We hope you’ll join us in congratulating our friends at the Kettering Foundation on their new opportunity to develop deliberative decision-making forums for Israeli Jews and Arabs in Israel. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most difficult problems of dialogue and bridge building in the world, and we are excited to see the Kettering Foundation’s deliberative model being applied, and are hopeful that it will bring about positive change for the people of Israel and Palestine.  Read more about the new project below or ... (continue)

We are pleased to note that the work of our friends at the Kettering Foundation and Public Agenda contributed to the national education conversation when it was cited in the Washington Post recently. Here are Kettering’s remarks on the Post article. With several major cities closing large numbers of neighborhood schools as part of their reform efforts, the Washington Post’s education blogger, Valerie Strauss, took a look at recent studies analyzing how much money is actually saved to be reinvested in other, more successful schools. The answer is, Strauss ... (continue)

You are invited to join “A Nation in Debt,” an online deliberative forum beginning on Monday, April 8, and continuing through April 20. The site will be open to participants continuously during that period, but you must register by Monday, April 8, at 4 pm. How does the national debt affect individuals, businesses, and communities? Together we will consider the impact of the national debt and explore three possible options for addressing this issue, and work to find common ground. The forum adapts A Nation in ... (continue)

The following was found on the news page of the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI.org/news). The post, authored by William DiMascio, director of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, describes a moderator training and NIF forums held at the State Correctional Institute at Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. On Wednesday and Thursday, February 27-28, we held what used to be called a Public Policy Institute (PPI) training at the State Correctional Institute at Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. We trained eight life sentenced prisoners and eight outside guests (a professor and students from Juniata College ... (continue)

Brad Rourke, NCDD member and Kettering Foundation program officer, wrote the following for the NIFI blog. I highly recommend you download the 4-page issue advisory and think about using it in your community.  And take a minute to read over Brad’s thoughtful post below. On Friday, February 1, 2013, National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) released an Issue Advisory that contains materials that communities might wish to use in deliberating over the issues raised by the tragic events in Newtown, Connecticut in December last year. It’s not ... (continue)

The National Issues Forums Institute invites you to join them on a webinar on Monday about their public forums on the national debt and recent briefings to policymakers in Washington, DC. The webinar, which will take place from 2:00 to 3:00 Eastern on Monday (Jan 28th), will bring you up to date on the results of forums nationwide, as reported in No Easy Way Out, and National Issues Forums (NIF) briefings on the forums on Capitol Hill. Register for the webinar here. Between Fall 2011 and ... (continue)

The following is a beginning collection of resources from the National Forums Institute news page that may be helpful to those who would like to deliberate about violence, and/or to frame violence-related issues.  NIF is known for its careful, well-researched strategies for “naming and framing” issues in a balanced way that represents a variety of voices. Naming and Framing Issues to Make Difficult Decisions http://kettering.org/publications/naming-and-framing-difficult-issues-to-make-sound-decisions/ Naming and Framing Local Issues for Public Deliberation http://www.nifi.org/issue_books/detail.aspx?catID=3238&itemID=18703 From the National Issues Forums Institute (NIF) Youth and Violence: Reducing ... (continue)

Since 2011, the Kettering Foundation and the National Issues Forums have focused on the national debt, encouraging dozens of forums across the country to tackle this important issue.  Kettering has just released a report, No Easy Way Out: Citizens Talk About Tackling the Debt, written by Jean Johnson, senior fellow and special adviser for Public Agenda, highlighting the results of these forums.  From the report’s description… “This new report by Jean Johnson about recent citizen deliberations on the debt suggest the seeds of consensus on how to tackle ... (continue)

We received the following announcement today from the National Issues Forums Institute‘s Patty Dineen for a fantastic webinar being held this Friday.  Since this is a little last minute, I’m just going to share the whole announcement… SHAPING OUR FUTURE:  WHAT IS HIGHER EDUCATION’S ROLE? Join Us For A Moderator Preparation Webinar on Friday, October 26, 2012 at 2pm This coming year, more than 60 campuses and communities will host shaping our future forums. Here’s your chance to find out how to participate. This free webinar ... (continue)

Focusing on “Educating for Democracy” The Kettering Foundation’s Connections series is an annual publication which focuses on a central issue or particular area of Kettering research.  This year, Connections 2012: Educating for Democracy, explores the issues and innovations within higher education and is being released alongside the recently announced National Issues Forums  ”Shaping Our Future: How Should Higher Education Help Us Create the Society We Want?” national dialogue initiative and issue guide. Also Available: “That’s Not Democracy” from CIRCLE Another report, this one from the Center for Information ... (continue)