This posting is excerpted from an email Tom sent to a few people. rkm -------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 14:14:36 -0800 From: Tom Atlee <•••@••.•••> The Wisdom Council is NOT for addressing specific issues. However, DF (Dynamic facilitation) CAN be used that way. But its use in dealing publicly with public issues has not been tested very much. I suspect it would be difficult to DF a SPECIFIC issue with a randomly selected group of people, since their passion about it would be questionable. It may be more appropriate to do it with stakeholders, who have guaranteed passion about the issue. However, such a group does not represent or embody We the People. So this is touchy terriority. For addressing SPECIFIC ISSUES in a "We the People" way, citizens juries and consensus conferences are the most widely tested methods. The Citizens Assembly model is fantastic, but very expensive. DF has never been tried in association with such citizen deliberative councils, but it might be worth an educated experiment some day. To get familiar with Citizens Juries, you can start with my book (http://www.taoofdemocracy.com/) and the NCDD site (http://thataway.org/exchange/resources.php?action=view&rid=1580) which links to the Jefferson Center site which provides a handbook. To get familiar with Consensus Conferences, you can start with my book and the NCDD site http://thataway.org/exchange/resources.php?action=view&rid=1492 For a report on Canada's first Consensus Conference, see <http://www.thataway.org/exchange/resources.php?action=view&rid=2213> For less rigorous (not legitimately We the People = random sample) but cheaper approaches to citizen engagement with public issues (e.g., National Issues Forums, Study Circles, etc.), see the resources on my Deliberation page http://www.co-intelligence.org/deliberation.html From NCDD, here are some other Canadian resources to familiarize yourself with: Ascentum http://thataway.org/exchange/resources.php?action=view&rid=26 The Canadian Policy Research Network http://www.cprn.org/en/network.cfm?network=3 The Department of Foreign Affairs dialogue on foreign policy http://thataway.org/exchange/resources.php?action=view&rid=898 Caledone Institute of Social Policy ttp://www.ccic.ca/f/docs/002_public_deliberation_open_dialogue_open_mind.pdf A report on participatory budgeting in Canada http://thataway.org/index.php/?p=79 Tamarack's Communities Collaborating Institute http://tamarackcommunity.ca/CCI.html To expand your networking, you might want to get involved with The Canadian Community for Dialogue and Deliberation http://thataway.org/exchange/resources.php?action=view&rid=2077 which is just getting rolling and could use some energy. A potential great place to network, although their website doesn't tell who is involved. I'd suggest contacting the organizers. A report on the role of legislators as convenors http://thataway.org/index.php/?p=178 ________________________________ Tom Atlee * The Co-Intelligence Institute * PO Box 493 * Eugene, OR 97440 http://www.co-intelligence.org * http://www.democracyinnovations.org Read THE TAO OF DEMOCRACY * http://www.taoofdemocracy.com Tom Atlee's blog http://www.evolvingcollectiveintelligence.org Please support our work. * Your donations are fully tax-deductible. ________________________________ -- -------------------------------------------------------- Escaping the Matrix website http://escapingthematrix.org/ cyberjournal website http://cyberjournal.org subscribe cyberjournal list mailto:•••@••.••• Posting archives http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/ Blogs: cyberjournal forum http://cyberjournal-rkm.blogspot.com/ Achieving real democracy http://harmonization.blogspot.com/ for readers of ETM http://matrixreaders.blogspot.com/ Community Empowerment http://empowermentinitiatives.blogspot.com/ Blogger made easy http://quaylargo.com/help/ezblogger.html
