The Institute of Cultural Affairs is one of the oldest and largest providers of training in facilitation. Their techniques are known collectively as the Technology of Participation, and they offer an extensive series of courses in the various techniques. (continue)

This 12-page report provides an overview of the findings revealed in two workshops conducted by the Kettering Foundation that involved professional and civic organizations. In short, the central question that this report addresses is: What do we know about the use of deliberation in these organizations with respect to the way they interact with the public? (continue)

Ron Thomas developed this matrix with his class on participatory planning to attempt to help clarify who's doing what AND why some effective participation methods and practitioners have not been more widely embraced by the U.S. (urban, regional, land use, transportation) planning profession. He found that there are very few truly participatory planning models, methods or practitioners, which is perpetuated by the general lack of their inclusion in the core planning curricula nationwide. (continue)

Founded in 1993 by organizers working across the spectrum of progressive social justice movements, NOA's mission is to advance progressive organizing for social, economic and environmental justice and to sustain, support and nurture the people of all ages who do it. In furtherance of that goal, our members are organizers who are responsible to a defined constituency and who help build that constituency through leadership development, collective action and the development of democratic structures. NOA's Social Justice Dialogues curriculum assists organizers with critical reflection on their work and the current political context. (continue)

The Nonviolent Change Journal helps to network the peace community: providing dialoguing, exchanges of ideas, articles, reviews, reports and announcements of the activities of peace related groups and meetings, reviews of world developments relating to nonviolent change and resource information concerning the development of human relations on the basis of mutual respect. (continue)

The Taos Institute is a community of scholars and practitioners concerned with the social processes essential for the construction of reason, knowledge, and human value. The Taos Institute's workshops and publications focus in large part on the Appreciative Inquiry method. (continue)

This commentary was submitted for the NCDD website by Tom Atlee and Rosa Zubizarreta in March 2003. The piece is adapted from Tom's book "The Tao of Democracy" (2002). It begins "To 'facilitate' means to 'help make easier.' If our goal is to have meaningful and powerful dialogue, the role of a facilitator is to help make it easier for the group to do so. Dynamic Facilitation, created by consultant Jim Rough, is a leading-edge process designed to help groups have meaningful conversations, access their creativity, and discover practical breakthroughs to challenging situations, even in the midst of divergent opinions, strong emotions, and conflicting beliefs. (continue)

Dialogue--a carefully structured communications technique that is generally employed to promote mutual understanding between bona fide as well as potential adversaries--has been responsible for such seminal events as ending the cold war and initiating (albeit briefly) a Middle East peace accord. But business, says well-known social scientist and public-opinion specialist Daniel Yankelovich, also can utilize the process to develop "webs of relationships" that encourage the acceptance and increase the adoption of any company's plans and visions. (continue)

CSF is a partnership of consultants experienced in training, facilitation and organizational development, who collaborate to expand the use of participatory approaches and methods by individuals, organizations and communities. CSF is affiliated with The Institute of Cultural Affairs, a leader over the past four decades in promoting lasting positive change in communities, nonprofit organizations and businesses. They utilize a distinct and proven approach developed by the ICA called the Technology of Participation (ToP), and offer a number of trainings on facilitative leadership and group facilitation methods. (continue)

Tom Atlee, Founder of the Co-Intelligence Institute (CII), regularly sends out inspiring and informative messages about collective intelligence to his mailing list of over 1000 people. CII promotes awareness of co-intelligence (a shared, integrated form of intelligence) and of many tools and ideas that can be used to increase it. CII's website is loaded with excellent, useful resources. (continue)