2. What we did
• Use of dialogue &
deliberation
– Residents
– Chicago area
– Community issues
– Public policy
• Broad outlines
– Not exhaustive!
3. D&D: Guiding definitions
• Dialogue…
is a process that allows people, usually in small groups,
to share their perspectives and experiences with one
another...(it) can and often does lead to personal and
collaborative action.
• Deliberation…
is a closely related process…that emphasizes the
importance of examining options and trade-offs to
make better decisions.
Source: National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD)
4. Methods
Charrettes
Restorative Circles
Community Visioning Workshop
Participatory Budgeting
Online Forums
World Cafe
Study Circles Civic Reflection
Appreciative Inquiry
Open Space Technology
Race Dialogues
21st Century Town Hall Meetings™
Conversation Cafe
Citizens Jury
Future Search
Participatory Appraisal Deliberative Polling™
5. How we did it
• Qualitative research
– Secondary source review
– Focus group 10 experts
– 38 individual interviews
• Written report
9. Exploration
• Learn about selves,
community, issue
• Foundational
– Develops skills
– Builds social capital
– Models good process
Project on Civic Reflection
Exploration
10. Core Support = Humanities
Programming, funding, Process expertise, materials,
facilities (Cultural Center) training
Café Society at Ron’s Barber Shop
Exploration
11. Cultural and Historical
Museums and Centers
Cambodian American Heritage Museum Dialogue
photo: Rebeccah Sanders, CCA
Exploration
16. Decision-Making
• Influence public
decisions & policy
• Improve public
knowledge
• Deliberative = reach
consensus
recommendation
Town Hall Meeting in Crete
photo: Chicago Tribune
Decision-Making
17. Innovation at a Small Scale
• City Wards
– 1970s Neighborhood
Governance
– Participatory Budgeting
– Master Plans, Council,
Participatory Town Halls
• Suburbs
– Evanston 150
Participatory Budgeting in Ward 49
– DuPage County
– Elgin budget
Decision-Making
18. Planners and Technical Experts
CHICAGO COMMUNITY
CLIMATE ACTION TOOLKIT
Residents “playing” Transopoly (from CNT)
photo: CMAP
Decision-Making
20. City and County Government
• New Mayor + County
Board President
– “engaged residents”
• City Departments
– Chicago Cultural Plan
• Education & Crime
Town Hall Meeting on City Budget, – 80s/90s: LSCs & CAPS
Kennedy-King College, 2011 – CPS: FACE = CACs
photo: The Gate
– CPD: ?
Decision-Making
21. Collaborative Action
• Empower groups and
individuals to solve
complex problems
– Identify shared needs +
desires
– Idea generation
Imagine Chicago – Action plans
Collaborative Action
22. CBOs as Gateways to Residents
• CBOs as partners for
public consultations
– Pro: efficient, effective
– Con: can limit diversity
of opinions
• Interest in alternatives
– New topics, people,
methods (online)
Little Village Environmental Justice
Organization, park consultation
photo: Jay Dunn
Collaborative Action
23. Work of Community Organizers
• Use D&D, but limit
– 1-on-1=commitment
– Priority: mobilization for
action
• Ambivalence
– Action vs. Dialogue
– Resident-government
collaboration
LISC Chicago community visioning session
photo: Martha Brock Photography
Collaborative Action
24. Integrating D&D into organizing
• New models =
collaborative thinking
• Community wisdom +
government power
COFI: Community Organizing and Family Issues
Collaborative Action
25. Conflict Transformation
• Resolve conflicts
• Foster personal healing
• Improve relationships
between groups
Marae Encounters, Field Museum
photo: Christopher J. Philipp
Conflict Transformation
26. Dialogue Across Difference
• Race, ethnicity, income,
faith
– Barriers to policy-making
YWCA Community Conversations on Race
photo: YWCA Evanston/North Shore
Conflict Transformation
27. Restorative Justice
• Community-owned
processes
– From courts to schools,
public housing, churches
Precious Blood Ministry Peace Circle,
Back of the Yards
photo: Allison Clark/Medill
Conflict Transformation
28. Civil Discourse
Chicago Tea Party coordinator at Town
Hall in Oak Lawn, 2009
photo: Southtown Star
Conflict Transformation
30. Skills – Training, Process Consulting
Illinois Art of Hosting Training
Supports
31. Technology
• City government
– Crowdsourcing, open
data, practical apps
• Neighborhood forums
– EveryBlock, blogs, list-
serves, Facebook
• Planning tools
Supports
32. Funders
• McCormick and Spencer
Foundations
– Civic Education, PACE
• Limited awareness &
understanding
• Outside traditional
Donor’s Forum Engage to the Nth Degree
funding models
convening 2012 – Evaluation, effectiveness
Supports
33. Research
• Many local academics
with D&D expertise
• Promising partnerships
– UIC’s Great Cities
Institute/IPCE &
Participatory Budgeting
– Adler School &
Restorative Justice
Participatory Budgeting Press Conference 2012
photo: UIC, Great Cities Institute
Supports
34. Communities of Practice (CoP)
• No local CoP for civic
engagement
• Related
– Art of Hosting Illinois
– IAF Chicago (facilitators)
– Cook County Restorative
Justice Committee
– Open Government,
Planners, OD, etc.
• National
NCDD 2012 Conference – NCDD
photo: C.W. Lee
– IAP2 (Midwest Chapter)
Supports
36. Exploration
• Plenty of space to grow
– Topics
– Geographies
– Demographic groups
– Methods
• Foundational
– Model good process
– Promote civil discourse
Re-Thinking Soup at Jane Addams Hull
House Museum
Opportunities
37. Decision-Making
• Greatest need and
opportunity
– Complex problems
– Reconsider roles
– New leadership
– Participatory Budgeting
• Better processes + skills
Chicago Cultural Plan 2012 Consultation, • Legal frameworks
Bridgeport
photo: Chicagoist/Chuck Soto • Be open to unexpected
champions!
Opportunities
38. Collaborative Action
• Unique opportunity
– Strengths of community
organizing + D&D
• Dialogue to action
• Community wisdom for
new solutions
BAAWG: Building Academic Achievement
Within This Generation, Bolingbrook
photo: Linda Ozbolt
Opportunities
39. Conflict Transformation
• Restorative justice =
embedding D&D in
communities
– Spread, connect
• Dialogue on race &
inequality
– Remove barriers to
My Evanston, My Neighbors race dialogue decision-making
photo: North Shore United Way
Opportunities
40. Supports -- Skills & Technology
Skills Technology
• Widespread skills training • Barely scratched surface!
– Affordable & appropriate – Open data + dialogue
• Process generalists – Mix online and face-to-face
– Serious games
• Process innovators
Opportunities
41. Supports -- Funders & Research
Funders Research
• Expand awareness & • Thought leaders
improve understanding – Build case: how works, why
• Incorporate D&D into important
projects • How to define & measure
– Legacy in civic infrastructure success
• New models
Opportunities
42. Supports -- Community of Practice
• Building a civic
infrastructure is a big
job = work together
– Collaborate across
“streams” and fields
– Share learning
– Common supports
– Open new paths
NCDD 2012 Conference
– Leave something behind
photo: Nancy White
Opportunities