Community Forums on “Choices for a Vital Community: Which Way to Go?”
funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
These forums provide a venue
for citizens’ voices to be heard and for diverse members of the community
to become involved. They will help initiate discussion from a local perspective
and engage people in discussions with other community members. Participants
in the forums begin to consider other perspectives and develop new perspectives.
They begin to see their own role in solving public policy problems.
The community forums represent
the first step in engaging the public in thinking about governance, land use
and fiscal reform necessary to improve their quality of life. If not already
engaged in political issues, they don't immediately think of reform as the
solution to the problems they see in their community. Participants will have
a better understanding of the complexity of the problems communities face
and more realistic expectations of what can be done. They will recognize that
they have a role in the process and see what possibilities for change they
can support. These forums set the stage for the involvement being sought from
the grassroots for reform measures that C2K participants are advocating.
What makes these forums
different from other public forums?
The purpose of these community
issues forums is to engage people in a dialogue with their fellow community
members on a particular issue, in this case, creation of a vital(sustainable)
community. The desired outcome
for the forum isthat engagement.
The framework fordiscussion must be constructed to allow that engagement
to occur. The forumadheres to a particular model to accomplish this engagement,
a model designedand successfully implemented nationwide by the Kettering Foundation
called“National Issues Forums.”
There are two key elements
to the model:
1)
The framework for discussion captures different perspectives on the “problem
behind the problem”. For
example, everyone may agree that bad traffic, unaffordable housing, and poor
public education etc. are problems in California, but everyone does not agree
on the underlying problem that has caused these ills.
2)
There is no underlying agenda or lesson in the framework.
Participants engage in discussion because they feel their perspective
about the underlying problem will be heard, not because someone else is going
to tell them “the right answer” about what the underlying problem
is.
When this model is used, participants
in the forum begin to consider other perspectives, see similarities among
the perspectives, or develop new perspectives. In addition, by engaging in
discussion they begin to see their own role in solving public policy problems.
For example, in our Woodland test forum, participants felt they had created
their own “blueprint” for a vital community in the forum.
How do these forums relate
to reform issues?
The forums represent the first
but essential step in engaging the public in thinking about governance, land
use and fiscal reform as necessary to improve their quality of life.
People who are not engaged in political issues or policymaking generally
don't immediately think of reform as the solution to their problems.
Participants in these community
issues forums on vital communities will leave with a better understanding
of the complexity of the problems communities face and more realistic expectations
of what can be done. They will
recognize their own role in the process, move toward common ground on the
issue, and have a sense of the possibility for change.
In this way, the forums set the stage for the League and other C2K
participants to educate people about reform issues.
The Choice Book:
Should not be considered a
stand alone document - it is a part of the issue forums.
Is not a stakeholder's document,
or a regional vision blueprint - it is a guide for discussion.
Does not present a vision -it encourages participants to discuss their own vision.
Does not present solutions
to problems - it captures different approaches to problems.
Does not have an underlying
agenda or message.
Convening community forums
Your organization can convene
community forums on the topics presented in the book.
The convener of the forum is the group or individual that arranges
the location, schedules and advertizes the forum, and arranges for the services
of a moderator. But the convener
is also the host and sponsor of the event - a representative of the organization
introduces the forum, the forum's purpose, and how and why the forum fits
in with the community’s needs. These forums should be moderated by someone
trained to moderate this type of forum and the Choice Book content.
The League will help you find such a moderator.
Contact:
Linda Phillips
Sustainability Project Coordinator
League of Women Voters of
California
5107 Calle Asilo, SantaBarbara, CA 93111
PHONE: 805- 967-0922 (during
business hours only, please)
FAX: 805- 967-6480