some of CODEP's activities include an email newsletter, an online database, and an annual international conference on conflict and development.
Common Ground Partnership
The Common Ground Partnership is spearheading Conversations About Conflict across the country. Created by Search for Common Ground in June 2002, the Common Ground Partnership is working to transform the way we deal with conflict: away from adversarial approaches toward cooperative ones.
Intractable Conflict Knowledge Base Project
A free and comprehensive system for accessing the peace and conflict resolution field's cumulative body of knowledge on the nature of difficult and intractable conflicts, as well as strategies for reducing the destructiveness of these conflicts.
Mediate.com
Mediate.com is a comprehensive website which provides access to over 1000 conflict resolution-related articles and 5500 mediators, an excellent calendar of mediation events and trainings, and much more.
National Association for Community Mediation
NAFCM is a membership organization comprised of community mediation centers, their staff and volunteer mediators, and other individuals and organizations interested in the community mediation movement.
Public Conversations Project
In addition to their groundbreaking grassroots dialogue work, PCP provides trainings, presentations, and workshops on such things as the power of dialogue, inquiry as intervention, and the architecture of dialogue. PCP's website offers a variety of great tools and downloadable resources to help you organize and facilitate a dialogue.
Search for Common Ground USA
Seeking to transform the way Americans think and act about conflict, SFCG USA is working to place a 'common ground vision' on the nation's political and cultural agenda and to facilitate the emergence of a movement to support that vision. SFCG USA provides a searchable online database of stories about Americans finding common ground, and offers an email newsletter called the Common Ground News Roundup.
www.sfcg.org/lg-locations.cfm?locus=America
The United States Institute of Peace
The USIP is an independent, nonpartisan federal institution created and funded by Congress to strengthen the nation's capacity to promote the peaceful resolution of international conflict. Established in 1984, the Institute provides an array of programs, including grants, fellowships, conferences and workshops, library services, publications, and other educational activities. The Jeannette Rankin Library Program supports the information and research needs of the Institute's programs and outside practitioners, researchers, libraries and the public through collections, services, networks, cooperative relationships, grants and outreach activities.
Deliberative Democracy & Public Policy
AmericaSpeaks
Promoting the founding belief that every citizen has a right to impact the decisions of government, AmericaSpeaks serves as a neutral convener of large-scale public participation forums. Through close consultation with leaders, citizens, the media and others, AmericaSpeaks designs and facilitates deliberative meetings for 500 to 5,000 participants. Its partners have included regional planning groups, local, state, and national government bodies, and national organizations. Issues have ranged from Social Security reform to redevelopment of ground zero in New York.
By the People
By the People: America in the World, an initiative of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, aims to energize and enhance the national conversation on America's role in the world through a series of national and local broadcasts and events that demonstrate the relevance of foreign policy issues to local concerns. The project includes three national PBS specials, two cycles of local programming to be produced by PBS stations in cooperation with community organizations, national and local forums for civic dialogue, and an interactive web site.
The Deliberative Democracy Consortium
The mission of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium is to bring together practitioners and researchers to support and foster the nascent, broad-based movement to promote and institutionalize deliberative democracy at all levels of governance in the United States and around the world.
www.deliberative-democracy.net
The Harwood Institute
The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation is a non-profit institution which strives to be a catalyst for charting a different course for America's public life and politics.
Kettering Foundation
The central question behind the foundation's research is currently this: What does it take to make democracy work as it should? The Kettering Foundation produces low-cost publications of interest to dialogue leaders. A few examples are: Making Choices Together: The Power of Public Deliberation; Community Leadership: Community Change through Public Action; and How the Community Works: Officeholder Perspectives on Democratic Self-Government and the Community. The Kettering Foundation spawned the National Issues Forums.
National Issues Forums Institute
NIFI is a nationwide network of educational and community organizations that deliberate about nationwide issues. NIFI publishes deliberation guides on such topics as Racial and Ethnic Tensions: What Should We Do?; Money and Politics: Who Owns Democracy?; and Violent Kids: Can We Change The Trend?
Public Agenda
A nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 1975 to help citizens understand critical policy issues so they can make more informed and thoughtful decisions and to help leaders understand the public's point of view on major policy issues.
Study Circles Resource Center
SCRC promotes and supports study circles (small-group, democratic, peer-led deliberative dialogues on important social and political issues). Their website provides downloadable copies of many of their top-notch dialogue guides and other resources.
The Teledemocracy Action News + Network
The website of the Global Democracy Movement TAN+N is primarily dedicated to the creative use of modern technologies (ICT) and face-to-face deliberative techniques in all forms that directly empower citizens to have authentic input into political systems at all levels of governance around the world.
http://frontpage.auburn.edu/tann/
The U.S. Consensus Council
In April 2003, legislation was introduced in Congress to establish the United States Consensus Council (USCC), which would serve the nation by promoting consensus-based solutions to important national legislative policy issues. The USCC would convene the stakeholders on a given issue and seek to build "win/win" agreements - those that reach the highest common denominator among the parties. On February 13, 2003, Congress approved $1 million in funding for the U.S. Consensus Council. The funding will be available once legislation to authorize the USCC passes Congress. On June 17, 2003, the Senate Government Affairs Committee unanimously approved S. 908, the U.S. Consensus Council Act of 2003. It now awaits action on the Senate floor. The initiative to create the United States Consensus Council has been organized and is staffed by Search for Common Ground, in coordination with Consensus Council, Inc. (North Dakota), the Western Consensus Council, the Montana Consensus Council, and the Policy Consensus Initiative.
Intergroup Relations
Active Voice
Active Voice is a nonprofit, fee-based service provider whose work is an outgrowth of promising practices developed by the Television Race Initiative (TRI). Active Voice creates campaigns based on powerful issue-driven films. AV campaigns encourage individuals and community groups to probe, discuss and take action on timely and relevant social justice issues. In collaboration with a wide range of partners, Active Voice creates companion materials and trains facilitators in how to use the films as catalysts for civic engagement, volunteerism and coalition building.
Community Relations Service
CRS, an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, is a specialized Federal conciliation service available to State and local officials to help resolve and prevent racial and ethnic conflict, violence and civil disorders. CRS helps local officials and residents tailor locally defined resolutions when conflict and violence threaten community stability and well-being.
The San Mateo Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group
Len and Libby Traubman have been organizing Jewish-Palestinian dialogue in the San Francisco area for over a decade as part of a larger public peace process. Their website features a 'how to' page on initiating Jewish-Palestinian dialogue groups, as well as many great articles and links. The Traubmans have spawned many similar, yet diverse groups in the Bay area, and their ideas and methods have spread into new cities and onto campuses.
http://traubman.igc.org/global.htm
The University of Michigan's Program on Intergroup Relations (IGR)
IGR is a social justice education program which works proactively to promote understanding of intergroup relations throughout the student community. It assists students as they explore models of intergroup understanding and cooperation while acknowledging differences between and within groups. IGR provides students with opportunities to learn, experience, and work constructively with one another through structured dialogues and experiential activities across social group boundaries and through social conflict. A number of other universities have used IGR as a model for developing similar programs.
Web Lab
This non-profit organization is dedicated to developing innovative Web-based projects that bring fresh perspectives and new voices to the discussion of public issues. The goal of the organization is to use the Web as a positive, transformative force in people's lives and in society at large.
Online Dialogue & Deliberation
e-thePeople
Beginning with the premise that democracy is a conversation, e-thePeople describes itself as "the digital town hall for the nation." In cooperation with over 1000 sites around the internet, e-thePeople promotes intelligent and diverse discussion and political action.
Information Renaissance
Founded in 1996, this nonprofit corporation promotes the use of the internet to support the public interest through online dialogue and other processes. Information Renaissance enables citizens to participate more fully in the democratic process by improving access and fostering meaningful, high-level, interactive exchanges between informed members of the public and their government.
Making the Net Work
A joint UK-US initiative, Making The Net Work provides resources and ideas for organizations and neighborhoods developing online communities or creating local technology centers.
Minnesota E-Democracy
Minnesota E-Democracy is a non-partisan citizen-based organization whose mission is to improve participation in democracy in Minnesota through the use of information networks and communication technologies. Minnesota E-Democracy was established in 1994 and created the world's first election-oriented website. They sponsor election-year online partnerships to promote citizen access to election information and interaction. Their year-round focus is on the use of the Internet to improve citizen participation and real world governance through online discussions and information and knowledge exchange.
Politalk
Politalk is a nonpartisan forum for moderated e-mail discussions on important social and political topics of the day. Politalk was founded in 1999 as a response to the often shallow ranting that seems to dominate so many internet discussions. Poliltalk hoped to distinguish itself in three ways: by focusing on only one topic at a time for a limited period of time (2-4 weeks); by having an active moderator to keep the discussion on topic and civil; and by inviting guest commentators to add depth to the discussions. Politalk plans and hosts online events and forums, and provides consultation, workshops and training sessions.
Web Lab
This non-profit organization is dedicated to developing innovative Web-based projects that bring fresh perspectives and new voices to the discussion of public issues. The goal of the organization is to use the Web as a positive, transformative force in people's lives and in society at large.
Public Participation & Civic Engagement
Better Together
Better Together is the final report of the Saguaro Seminar: Civic Engagement in America, an initiative of Professor Robert D. Putnam at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The project focuses on expanding what we know about our levels of trust and community engagement and on developing strategies and efforts to increase this engagement. A signature effort has been a multi-year dialogue held on how we can increasingly build bonds of civic trust among Americans and their communities.
The Center for Democracy and Citizenship
The Center for Democracy and Citizenship is a University of Minnesota resource based in the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Its mission is to promote democracy and strengthen citizenship and civic education within a variety of settings, with a special emphasis on youth. The Center focuses on developing practice-based theory about how to engage citizens in public life.
Civic Practices Network (CPN)
CPN's website features an array of excellent resources for the 'new citizenship movement.' The Network shares a commitment to bringing practical methods for public problem solving into every community and institutional setting in the U.S.
International Association for Public Participation
IAP2 is an association of members who seek to promote and improve the practice of public participation in relation to individuals, governments, institutions, and other entities that effect the public interest in nations throughout the world. IAP2 carries out its mission by organizing and conducting activities to: serve the learning needs of members through events, publications, and communication technology; advocate for public participation throughout the world; provide technical assistance to improve public participation through research and programming.
League of Women Voters
A nonprofit organization which promotes an open governmental system that is representative, accountable and responsive; that assures opportunities for citizen participation in government decision making; and that preserves public health and safety through gun control measures.
Roundtable, Inc.
Roundtable, Inc. is a production company that focuses on building "social capital." Roundtable produces public engagement projects in several media (television, radio, web, print, books) and partners with other production companies to help increase the impact of their work. They form regional coalitions for each project and provide online training for facilitators.
Youth Dialogue & Deliberation
18-35
18-35 is a newly-formed national, non-partisan, multi-ideological organization dedicated to giving young adults a credible voice in policy-making. The mission of 18-35 is to infuse national policy debates with an innovative and young perspective and to engage young adults in these debates. Beginning in September 2003, 18-35 is challenging a select group of "up-and-coming" and "already-there" young adults to think across partisan and ideological lines to develop new, creative, effective solutions to critical social and economic problems. In addition to a broad dissemination effort geared to policy-makers, the media and the general public, 18-35 will convene on-line and off-line deliberations across the country that bring together young adults and elected officials.
Arsalyn
A program of the Ludwick Family Foundation, Arsalyn promotes constructive dialogue between groups with diverse viewpoints as well as the sharing of models and methods. Arsalyn has been convening a series of regional conferences geared toward helping young people ? especially politically active youth - develop skills that will help them communicate effectively with those of opposing views or with more lukewarm potential allies without alienating them or poisoning the wells of deliberation and common action. The aim of these conferences: to explore of the art of political deliberation and to apply this art in "bridging the partisan divide."
At The Table
Connect with others, share information, and help build the worldwide movement for youth participation at this online clearinghouse featuring everything you need to know about effectively involving youth in your organization and community. Hosted by the Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development.
Project 540
Project 540 is an innovative program which has given over 100,000 students nationwide the opportunity to engage in dialogue about issues that matter to them and to turn these conversations into real school and community change. Funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by Providence College, Project 540 has conducted student-led dialogues in nearly 250 high schools, asking students what issues matter most to them in their schools, communities, nation, and world.
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