Written by NCDD director Sandy Heierbacher to expand upon the text on our “What Are Dialogue & Deliberation?” page. Since dialogue and deliberation processes help people learn more about themselves or an issue (Exploration stream), resolve conflicts and improve relations among groups (Conflict Transformation), improve knowledge and influence policy (Decision Making), and empower people to solve complicated problems together (Collaborative Action), the keys to success differ based on purpose. There are, however,  several conditions that help increase the likelihood of success of any dialogue or ... (continue)

USARiseUp.com has launched two online dialogues on race, and you are invited to join the conversation: The National Collegiate Dialogue on Race Relations at www.usariseup.com/category/department/national-collegiate-dialogue Race Relations in Your City at www.usariseup.com/publishers-note/join-town-hall-discussion-about-race-relations-your-city? The website has a monthly online magazine with several departments, covering a variety of topics and interests designed to help us celebrate our commonalities, better understand our differences and create a comfortable space to address those things that divide us. Their writers represent the ethnic groups that make up America; and their visitors ... (continue)

NCDD’s October 2010 Resource Guide on Public Engagement is packed with tools and stories to help you tackle contentious problems in your community. Download the Resource Guide at: www.ncdd.org/files/NCDD2010_Resource_Guide.pdf The Resource Guide showcases the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation’s best collaboratively-created products (like the Core Principles for Public Engagement and the Engagement Streams Framework), as well as recognizing and directing you to a lot of the great work on public engagement that has been done by others in our field. Created for our 2010 ... (continue)

This 2010 book by NCDD member Don Schneider is a psychological field manual for constructive dialogue about social and environmental concerns, and the progress of civilization. Why is it that some people don’t seem to understand the urgency of the challenges we face? Why is it sometimes so difficult to talk with them in ways that might lead to collaborative solutions? This book offers a fresh perspective on some of the psychological factors affecting our attempts to communicate with people we know about issues that ... (continue)

PRIA's founders believed in two principles of development: Participatory Research, which believes in the intrinsic value of people's knowledge as basis for their own empowerment, and Participatory Development, a process which empowers people to create and implement their own development plans. In the process of its work at the grassroots, PRIA pioneered a vast range of methodologies and tools for the empowerment of the marginalized, including Participatory Training, Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation, Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue, and Community Based Monitoring. (continue)

NCDD’s October 2010 Resource Guide on Public Engagement showcases the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation’s best collaboratively-created products (like the Core Principles for Public Engagement and the Engagement Streams Framework), as well as recognizing and directing you to a lot of the great work on public engagement that has been done by others in our field. Created for our 2010 regional events (all attendees received a copy), this must-have guidebook was developed to share stories and resources with the dialogue and deliberation community, public ... (continue)

Written by NCDD director Sandy Heierbacher to expand upon the text on our “What Are Dialogue & Deliberation?” page. Online formats for dialogue and deliberation have improved dramatically in the last few years. Although much of what is called “online dialogue” these days is still little more than a series of anonymous posts in a forum or blog, some groups who have made much progress in creating online spaces for effective dialogue and deliberation — oftentimes, as a complement to face-to-face approaches. Here are a ... (continue)

Ratnesh Nagda’s 2006 article titled “Breaking barriers, crossing boundaries, building bridges: Communication processes in intergroup dialogues” was published in the Journal of Social Issues, 62(3), 553-576. Ratnesh shared the following text about the article and some related resources in an NCDD listserv discussion about assessment in October 2010: The communication processes conceptualizes the dialogic nature of encounter within the context of differences and inequalities. I found four interrelated processes: appreciating difference, engaging self, critical reflection and alliance building. My colleagues and I are now using ... (continue)

This one-page spectrum (2008) was developed by Suzanne Orenstein, Lucy Moore and Susan Sherry, members of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Future of Collaboration and Consensus on Public Issues, in consideration of and inspiration from the spectra developed by International Association for Public Involvement (Public Participation Spectrum) and the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (Engagement Streams Framework). While all types of processes have intrinsic value on their own, those on the right side of the spectrum tend to include early phases akin ... (continue)

Everyday Democracy’s Issue Guide Exchange, at everyday-democracy.org/exchange/, is a free online resource available to anyone who is interested in broad-based, inclusive dialogue leading to community action. It is a place for people to share, create, and discuss dialogue guides. The Issue Guide Exchange has three parts: An exchange – a place for people to upload issue guides of their own, search for and review others’ guides, and download and adapt them. A forum – a place for people to discuss specific guides or dialogue in general. ... (continue)