Susan Stuart Clark

 

 

CIVIC AND COMMUNITY DIALOGUE: MATCHING PROCESS TO PURPOSE

Susan Clark will facilitate an interactive workshop that will provide an overview about dialogue in civic and community settings as well as frameworks and examples to help you reflect on dialogue processes you think have worked well – or not so well – and whether and how they have contributed to desired long-term changes.

We will discuss the differences between civic dialogues and community dialogues, as well as the range of professional and cultural assumptions people bring to how they think about the task of gathering, the choice of process and what relationships are involved.

The session will include ways to think about:

·      The purpose for your dialogue – for example, is it for mutual learning, strengthening connections, problem solving or to help shape decision-making

·      The combination of trusted convenors and types of community participants to help you meet your purpose (and how to engage them)

·      The question(s) people are invited to explore together and how that affects what kind of shared understanding develops

·      The format of the dialogue and approach of the facilitator(s) and how that impacts what people can learn about the issue, about each other and about their own perspectives

·      What options for next steps are provided for participants after a discussion is over

This is a big topic, so we will develop some resource lists to go deeper on areas of interest. After this overview session, members may also choose to ask to focus on a particular approach with a presenter from a relevant organization.

About the workshop facilitator:

LWVMC member Susan Stuart Clark originally joined the League in San Francisco in 1992. She had started her career in consumer marketing, but her experience with multi-cultural Voter Service on the LWVSF board, combined with volunteering at library literacy programs and community-led adult education, changed the trajectory of her work in the world. Susan became an enthusiast of the power of dialogue for civic participation when she co-designed a model that doubled voting turnout among those least likely to vote. She founded Common Knowledge (www.ckgroup.org), an action research organization, known for its ability to help reframe issues and facilitate inclusive learning-oriented community conversations that change perceptions of what is possible. Susan has designed and led processes that contributed to state and local policy on health care, housing, the environment and fiscal choices. Some of her past roles include Associate of the Kettering Foundation, trainer for the Institute for Local Government and long-time board member of the National Coalition of Dialogue and Deliberation. Currently on sabbatical, Susan has been focusing on how understanding local communities as living ecosystems can expand and sustain collaboration.