“Hi everyone. My name is Martha and I’ll be facilitating today’s issue forum. To start, please read through the ground rules.”
Ground rules for a forum:
- Focus on the options.
- All options should be considered fairly.
- No one or two individuals should dominate the conversation.
- Disagree out of intellectual curiosity, not personal animosity.
- Maintain an open and respectful atmosphere.
- Everyone is encouraged to participate.
- Listen carefully to understand each other.
“I also wanted to talk a little about dialogue expectations. I’ve made lists of what we can and cannot expect from a forum.”
What can we expect from a deliberative forum?
- A civil and respectful atmosphere.
- Listening to understand diverse ideas and differences of opinion.
- Welcoming atmosphere for participation.
- Nuances and ambiguities of an issue explored.
- Deepened understanding.
- Recognize areas of agreement and disagreement.
- Possible next steps for decision makers and/or citizens identified.
- Future dialogue considerations.
- Democratic attitudes and skills enriched.
What should we not necessarily expect?
- Minds to be significantly changed.
- Consensus.
- An action-plan.
- Quick change.
- Inspired participants actively committed to problem-solving.
- A community that immediately embraces the deliberative process.
“Okay, everybody had a chance to read through these? Any questions? Let’s begin! I’ll now introduce three different options for the future of the Grumpy Manatee Lagoon. In each option, we’ll be discussing a series of potential actions and the trade-offs for each action. There will be opportunities for you to tell us what you think about the option and propose additional actions.”