Released August 26, 2009
STILLWATER, Okla. – Many towns across America have been hosting town hall meetings in which participants discuss healthcare legislation and express their opinions on this issue. These meetings have resulted in a lot of conflict.
There are other ways for citizens to meet and discuss their concerns in an effective manner.
“Techniques on having effective public engagement have been developed to enable citizens to have authentic, civil, productive discussions at public meetings,” said Renee Daugherty, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension leadership development and educational methods specialist. “National Issues Forums and Study Circles are a few of the names these meetings are called.”
The techniques used in these meetings create a safe space for dialogue, where everyone participating can share their perspective on the topic at hand.
Daugherty said deliberative dialogue builds trust and allows people to be open to listening to perspectives that are different than their own.
Ideas developed by the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation focus on building trust between citizens and government. Some of these ideas include the following:
- Prepare for public engagement by providing balanced information about the issue at hand and a range of possible policy choices for attendees to discuss.
- Use a facilitator to take yourself out of the front and center. Skilled facilitators are neutral and know how to translate conflict and anger to specific interests and concerns.
- Establish ground rules and agreements for those present. These agreements will allow participants a greater opportunity to be heard and to hear each other.
- Get different interests to talk to each other through a structured process.
- Record diligently what citizens say and be clear about how the information will be used.
“Deliberation is often vital to public engagement work as well, allowing people to discuss consequences, costs and options of various policies. It also allows for working through the emotions and values that tough public decisions raise,” she said.
Daugherty said National Issues Forums have been happening in Oklahoma since the 1980s. In 2001 several organizations came together to form the Oklahoma Partnership for Public Deliberation to grow the opportunity for deliberative dialogue in the state.
“Participants at these forums may not reach common ground, but most participants tend to leave the forum with a comprehensible, more coherent sense of how they feel about this issue,” said Kimberly Williams, OSU assistant Extension specialist, citizen engagement and public deliberation. “Forums allow people to address an issue and search for answers.”
On behalf of the OPPD, Daugherty, Williams and others are conducting facilitator training in Weatherford on September 29 and 30. For information about the Oklahoma Moderators and Recorders Academy visit the Web site at http://www.OKdeliberates.org.
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Writer: Katie Reim, 405-744-6792, katie.reim@okstate.edu
