The extended network that promotes citizen discussion places a high value on ways to make discussion ongoing and self-sustaining. This matter of the “stickiness” of citizen discussion is referred to as “embeddedness” in deliberative circles. It is a ten dollar word...
IF public discussions are intended to help you think through the public policy choices you make. But it may be hard to see where and when such choices might actually present themselves. It may be difficult to see how you could actually influence “public policy.”...
On Sunday I spent about 90 minutes at a retreat for the Board of Trustees of a local private school. I served on this Board for the past three years, so I was already familiar with the personalities and issues the Board faces. I brought my markers &...
When people are invited to take part in one of the Interactivity Foundation’s Public Discussions they often wonder what effect this could have if we meet with just a small group of citizens, perhaps just six or seven people, in sessions here or there around the...
Here are links to 3 planning and expense forms for your use (all should be in MS Word 1997-2003 compatible): Citizen Discussion Planning Checklist Summer Institute Expense Form Expense Form for Citizen Discussions...
Picture for a moment two very different kinds of citizen “discussions” that took place this summer. Both were focused on issues surrounding health and healthcare in our society. For the first, you might think of any of a number of the so-called “town hall”...
This entry describes the 3rd focal area of the Summer Institute: learning how to conduct Small Group Citizen Discussions.
IF discussion reports resulting from sanctuary discussion projects have been the “raw material” for dozens of organized citizen discussions over the last several years. The basic idea is that it is helpful for citizen discussions to have “starting points”,...
Here's a quick overview of what we do in the Interactivity Foundation, including our 3 focal areas of Sanctuary Projects, Citizen Discussions, and Education.
I'm uploading here a series of "Conceptual Essays" on IF and our approach to public discussion. The essays complement our other more hands-on documents by placing our work in a larger context and exploring the reasoning behind why we do things the way we do. They...