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This is an exciting time for IAP2 USA, with lots of activity and things for you to get involved with.
- FEATURES: A word from our President summing up what you need to know about the 2017 membership survey; the review is in on IAP2's Spectrum; we're discovering something new in P2 with this month's membership spotlight; the Journal of Public Deliberation is out; and Planning is starting for the 2018 Skills Symposium in Austin!
- EVENTS: The early bird deadline is fast approaching! It's time to register for the 2017 IAP2 North American Conference! Check out this week's sneak-peak for more on upcoming presentations! Our Webinar On-Deck is another Montréal Encore: “Facilitation Matters”; check out the Webinar Rewind on the May presentation “Duh! Make it Interesting!” & last but not least, a dive into Participatory Budgeting; and exclusive IAP2 Member Discounts to the 2017 Annual ACR EPP Annual Conference
- INTERESTING LINKS: Thank you to all who submitted articles! Check out this month's hot reads. If you see something interesting send it on to Amelia
Now, read on...
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President's Message
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 In March 2017, IAP2 USA conducted a membership survey asking you questions about the services and programs we offer now, how you’d like to see those services and programs progress in the future, the challenges and needs facing P2, and the role of IAP2 in addressing them. We received 173 responses, a 16% member response rate. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your participation and provide you with the highlights of the findings.
We are taking your feedback and will turn it into future actions to better serve our members!
The full report is available here.
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The Review is in for the IAP2 Spectrum
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It’s been over two years in the process, with a fair bit of informal discussion before that: now, we are pleased to present the long-awaited review of the IAP2 Spectrum. IAP2 Canada took the lead on this project, with input coming from more than 220 practitioners from all over the world via online forums, outreach at conferences and blog postings, among other means. Now, IAP2 Canada president Bruce Gilbert and Board member Tracy Vaughan have summarized these comments into a review.
This will be forwarded to the Federation and circulated to all Affiliates. The Federation will then decide whether the Spectrum needs to be changed, based on the feedback in the Review, or whether more consultations are necessary.
Thank you to all of you who offered your comments and suggestions. If you have any further comments or questions, please send them to info@iap2canada.org. If something needs to be clarified, we’ll do it; any other comments will be sent to the Federation.
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The Journal of Public Deliberation
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IAP2 is a proud partner , along with the newDemocracy Foundation and the Deliberative Democracy Consortium, of the Journal of Public Deliberation. The new edition is now online, and you can read it here.
You may recall that last month, we shared a link to an opinion piece on the decline in respect given to “experts” on any given topic. The spring edition of JPD includes a study by a group of Brazilian researchers on the role experts play in a deliberative setting. Other offerings include studies in children in democracy and the role of social media.
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Membership Spotlight: Victor Tran!
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By Lauren Wirtis, IAP2 USA Intern
Victor Tran is currently in his first year of Portland State University’s Master of Urban and Regional Planning program. Motivated by his own family’s story of immigration to Alberta, Canada where he grew up, Victor was eager to learn more about how urban spaces can help reduce real and perceived barriers for different groups of people. How, in fact, the physical design of environments has direct outcomes on the health, sustainability, and overall quality of life for people.
Victor heard inklings of IAP2 when he was working with a business improvement district in Calgary, but as he dove into his planning studies this winter, IAP2’s connection with what he was learning and the work he hopes to do some day clicked. He joined the IAP2 Cascade Chapter and has been an active member since. He also looked around the PSU campus for opportunities to combine his passion for shaping the built environment and public engagement. What he found was a two-day intensive Public Interest Design (PID) course presented by Design Corps, the SEED Network, and the Center for Public Interest Design.
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2018 Skills Symposium - Requesting Trainer Submissions!
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We are preparing for the 2018 Skills Symposium, in Austin, Texas, February 26 to March 2, 2018. The first step is for us to reach out to trainers around the world and ask them to submit their training courses for consideration. If you are interested, please take a look at the Call for Training Proposals and Frequently Asked Questions. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, June 28th at 4 PM Pacific. We will be back out in late July or early August to let you know what we will be offering. Any questions please contact Amelia at ameliaiap2usa@gmail.com.
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Events
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Webinar Rewind – Montréal Encore “Duh, Make it Interesting!” (May 9, 2017)
One of the ongoing challenges for a P2 practitioner is to get people excited about a project, so they will give their input on its development – especially people who might not otherwise take part in the process. The solution is to take the mountain of facts and figures and find ways of grabbing people’s attention and inspiring them to give their input.
Jamie Harvie and Sam Beresky of JLA Public Involvement in Portland, Oregon, have worked on many P2 processes that involved mundane but very important subjects. The list includes transit infrastructure, a water pipeline that had to be routed through traditional Native lands and sewer stewardship. Find out how they did it, here.
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Webinar on Deck
– "Facilitation Matters" – June 13, 11 am Pacific (2 pm Eastern)
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
2pm Eastern | 11am Pacific
You have a tight P2 budget and need to make the most of it. Online engagement tools are a help and can be cost-effective, but you still know the value of face-to-face sessions – the give-and-take; the meeting of minds. They need to be facilitated properly so you get true consultation and meaningful results and not shouting matches dominated by The Usual Suspects.
Our next webinar -- Tuesday, June 13 at 2pm Eastern / 11am Pacific, gives you a chance to learn how one mid-sized Ontario city made that leap from intentions to results. Kate Bishop of the city of Guelph, Ontario, and Rebecca Sutherns of Sage Solutions will discuss four in-person engagement activities run by the city. You'll also have a chance to share some of your own experiences and observations.
Register here for this webinar, and remember the two-stage process -- follow the URL in your Registration Confirmation email to get your login information.
As always, IAP2 Learning Webinars are free for members and only $50 for non-members.
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2017 North American Conference Sneek-Peek!
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Do you work in municipal engagement and sometimes feel like the guy in the Greek myth, constantly pushing a rock up a hill? Have you ever wanted to create an engagement tool? Do you find conversations have become less about listening and more about waiting for one’s turn to talk? Here are three more sessions at the 2017 IAP2 North American Conference that can inspire, amuse and engage you.
You can read about more of the sessions on the IAP2 USA blog – search the tag “2017 North American Conference” – and remember: the deadline is just over a month away to register for the Conference at the Early Bird prices. Until June 30, you only pay US$ 550.00 ($700 for non-members). As of July 1, those prices go up by $100.00, so don’t delay!
 The P2 profession is often about acquiring new tools, but have you ever built one, yourself? The “Engagement Tool Invention Lab” gives you the opportunity to do just that, brainstorming with practitioners. Kit Cole, Francesca Patricolo and Lauren Cobb will provide a real-life scenario from the often-controversial worlds of transportation and utilities planning, and then turn you loose in small groups to come up with a means for members of the public to make informed decisions. You’ll get to put your creative and problem-solving skills to work in a collaborative environment, help assess what your team and others have developed, and come away with at least one new tool for gathering public feedback at open houses.
 It’s something we do 80 percent of the time, but it’s becoming a lost art: listening. Social media has brought plenty of avenues for expressing ourselves, but who’s really listening? It’s reached the point where some universities are offering courses in listening and some businesses are including listening in their employee training. Listening is more than not talking, and at the IAP2 North American Conference, Dr Cassie Hemphill, a member of the IAP2 USA Certification Task Force, will offer a workshop to help re-focus on that important social skill. In “Are You Listening?”, you’ll spend time assessing your own ability to listen, then play a whole-group game to refresh the basics, and come away with some new tools so you’ll be more aware of what others are saying.
 Do you work with a city’s engagement process and sometimes feel you’re alone in the battle? Come and learn about how one city has been changing its approach to P2 and spend some time with other municipal engagement leaders, too! Jane Purvis, Public Engagement Advisor to the City of Edmonton, Alberta, will describe “Changing Engagement for a Changing City”, the Alberta capital’s three-year-long Initiative on Public Engagement. The Initiative was set up to respond to changing demographics and expectations and heard from over 1,000 community voices in its workshops and online sessions. Ultimately, that response will lead to a greater good as people take ownership of the policies and programs in their city.
What does this mean for you? An opportunity to see how one city is succeeding in this area, and a chance to meet and swap ideas with other P2 practitioners in similar positions.
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Show North America how we pursue the greater good!
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 IAP2 USA and IAP2 Canada are pleased to announce our second joint fundraiser to benefit our new student scholarship programs! The fundraiser will be held at the 2017 IAP2 North American Conference in Denver, Colorado Sept. 6-8 as a silent auction of items donated by chapters, businesses, trainers, board members, and generous attendees like you.
Supporting students encourages student membership, relationships with universities, research in the field, and the ongoing vitality and sustainability of our organization. Thank you for considering supporting this great cause.
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I mean REALLY! What is Participatory Budgeting?
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It has been called “the greatest wave of democracy coming to the United States”. What started in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1989 has started to make an impact around the world being implemented in over 1,500 communities around the globe. These communities are experimenting with and implementing a new budgeting practice called Participatory Budgeting.
What is Participatory Budgeting(PB)? PB is “a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend a part of the public budget”. From start to finish this process puts the power into the people’s hands.
LEARN MORE ABOUT PB
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Chapter News
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Things are heating up in some of our western chapters and we are excited to share it with you!
 The Intermountain Chapter is proud to announce they are co-hosting “Fostering Productive Dialogue in Divided Times” with the U of U’s S.J. Quinney College of Law, The Langdon Group, and the Utah Council on Conflict Resolution.
The Cascade Chapter has announced their 2017 Student Scholarship Winner and an upcoming PI Networking Event featuring “Race Talks” with Donna Maxey! They are also celebrating a great influx of new members in the government sector!
The Puget Sound Chapter is cranking up the heat in their area! They are hosting National Dialogue event in Kirkland, Washington! This event is part of IAP2 USA’s effort to answer the question: “Are we facing a P2 crisis or opportunity?” Join the Puget Sound Chapter as they work their way through the tough questions on June 22nd, 2017!
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ACR EPP Invites IAP2 USA Members!
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Are you a P2 professional specializing in Environmental Public Policy? This conference is for you. In the past few year we have seen an increasing amount of attention in the news, in the meeting rooms managed by practitioners, in the work environment for government employees, and in the daily lives of stakeholders engaged in environmental public policy shift to civility and identity as central topics. As senior, mid-level and emerging practitioners, we are looked to as (or working to become) the expert professionals to design effective processes that support durable decisions. Beat the heat and escape to Salt Lake City for a few days to connect with P2 Professionals in your field.
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INTERESTING LINKS
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Have you found an article that needs to be shared with the P2 Community? Send it to us at ameliaiap2usa@gmail.com
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The City of Vernon, BC, is launching a P2 website, and the first item to be discussed is the upcoming civic budget.
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P2 gets a big hand from writer Cynthia Khoo in Common Dreams, for helping protect “net neutrality” in Canada.
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From GovNews in Australia, The Auditor-General in the State of Victoria takes issue with the way several local governments are engaging – or not engaging – with their citizens, and cites the IAP2 Spectrum in the process. (Read the actual report here.)
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From The Villager in New York City, discussion about the need for P2 in connection with a proposed new development adjacent to the Hudson River.
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For fans of “Failing Forward”, we offer this, from the New York Times.
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IAP2 Training Sessions on the Public Calendar
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Click through the event listings on the IAP2 USA Calendar for more information and to register. (Learn more about the courses; Foundations brochure.)
- Chicago, IL – IAP2 Foundations in Public Participation, June 26-30; Emotion, Outrage & Public Participation, Thurs-Fri, August 17-18
- Denver, CO – IAP2 Foundations in Public Participation, Mon-Fri, June 5-9
- Orlando, FL – IAP2 Foundations in Public Participation, October 16-20
- Pheonix, AZ - Emotion, Outrage and Public Participation, July 27-28
Check the IAP2 USA calendar for information on how to register for events.
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Upcoming Events
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 Tues, June 13 - IAP2 Learning Webinar: Montréal Encore: “Facilitation Matters”- June 13 – ACR EPP 2017 Conference Salt Lake City, UT
- June 15 – Intermountain Chapter: Fostering Productive Dialogue Salt Lake City, UT
- June 22 – Cascade Chapter: Fostering Productive Dialogue Portland, OR
- June 30 – Last day for Early Bird prices at 2017 IAP2 North American Conference
- Mon, July 10 - Fri, July 21 – P2 Online Course: "Choosing the Right P2 Tools"
- Tues, July 11 - IAP2 Monthly Webinar: Montréal Encore: “Is your Organization P2 Centric?”
- Mon, July 17 - Fri, July 28 – P2 Online Course: "Participatory Budgeting"
- Tues, August 8 - IAP2 Learning Webinar: Montréal Encore: “Are We Smarter Together?” + “Understanding the Squishy Stuff”
- Sept 6-8 - IAP2 North American Conference, Denver, Colorado
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Think back to 25 years ago. It was 1992, an election year – Clinton, Bush, Perot. Our country’s population just tipped the 250 million mark instead of the 326 million we are now. Dr. Seuss’ Oh The Places You’ll Go topped the bestseller list, and Murphy Brown, Cheers and Northern Exposure were playing on our TVs. No one had a smart phone. No one texted. It was in this time when a few thoughtful people knew that an idea had reached its own time. That idea was that public participation was in its own right a field of practice, a worthy cause, and a specific set of values.
The third White Paper commissioned by the IAP2 Canada Research Committee is now available. In this, Colleen Gareau reviews Decision-Maker Support for P2. In particular, she looks at the work done by the City of Edmonton to ensure the public is involved in decisions that affect them – and the buy-in required from elected officials and staff.
NEW!