Contented Citizens Vote Against Change

From the March 24 issue of Science Daily:
"US citizens who have a high quality of life are more engaged in the direct democracy process, according to Ryan Yonk from Utah State University and Professor Shauna Reilly from Northern Kentucky University in the US. Their study, looking at the effects of quality of life on voter participation in direct democracy elections, demonstrates that quality of life is a strong predictor of voter turnout."  Read the complete article

March 14 PublicForum Webinar Focuses on Action Engagement

“All Talk, No Action?"
Using SMART Conversations® to Create Action Engagement 
A PublicForum Webinar

Monday, 14 March, 7-8pm Eastern (New York)
(60-minute webinar)
$15 USD for Circle Club members
$20 USD for non-members 

Register for this program at http://www.publicdecisions.com/publicforum_2011mar08.html
Registrants receive access to the session recording (a $20 USD value) and the program slide deck.

Can we have too many conversations or too much public engagement?

Are we even asking the right questions and holding the right conversations?

Public engagement professionals and citizens alike often complain that they participate in endless meetings that lack results. 

While there is arguably value in acknowledging people’s perspectives and engaging all voices, what happens to trust when the only result of conversation is another conversation?  

Dialogue is a foundational skill that can transform your conversations and give you the tools to communicate with authenticity, respect, and trust. In this one-hour webinar, you'll gain exposure to dialogue and learn what it is, what it isn't, and how it can help you in your personal and professional life. Whether you wish to learn a new skill to communicate with your teenager more productively, engage a group of stakeholders around an initiative, or hold more effective public engagement meetings, SMART Conversations® is a particular brand of dialogue that will bring your effectiveness to a new level.

In this webinar, you'll be introduced to action dialogue and the Shared Interest Model™, a valuable tool that provides a repeatable framework for facilitating effective dialogue to explore a question or a problem. Using this tool, you'll learn how to structure a divergent conversation, focusing on the scope, significance, and possibilities of given topic, and create a pool of interests leading to common ground and a specific action plan.
If you could benefit from this practical approach to dialogue, please join us for our March webinar.

Did you know? SMART Conversations® is available in a web-based, on-demand training format through PublicDecisions.  You can sign up and complete the self-paced training module when it’s convenient for you.  Learn more.

About Our Presenters
Paul Weisman, SMART Conversations®
Paul is a trainer, coach, and management consultant with strong education and business credentials. His signature training focus is SMART Conversations®, a workshop designed to significantly improve relationships in organizations. Paul's deep commitment to this work comes from his experience helping organizations, teams, and individuals transform their performance.

Paul is also a Coaches Training Institute (CTI) certified coach. There, he learned the formality of a relationship building and professional coaching model. The combination of his SMART Conversations® certification and coach training have elevated his mentorship skills to a new level. Paul helps his coaching clients achieve success by helping them see what is getting in their way, creating new strategies, learning new skills, and then moving forward.

A professional engineer and business leader with two degrees in Civil Engineering and more than 30 years of consulting engineering experience, Paul shifted his focus from things to people in 1990 and hasn't looked back.

Michele Simos, SMART Conversations® and SimosConsulting
Dedicated to helping clients reach their greatest potential as communicators, Michele loves being in the classroom facilitating SMART Conversations® and conducting business writing and presentation skills training. As a certified SMART Conversations® facilitator, Michele focuses on creating effective interpersonal communication skills rooted in authenticity, respect and trust.

Michele holds an M.A. degree in Professional Writing and Publishing from Emerson College and an undergraduate degree in Journalism/Public Relations. She is in the process of writing a book on communications and is a frequent speaker at corporate and professional conferences on the subject of communications

Co-Management for Fisheries, a Type of Public Engmt

A new study from the recent issue of Nature (January 5) notes how "the bulk of the world's fisheries -- including small-scale, often non-industrialized fisheries on which millions of people depend for food -- could be sustained using community-based co-management."  (See more at this link.)  This is a fascinating report, in that it repeats a theme described in country reports from Cambodia in the IAP2 and Kettering Foundation 2010 joint project report, "Painting the Landscape: A Cross-Cultural Exploration of Public-Government Decision Making" (you can download the report from IAP2's website).  The report notes how co-management is considered a type of public participation by interviewees.

New Kellogg Fdn Report on Creating Spaces for Change thru Civic Engmt

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has published a great new report, entitled "Creating Spaces for Change: Working Towards a Story of 'Now' in Civic Engagement."

The document is "a dialogue report among 40 organizations from across the country, all committed to civic engagement; what it means and its goals."  You can download the report at this link.

Comments Sought on Final Draft of AA1000 Stkholder Engmt Standard

Many folks have been following the development of the AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard over these last few years.  The final draft of this international standard for stakeholder engagement has been released for review and comment at http://accountabilityaa1000wiki.net/wiki/.

According to the project website, the goal of the revision was to move the standard away from being mostly "a CSR process and [to] make it more strategically relevant for engagements across businesses, governments and other organisations. The new AA1000SES needs to provide a mechanism for engagement that can be robust at the global level but flexible enough for local application, that looks beyond process to outcomes and impact evaluation. There is also a need to better link the numerous sustainability initiatives and their understanding of quality stakeholder engagement."

Comments and feedback are encouraged via email at standards@accountability.org.

Designing for E-Participation and for Deliberation

Chris Birchall has a fantastic new post on his blog about interface design for e-participation and designing systems for deliberation.  He quotes work by Beth Noveck that highlights a set of 10 values "to which online systems must adhere in order to foster real deliberation" as well as Ann McIntosh's "ten key dimensions of e-particpation initiatives".  Check out his great post here.

What are your thoughts about how technology can effectively support deliberation?  What has worked well--and what hasn't--in your experience?

Free Thurs Sept 9 Webinar on Painting the Landscape: An Intl Expl of Public-Govt Decision Making

A Practical Insights Webinar
Thursday, 9 September
18:30 Eastern (New York) / 22:30 GMT
Check http://www.WorldTimeServer.com for your respective time zone
Free for Circle Club members

In 2005 the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) and The Charles F. Kettering Foundation began work on a joint research project exploring public-government decision making in seven country/regions of the world: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Canada, Latin America, UK/Western Europe and the United States.

As a result, this monumental effort has provided a unique, cross-cultural perspective of the social, political and institutional dimensions of public participation, at the country and at the regional level.

Join study co-authors Beth Offenbacker and Shareen Springer for an overview of the study and its recently published findings, and an interactive discussion about the potential implications of this landmark work.

Desley Renton, current President of IAP2, will speak briefly about IAP2 and the role of research in its mission. Dr. Lyn Carson, Board Member of IAP2 and Regional Coordinator for Australasia for the IAP2-KF research project team, will participate in the session.

Practical Insights is an occasional PublicDecisions series that showcases new research with practical implications for stakeholder engagement.

About Our Presenters

Dr. Beth Offenbacker is founder and chief learning officer at PublicDecisions.com, which uses social media and other technology to connect people with best practices, emerging trends and leading thinkers in stakeholder engagement through an array of distinctive online programs. She was the coordinator for the IAP2-KF research project from 2005-2010 and co-authored the final project report with Shareen Springer. An award-winning scholar/author, Dr. Offenbacker will be a post-doctoral fellow starting in fall 2010 at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University's Center for Public Administration and Policy (CPAP), where she will conduct research on public engagement in the fields of transportation, land use, the environment and health and also carry out engagement projects in these subject areas on the university's behalf for public and nonprofit organizations.

Since 2001, Shareen Springer has worked with a variety of government agencies and nonprofit organizations to establish productive, collaborative partnerships between local governments and the communities impacted by planning and decision-making efforts. Her recent work has focused on supporting active community engagement processes that expand the reach of public involvement efforts to include diverse and nontraditional participations including rural populations, youth and tribal groups through hands-on outreach and strategic visioning efforts. Shareen has worked with a variety of rural and urban communities throughout Oregon, Montana as well as abroad to develop meaningful opportunities for effective community engagement. Shareen holds a Masters degree in Community and Regional Planning as well as a graduate certificate in Not-for-Profit Management from the University of Oregon. She currently works as a consultant with JLA Public Involvement based out of Portland, Oregon.

Learn more and register for this program

Join us! New Weekly #P2Chat on Public Engmt, Starting Tues Aug 17

Starting on Tuesday, August 17, PublicDecisions will begin hosting a weekly Twitter chat from 18:00-19:00 Eastern (New York) / 22:00-23:00 GMT on topics related to public engagement.  (Check your respective time zone here.)

It's free to participate; all you need is a Twitter account (they're free too!).

Join us to share resources, ask questions, discuss current news, trends and issues (or even maybe rant a little bit if needed) about any aspect of public engagement.  We may even have a special guest 'tweeter' on specific topics every once in a while!

It's easy to participate. All you need to do is include #P2Chat when you tweet.  Twitter will associate all your posts with this marking (called a 'hashtag') as part of our conversation.  Starting with our first #P2Chat, you'll be able to view past discussions at this link.

Looking forward to our first #P2Chat with everyone on the 17th!

Free Tech Lab Recording Available: BudgetAllocator for Participatory Budgeting

We've just posted the free recording from our recent Tech Lab program featuring the BudgetAllocator tool.

BudgetAllocator, from BangtheTable, is designed to help your community provide intelligent input into your budgetary decision making processes. It’s used to educate and promote community prioritisation when you have limited resources and unlimited expectations.

BudgetAllocator does this by supporting the collection of qualitative and quantitative information about your community’s preferences that can be used to support your decision making. This flexible platform also features include integrated analytics and reporting tools.

You can access the recording here.

About Our Tech Lab Series
Tech Lab is an occasional series that showcases a variety of tools used for engagement purposes.  In each 60-minute program, you’ll learn about each tool’s key features and its capabilities. You’ll get to see the actual tool in use and be able to ask questions if you wish.

These Tech Lab sessions are valuable for…
* Benchmarking the tool(s) you use now against what’s available
* Learning about new or existing tools in the marketplace

They’re also are ideal for narrowing your short list of prospective tools, as you consider upgrading or changing what you’re presently using.

Tech Lab programs are recorded and later made available for on-demand viewing on the PublicDecisions website.

Registration is free of charge for Circle Club members, and no one will contact you about the tool unless you request it.

20 July Stakeholder Engmt Consultants Mtg: Teaching People to Fish

Tuesday, 20 July
18:00 Eastern (New York)/ 22:00 GMT (60 minutes)

If you're a consultant, we hope you'll participate in this month's Stakeholder Engagement Consultants meeting. This month our group will meet on Tuesday, 20 July. There is no charge to attend; the meeting is moderated by Rick Raymond of Richard Raymond Associates, Inc.

Draft Agenda*
The focus of the meeting will be Teaching People to Fish.

As consultants, there's a natural tension between providing a service for clients and teaching the client how to solve the problem they face.

The worry is that if we do the latter, the client won't need our services any longer. What's our larger responsibility as a consultant? Where do we draw the line?

At this Stakeholder Engagement Consultants meeting, we'll discuss the relationship between...

The role of the consultant as a subject matter expert
The role of the consultant as a teacher or mentor
The role of the consultant as an advisor

Join us for what will be a great conversation about how we navigate these questions in the work we do with clients!

The call in number is (712) 432-1600 and the passcode is 162613#

* If you're a member of our group on LinkedIn, we've asked you to help us further shape the draft agenda (whether or not you can attend on 20 July). Join the group to participate in this discussion online.

Harvard Ash Center July 15 Webinar: Engaging the Citizen as Co-Producer of Social Good

The Harvard Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation is sponsoring a Thursday, July 15th Webinar on the topic Engaging the Citizen as Co-Producer of Social Good.

~This free event is a Webinar and takes place online. Registration required.~

Often the most effective—and disruptive—innovations have the highest expectations for the people they are trying to help.

This webinar, sponsored by the Government Innovators Network, will feature experienced civic entrepreneurs—from both the nonprofit and public sectors—who understand the challenges and rewards of implementing an innovation that undermines some of the most common assumptions in poverty alleviation work.

With participation from the audience, our panel will derive a set of common sense principles and strategies to help public officials, social entrepreneurs and citizens produce extraordinary social change.

Ample time will be allocated for audience Q&A.  The panel includes Maurice Miller, CEO and Founder, Family Independence Initiative and Judith Kurland, Chief of Programs and Partnerships, Office of the Mayor of Boston.

Learn more and register here.

Collab Governance Case/Simulation Competition, New Winners Announced

News just out from the Syracuse University's Maxwell School on their Fourth Annual Teaching Case and Simulation Competition and also announcing the winners of the 2009-2010 competition:

Fourth Annual Teaching Case and Simulation Competition

Collaborative Public Management, Networks and Public Management, Collaborative Governance, and Collaborative Problem Solving

Competition funding: $5,000 prize for best teaching case, $5,000 for best teaching simulation, and up to ten additional $1,000 honorable mention prizes

Public managers who work in networks often find themselves not solely as unitary leaders of unitary organizations. Instead, they often find themselves collaborating in multiorganizational networked arrangements and with the public to solve problems that cannot be solved, or solved easily, by single organizations. Collaborative public management, networks and public management, collaborative governance, and collaborative problem solving have become essential topics in most public management and public policy programs. But collaboration is not simply a body of substantive knowledge; it is also a set of skills. We believe that one of the best ways to prepare students to operate in networks is through the use of case studies, simulations and negotiation exercises.

To further stimulate the creation of effective and innovative teaching cases and simulations in this area, the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration (PARCC) at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University is sponsoring its fourth annual competition. The competition seeks to encourage the development of new cases and new simulations to be used in teaching collaborative public management, collaborative governance and/or collaborative problem solving. The competition has been funded to award one $5,000 prize for best teaching case, one $5,000 prize for best teaching simulation, and up to ten $1,000 honorable mention prizes.

Case studies should be approximately 15-25 type-written pages (double-spaced). Simulations should include a minimum of 6 players. All entries must include a teaching note.

Selection of the winners will be made by a committee of scholars and practitioners. All cases and simulations must be original and not yet published elsewhere.

Winning cases and simulations are published online and downloadable free of charge at E-PARC: www.maxwell.syr.edu/parc/eparc. Most cases and simulations are published in three languages: English, Spanish, and Chinese. Full credit is given to authors.

E-PARC is a project of the Maxwell School’s “Collaborative Governance Initiative” launched in 2007. E-PARC provides free on-line resources for those who teach collaborative public management, networks and public management, collaborative governance, and collaborative problem solving around the world. We receive an average of 10,000 “hits” per month from 40 different countries.

To enter: Submit original teaching case studies and teaching simulations no later than January 15, 2011. Finalists will be notified around February 28, 2011.

All entries should be submitted electronically to PARCC@maxwell.syr.edu.

Questions should be directed to:
Rosemary O’Leary, Distinguished Professor
The Maxwell School of Syracuse University
roleary@maxwell.syr.edu

View current and past winners at: www.maxwell.syr.edu/parc/eparc

Congratulations to the $5,000 First Place Winner for 2009-10
Rob Alexander, Rochester Institute of Technology
“Addressing ELCA: Facilitating a Brownfield Stakeholder Meeting” Simulation

Congratulations to the $1,000 Honorable Mention Winners for 2009-10
>Angel Saz-Carranza and Albert Serra, Institute of Public Governance and Manage, ESADE-Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain
“Managing a Public-Private Joint Venture: The PTB” Case

>Melissa Brazil and Eli Teram, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada
“Collaboration Gone Awry: A Struggle for Power and Control over Service Delivery in the Non-Profit Sector” Case & Simulation

>Susan Appe and Judith R. Saidel, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University of Albany, State University of New York
“Collaboration for Civic Change: Connecting High-Tech Growth and Community Well-Being” Case

Free July 20 PACE Webinar on Executive Branch, Philanthropy & Civic Engmt

Brad Rourke writes to invite people to participate in a free July webinar hosted by Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement(PACE). The program is at 2:00 pm (eastern) on Tuesday July 20, 2010. Chris Gates, the Executive Director of PACE, will moderate and Brad will present.

This webinar builds on a recent report that Brad wrote for PACE, entitled "An Evolving Relationship – Executive Branch Approaches to Civic Engagement and Philanthropy." The report is based on a briefing paper he wrote for a White House meeting earlier this year between leaders of the philanthropic community and Executive Branch officials. "In the paper, I argue that a number of key trends in Administration approaches to civic engagement are now intersecting and suggests a great deal of possibility for moving forward in the near future," Brad notes.

To learn more about Brad's impressive work and access the report -- as well as to reserve your space at this free webinar -- click here.

Orton, Ashoka Partner on Strong Communities Competition, Focus on Innovative Citizen Engmt

CommunityMatters and Ashoka’s Changemakers have announced the Strong Communities: Engaging Citizens, Strengthening Place, Inspiring Change competition, which the two organizations are jointly sponsoring.  Entries are being accepted starting tomorrow, Wednesday, June 16 through Wednesday, August 11.

According to the Community Matters website, "Citizens, practitioners and elected officials can enter innovative, replicable, sustainable projects and ideas to steer change and take charge of the future of their communities. We want to hear from an array of voices, and most importantly, we want to create a community of people who come together to celebrate, collaborate, and share experiences."

Sponsors are "asking people to share their big, crazy, “knock-your-socks-off” ideas, and to inspire us with the transformational projects that are happening in towns and neighborhoods across the country.  In particular, we’re looking for interdisciplinary approaches where different people, organizations and fields come together to learn from each other and collectively solve problems by creating a shared vision of a strong community."

Your organization could be one of three winners selected; each will receive $5,000 to advance your project.  Eight finalists also will be invited to attend the October 5-8 CommunityMatters ’10 Conference in Denver.  There also is a $500 early entry prize you are eligible for if you enter by July 14.

See the full details for the competition and how to enter here.

New from INVOLVE: Talking for a Change Pamphlet

INVOLVE has just published a new pamphlet entitled "Talking for a Change." According to Simon Burall, it "provides new thinking for policy makers about how citizen engagement and dialogue can inform and strengthen more traditional forms of decision-making. In doing so it highlights how active engagement of citizens can revitalise our democracy and help tackle some of the biggest issues facing democracies in the 21st century."

INVOLVE suggests "that the most obvious of these big issues are climate change and the ageing society. We set out a 'typology of issues' and make the case for why the most complex, distributed and large scale issues require a radical new approach."

Download the pamphlet here.

Report: Public Sector Engmt of Transsexual & Transgender People in Support of Equality Duties

Great new report from the Equality Network: the Scottish Transgender Alliance on public bodies/public sector agency duties to serve transsexual and transgendered people. The report discusses several findings that relate to serving people from the trans community.

According to the report, the project specifically "aimed to develop a better understanding of:
• public bodies’ awareness of their duties towards transsexual people
• public bodies’ current performance in meeting their existing duties towards transsexual people, and
• the extent to which they were considering the needs and experiences of the full range of transgender people when meeting their duties, in line with best practice" (p. 10).

Download the report here.