International Association for Public Participation - USA
Dear IAP2 Members,
We hope you have had a great and restful Summer season! We are pleased to say that there are many exciting things that have happened in the last few months. So please take a few minutes to look at all the exciting updates we have for the NA Conference, Training, Certification, and upcoming opportunities to become more involved with IAP2 USA.
Essays on the accomplishments of and challenges to public engagement and deliberative democracy
>>>>>>>>>
Edited by Laura W. Black, Timothy J. Shaffer, and Nancy L. Thomas
The Journal of Public Deliberation consists of a collection essays by leading innovators and scholars who share a commitment to increased and improved participation by everyday Americans in public discourse, community problem solving, and social policy making. The “field” of public deliberation has made impressive advances in the last thirty years in both theory and practice.
Despite these gains, many scholars and practitioners can point to challenges and concerns, ranging from “what do we call this work?” to “how do we build a strong civic infrastructure for public engagement?”
These webinars take place every 2nd Tuesday of the month. September 9th webinar from 11a-12p PDT.
IAP2 USA and IAP2 CANADA
Present to you:
Innovative Engagement
When you're bringing together a wide and diverse community for a project that affects everybody, you have to be ready to try something new -- or something innovative. Mike Dahlstrom, senior planner for Washington County, Oregon, discovered that when he set about preparing theAloha-Reedville Study and Livable Community Plan. He'll share what he learned, what worked and what didn't, in this month's webinar. You don't want to miss it!
Webinars are free for members and $50 for non-members.
The IAP2 2014 North American Conference will feature presentations and activities, all designed by P2 professionals to educate, inspire and encourage other P2 practitioners. Each week until the start of the Conference, we’ll send you updates on what you can look forward to.Read more here.
IAP2 is filled with members from a wide variety of backgrounds, interests and experience.
Our “member spotlight” feature aims to share our members’ stories and bring us closer together as an organization. This month’s “spotlight” features Ryan Henderson, from the City of Fort Lauderdale.
Briefly introduce yourself. Who are you, and what do you do?
I’m currently in my second year as an ICMA (International City/County Management Association) Senior Management Fellow with the City of Fort Lauderdale. As an ICMA fellow, I work in the Division of Neighbor Support, which is housed in the City Manager’s Office. I have the distinct pleasure of working hand-in-hand with our community members, who we call “neighbors,” in helping to address their individual and neighborhood/civic association concerns.
I’m originally from Charlottesville, Virginia. I graduated from Virginia Tech with a BA in Communication in 2010, worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer in Pocahontas County, West Virginia from 2010-2011, and graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with an MPA in 2013.
How long have you been a member of IAP2? How did you first hear about the organization?
I joined IAP2 in the Winter of 2013 after city staff introduced me to the organization. They thought that IAP2 would be of interest to me and serve as a wonderful forum to see how other cities our building community through effective public participation outreach efforts. Getting the public to participate and bringing more people to government is a core function of my work and the mission of our division. It simply made sense for me to become a member. It was two months ago that I decided that I wanted to have an active role in IAP2 and serve on IAP2 committees.
Back in mid-June I had the privilege of being part of the City of Fort Lauderdale’s All-America City Delegation. The All-America City Award is given annually to communities that demonstrate innovation, inclusiveness, and civic engagement. We traveled out to Denver “to compete” with 25 other cities across the nation vying for the coveted selection as an All-America City. Ten cities out of the 25 were awarded the distinction (Fort Lauderdale was one of them).
Receiving the All-America City Award in Denver.
I’ve described to family and friends that the All-America City Awards is sort-of-like a civic beauty pageant, as every city that traveled out to Denver was more than deserving of the award and could’ve easily been named in the top ten. Every city that participated was worthy. That was the fun of attending the All-America City Awards, the chance to see all of the great work being done in communities throughout the country and the pride each and every delegation member had in the community they were representing. However, one city in particular caught my eye and I was happy to see them win based on an innovative initiative that illustrates the effectiveness of public participation.
Hampton, Virginia, located in the southeast part of the Commonwealth and with a population of 137, 436, was named a 2014 All-America City. One of the projects that the City of Hampton submitted in their award application, and a project that undoubtedly helped them secure the All-America City title, was their annual “I Value” initiative that solicits public input and involvement for their city budgets.
The “I Value” campaign combines some of the best traditional citizen-outreach practices, such as in-person community meetings, with social media tools like online chats and electronic polling. The “I Value” campaign is an invitation to citizens to tell the city what they want and what they value. Informal chats of small groups of 10-15 are held at coffee shops and libraries. Larger meetings are held with professional organizations, local civic organizations, and neighborhood associations (Alliance for Innovation, 2011).
The following is an excerpt from the Colorado Municipalities.
IMAGINE YOUR COMMUNITY 15 years from today. It is a vibrant, freestanding community where prosperity has continued, even blossomed.
The community is everything you had hoped and wished for, and there is enough money in the municipal coffers to pay for it. What do you see?
In 2005, municipal staff members from Longmont invited community members from all walks of life to engage their imaginations around this question.
Hosting a process that involved listening, appreciation, and discernment, they forged strategic directions that still guide the City today.
In the past decade, local governments in Colorado have pioneered a new way of governing – positive governing – in which municipal and community members’ partner to appreciate what works and build their future on today’s strengths. Using an approach called appreciative inquiry (AI), they have flipped problems into opportunities and complaints into shared responsibility. This process has enabled people of radically diverse – even conflicting – backgrounds to co-create new opportunities by focusing on, understanding, and leveraging what fuels success.
Youth Conferences as a Context for EngagementS. Mark Pancer, Linda Rose-Krasnor, and Lisa Loiselle, Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement “In this article, we provide a definition and conceptual framework for youth engagement, discuss some of the developmental outcomes associated with engagement..."
The "civic upsell" - connecting different engagement opportunities - as explained by @abhinemaniow.ly/A32Gc
>>>>>>
"The way in which the EU has approached democracy...ignores the increasing expectations of Europeans to be involved"ow.ly/zCEPH
>>>>>>>
Tim Bonnemann reports on the metrics for Participatory Budgeting in the 2013-14 cycle nationwide -ow.ly/zB6st
>>>>>>>
In Brooklyn, a new text messaging system helps people report, track, mobilize on, and work with government on key issuesow.ly/zyjpZ
>>>>>>>
Chapter News
IAP2 Talks
EOP2 Training
Hosted by: Intermountain Chapter
PUBLIC ANGER IS AN
INCREASING FACT OF SOCIETY.
Growing global citizen outrage causes government gridlock, lawsuits, stopped projects, election losses, loss of time, money, and destroyed credibility. EMOTION, OUTRAGE AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION is a new workshop that builds on IAP2’s global best practices in public involvement and the work of Dr. Peter Sandman, a foremost researcher and expert in public outrage and risk communication. This course will help you move people from rage to reason and engage stakeholders in building consensus for better decisions. This practical, hands-on workshop is a fresh 2-day mix of lecture, video, small and large group discussion and authentic, real world exercises that give you the answers, tools and ability to prevent problems, manage the tough public issues that you face and keep your organization on track and moving forward.
IAP2 Talks: Carolyn Lukensmeyer at IAP2 NA Conference 2013
Incivility and Political Dysfunction:
What we can do about it?
Dr. Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, Ph.D., is a leader in the field of deliberative democracy, a public servant and social entrepreneur. She currently leads The National Institute for Civil Discourse.
Dr. Lukensmeyer discusses the power of civic engagement and participation in a time where there is a high level of need politically and socially.
This is a new feature we are launching for IAP2 members and friends.
Please feel free to email us with any suggestions on this new feature we will be offering OR to email us with any job openings you are aware of. We are happy to share this resource with other P2 professionals.
Visit www.iap2usa.org, sign in and click on the "Members-Only" tab to gain access to the monthly webinar recordings, printable IAP2 materials for meetings and more!
Membership Certificate
To receive a free, printable membership certificate from IAP2 USA with your current membership information, email info@iap2usa.org
and we'll send one right over!
Job Postings
To post a job on our website, email info@iap2usa.org with the organization name, job title, closing date, brief job description/highlight and any other relevant information.
Let's build the ultimate P2 resource list!
Wouldn't it be nice if there was a list of all the best public participation resources out there?
Let us know if you have any thoughts or ideas of resources to be included on this list by emailing us at: info@iap2usa.org.
Who We Are
IAP2 USA advances public participation in the United States by providing its affiliate members with tools and information to conduct high-quality public participation processes, by providing government, industry, non-profit organizations and participants with educational resources to increase the quality and value of their participation in such processes, and by advocating for quality public participation programs based on our Core Values and Code of Ethics.
