Note: This workshop will be held in the meeting room at the Estes Park Museum, located at 200 4th St.

This 3-day workshop (Thursday, February 20 - Saturday, February 22) will cover the basics of deliberative engagement, a set of tools and processes designed to help communities manage wicked problems--i.e. issues that don't have clear solutions, but involve weighing competing values and making tradeoffs (ex: issues around land use, housing, infrastructure, tourism, schools, etc.). Deliberative engagement brings together all of the stakeholders in a structured, facilitated process to listen to each other, work through tradeoffs, and look for common ground. It can be used to build trust across divides, inform public policy-making, and find ways to move forward on challenging community issues.

Led by Dr. Martín Carcasson, Director of CSU's Center for Public Deliberation, participants will learn how to identify problems that lend themselves to deliberation, analyze and frame those problems for public discussion, and facilitate the conversations that are at the heart of the process. (See below for more details.) The workshop will run from 8:30 AM to 5 PM each day, and we'll provide lunch and a light breakfast, as well as morning and afternoon breaks. It's free and open to all--no previous experience required. Registering signs you up for all three days, and we ask that participants commit to attending the full workshop.

[Don't have time to attend the full workshop, but want to get a sense of what deliberative engagement is all about? Attend the two-hour introduction that kicks off the workshop on Thursday, February 20, from 9-11 AM at the Estes Park Museum. Seating is limited--please register here. (Use the registration form on this page to sign up for the full workshop.)]

Here's a list of the topics we'll cover via presentations and group exercises:

• Overview of wicked problems, polarization, human nature, and deliberative engagement
• Introduction to deliberative process design
• Deliberative issue analysis / issue mapping
• Framing issues for public discussion
• Basic facilitation skills for deliberative engagement
• Advanced facilitation skills
• Convening/stakeholder analysis and audience development
• Engaging value differences/polarity management
• Democratic governance, collaboration, and participatory decision-making techniques

See the attached document for more a more detailed syllabus and an approximate daily schedule. If you have questions about the workshop, feel free to contact Eric White, Adult Services Librarian, at ewhite@estesvalleylibrary.org or 970-586-8116 x832.

This workshop is a collaboration between the Library and Estes Valley Restorative Justice Partnership, as part of our Community Conversations program.