Listening to the City:
A Public Participation Case Study,
Alternatives, and Analysis
This issue is available in hardcopy from Virtual Bookworm and Amazon.com for US$ 14.95.
Sandor P. Schuman
Editorial
Group Facilitation: A Research and Applications Journal – Issue 6, 2004
Governmental decision makers, politicians, civic groups, and other stakeholders in public decision making are seeking mechanisms for engaging citizens in public policy decisions. The size and visibility of “Listening to the City,” the largest face-to-face public participation event ever held, and the political, social, and emotional needs that it responded to, provide an attractive opportunity to draw attention to broader issues regarding public engagement, group facilitation, and the future of democracy.
This special issue provides an in-depth case study of “Listening to the City” and uses it as a departure point for broader discussions of the role practice of public participation. Reflecting the diverse backgrounds and experience of the 25 contributing authors, which include both academics and practitioners, the content is descriptive, evaluative, and speculative.
The first three articles present a thorough description of the underlying philosophy, organization and implementation of “Listening to the City,” a large-scale public participation event involving 5,000 face-to-face and online participants. The design was purposefully “high tech” and “high touch;” these articles make clear how this was accomplished.
The next eleven articles present a variety of perspectives on the event, based on the experiences of facilitators who worked with groups of participants. Some are personal reflections on the role of facilitating public participation; some offer practical advise for working with diverse groups, some are evaluative.
The remaining eight articles take a critical look at public participation, examining its purposes and effectiveness.
I hope the professionals who advocate for, design, and implement these types of processes and events—group facilitators and public participation practitioners and advocates—will gain from this special issue detailed knowledge about how to organize these types of events, and what to be prepared for during their implementation on both the personal and organizational scales. They will find here a variety of methods that might be used to accomplish similar purposes, as well as their relative strengths and weaknesses, and can use this issue as an opportunity to learn about and reflect on the societal applications and implications of group facilitation.
Other readers might include educators—in areas such as political science, public policy and planning processes, public involvement and consultation, and communication—as well as the more than 5,000 participants in the “Listening to the City” events. I hope these readers will profit from this “behind the scenes” look at how the event was organized and implemented and be in a better position to understand the rationale and motivation for such events.
The authors and reviewers of this volume deserve our collective thanks. Not only did the authors draft and revise their own articles, they also peer-reviewed each others work. An additional cadre of reviewers lent their special expertise to this effort. My personal thanks to al of you for your dedication to extending the meaning of "Listening to the City" beyond its original scope.
Listening to the City: Casting a Spotlight on the Growing
Movement for a More Deliberative Democracy
Joe Goldman
ABSTRACT:
This paper provides context for “Listening to the City” by considering the broader deliberative democracy movement that has begun to grow across the country. First, it examines the condition of American democracy and the problems that forums like “Listening to the City” are attempting to address. The article then looks at the deliberative democracy field and the leading practitioner organizations that have been experimenting with new ways for citizens to participate in governing processes. Finally, the paper returns to “Listening to the City” to note how the process was unique from other efforts to engage citizens in governance.
KEY WORDS:
Deliberative Democracy. Deliberation, Deliberative Democracy Consortium, Citizen Engagement, Public Engagement, AmericaSpeaks, Listening to the City, World Trade Center, 21st Century Town Meeting, Carolyn Lukensmeyer, Democratic Renewal, Social Capital
Rebuilding Ground Zero with Democracy:
Listening to the City and the 21st Century Town MeetingTM
Ashley Boyd and Jane Berkow
ABSTRACT
This article introduces readers to the principles guiding the development and planning of a 21st Century Town MeetingTM using Listening to the City as an example. First, the article outlines AmericaSpeaks’ Taking Democracy to ScaleTM model, on which the 21st Century Town MeetingTM process is based. Then, each element of the Taking Democracy to ScaleTM model is described in detail using specific examples from Listening to the City. The article concludes with a brief analysis of the impact of Listening to the City and the potential of the 21st Century Town MeetingTM.
KEYWORDS
AmericaSpeaks, town meeting, public hearing, feedback
Listening to the City Online Dialogues: Overview and
Observations
Cliff Figallo, Jed Miller and Marc N. Weiss
ABSTRACT
This paper describes the planning and creation of the Listening to the City Online Dialogues that took place between July 30 and August 13, 2002, shortly after the face-to-face event at the Jacob Javits Center. The participants in the 26 dialogue groups were residents of New York City and its immediate area. The dialogues focused on two things: the plans for redevelopment of the World Trade Center site and the surrounding business district and neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan, and the creation of a permanent memorial for the victims and heroes of 9/11. The dialogues took place in small groups using a message board interface in which participants could read and respond to each others’ comments whether they were online at the same time or not. The “asynchronous” system allowed members to participate when it was convenient, and to spend time deliberately composing their responses. Half of the small groups were assigned an active facilitator and half were not. This paper describes the context of the event, how its producers prepared for it and how it actually played out, concentrating on what was learned about online facilitation techniques.
Listening to the City, NYC: One Facilitator’s View
Karen Brill
ABSTRACT
An overview of and reflections on the event by one of the facilitators
KEY WORDS
Deliberative Democracy, Facilitator, Facilitation, Rebuild, Community, Dialogue
Helping the Masses Find Their Way
Wendy Lowe
“Listening to the City” - A Powerfully Personal Affirmation
Monika K. Moss
ABSTRACT
A personal account of the inspirational impact of AmericaSpeaks’ “Listening to the City” meeting on July 20, 2002 in which Moss voices her learning, her commitment and her hope for communities all over the world to work collaboratively with leadership to find creative solutions to complex issues and problems.
Listening to the City and the Public Process: Experiences of
One Person and One City, and Broader Implications
Paul Epstein
ABSTRACT
Personal and group challenges in facilitating the event. Implications of LTC and other public participation efforts.
Listening and Learning:
The 21st Century Town Hall Meeting
Robin Drotleff
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the Listening to the City event from a social-psychology perspective. Ethnocentrism and xenophobia are discussed as barriers to effective human interaction. The author identifies aspects of the 21st Century Town Hall Meeting event that work toward breaking down barriers between people with different perspectives toward the goal of mutual understanding and solution-building.
KEYWORDS
Ethnocentrism, Xenophobia, Town Hall Meeting, Facilitation, Listening to the City
Tips for Facilitating a Group Dialogue When You Don’t
Speak the Language of the Participants.
Michelle M. Charles
ABSTRACT
In the majority of instances, save for an exceptional few, community dialogue facilitators take for granted the ability of forum participants to communicate proficiently in English. Given the meteoric rise in the numbers of Spanish-speaking Americans, however, those of us working with the public who are English-speakers can no longer assume that we have the ability to choose to partner exclusively with all English-speaking citizen groups. More than likely, the field will increasingly experience opportunities for language exchanges. The purpose of this essay is to illustrate one way that language diversity can impact the facilitation of a community forum event.
KEYWORDS
Hispanic, Translator, Spanish-speaking, Foreign Language
The 21st Century Facilitator at “Listening to the City”:
Applying a Real-Time Model of Facilitation Planning and
Rapid Rapport-Building
Arthur Friedman
ABSTRACT:
This article describes how the 21st century facilitator conquers the immense challenge of planning and facilitating largescale, one day public meetings characterized by short, pre-event planning windows and compressed discussion timeframes. Through the use of a corresponding real-time set of highly effective rapport-building tools and a new 6 step Facilitator Planning Methodology, a facilitator can understand and evaluate a facilitation's design and pitfalls in real-time during a short pre-event orientation and then rapidly build group cohesion in a one day facilitation which allows no margin for error. This paper provides an overview of the "Listening to the City" town hall meeting used to test this methodology. Then, a facilitator toolkit of rapid rapport-building techniques is presented. This toolkit is comprised of Active Listening tools, Applied Behavioral Modeling tools, and a multi-faceted view of conversation called "the Three Streams of Communication". These tools are highly effective in developing rapport quickly between the facilitator and the group and among group participants. A 6 step Facilitator Planning Methodology is described in detail; this planning mechanism aids facilitators in identifying potential design problems before these problems impact the facilitation and rapport-building process and prevent or limit the quick summarization and capture of discussion data. The methodology also emphasizes the importance of establishing facilitator credibility at the beginning of and throughout a facilitation. Finally, the article provides a summary discussing the challenges and tasks facing facilitators planning to lead real-time public citizen summits occurring in compressed timeframes.
KEY WORDS:
Active Listening, AmericaSpeaks™, Applied Behavioral Modeling, City Planner, Citizen Summit, Communication, Facilitator, Facilitator Credibility, Facilitation, Facilitation Planning, "Listening to the City", Lower Manhattan, New York, Orientation, Planning, Public Forum, Rapport, World Trade Center, 21st Century facilitator
From Honolulu and Albuquerque
to New York City Table 98 -
Reflections from the Sea of Cortez, Sonora, Mexico
Helen Juliette Muller
Behind Open Doors: Lessons Learned from Facilitating
Public Participation at Large Scale Events
Tinka Markham Piper
ABSTRACT
Listening to the City is a valuable blueprint for planning and facilitating future meetings. This paper is divided into two sections, public participation and small-group facilitation. Each section discusses best practices that emerged from the event. In the area of public participation, three best practices include create a climate that encourages input; clarify the parameters and impact of involvement; and provide information to participants about the proposed topic. In the area of small group facilitation, three best practices include recruit participants from a range of demographics to encourage diverse viewpoints; provide training for facilitators despite their experience; and make available additional resources during the event.
KEYWORDS
public participation, group facilitation, leadership, lessons learned, training, involvement, best practices, decision-making
Listening to the City on the M34
Deborah A. O’Neil and Margaret M. Hopkins
ABSTRACT
This article describes a unique experience of spontaneous public participation following the Listening to the City event. The authors, facilitators at Listening to the City, found themselves experiencing that event from an entirely new vantage point as they rode a bus filled with participants from the event and non-participants across New York City. They share their reflections on the power of positive public engagement in which they participated during that cross-town bus ride.
KEY WORDS
public participation, facilitator, participant, Listening to the City
The Press Didn't Get It
Edward S. Ruete
“Listening to the City” Why Is It So Important?
A Few Notes from a Volunteer Facilitator
Esther Hernandez-Medina
ABSTRACT
Using anecdotes from her experience as a volunteer facilitator, the author shows why she thinks that “Listening to the City” (LTC) offers an important model of civic engagement. LTC is helpful for anyone interested in this field in, at least, three ways: (1) LTC showed that it is possible to address complex and emotionally charged issues on a very big scale; (2) LTC reaffirmed that there is a significant group of people interested in volunteering their time and efforts to support citizens in that endeavor; and, (3) LTC constitutes a good example of the importance of careful design and implementation. In other words, “Listening to the City” offers several sources of learning and motivation to those interested in supporting citizens’ engagement; not only in the United States but also in other countries around the world.
Critiquing AmericaSpeaks’ Process and Alternative
Approaches as Paths to “Collective Intelligence”
Tom Atlee
Listening to the City and the Goals of Deliberative
Democracy
William J. Ball
ABSTRACT
Listening to the City is critically reviewed from a participant-observer perspective. The event is placed in the context of four key goals of the deliberative democracy movement. Comparisons are made to a Deliberative Poll, a similar, but much smaller event. Listening to the City was a very powerful event, a landmark in the deliberative democracy movement. However its success in influencing policy outcomes somewhat masks its unrepresentative nature and the limits of its ability to promote the civic education goals of deliberative democracy.
KEYWORDS
deliberative democracy, Listening to the City, representation, Deliberative Poll, civic education
Participant Interests: How Well Were They Reflected in the
Outcomes?
Mary Dumas
ABSTRACT
In the case of many public involvement processes, participants’ feedback can be marginalized by missed opportunities to identify underlying interests due to lack of time provided for dialogue or to develop commonly held views due to the premature use of ranking exercises and the structure of small group reporting. The AmericaSpeaks meeting design used at the “Listening to the City” events provided for reporting of both shared and minority views as captured by participant recorders followed by the immediate synthesis of 500 small groups’ outputs by a “theme team” that identified shared, strongly held views from this data and developed key themes and subsequent polling statements for participant voting. This essay explores the meeting design’s methods for assuring that participant interests and shared views were accurately represented in the themes, polling statements, and final findings.
KEY WORDS
Accuracy, Design, Interest-based dialogue, Minority perspectives, Reporting, Theme team
Reflections from Down Under on the
Biggest Deliberation in History
Lyn Carson
ABSTRACT
This paper is a personal and cautionary reflection on the Listening to the City project, from an uninvolved, distant observer. The author examines the problems inherent in large-scale consultations and the impact of scale on representativeness and deliberativeness. She does so from her perspective as an Australian practitioner and researcher, hoping to draw upon the best of US participatory experiences. She speculates on an alternative to large-scale face-to-face consultations that would suit the Australian political culture: using small scale consultations, coupled with e-democracy, simultaneously, across the breadth of the vast Australian continent.
KEYWORDS
Deliberation, Random selection, Representativeness
Public Participation after 9/11:
Rethinking and Rebuilding Lower Manhattan
Donald P. Moynihan
ABSTRACT
This article examines how and why public participation influenced decisions on the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan in the aftermath of the attacks of 9/11. Public officials used a number of different types of public participation, which varied in terms of breadth of citizen involvement and in terms of influence on the decision process. The most successful approach were the Listening to the City forums, where small-group facilitation and innovative technologies combined to provide a clear statement of values and preferences that public officials could not ignore. However, despite the success of the Listening to the City forum, the influence of public participation would later decline as public officials sought to conclude and control the decision process.
KEYWORDS
participation, New York, planning, decision-making, World Trade Center
Creating a Hearing for the Listening:
Steps to Increase the Effectiveness of New Forms
of Public and Private Participation
Eric W. Allison, Mary Ann Allison
ABSTRACT:
In this paper, we use some of the experimental interventions in the decision-making processes surrounding the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan (New York City) and the design of public memorials after the terrorist activity which took place on February 26, 1993 and 9/11 (September 11, 2001) to examine several new participative processes. The intent is to begin understanding when such collaborative governance might be effective, what the key components of these processes are, and—most important—why public and private decision makers might wish to use them. We offer some preliminary views of criteria and welcome comments and suggestions from others interested in participatory governance and collaborative processes.
KEY WORDS:
9/11, America Speaks, facilitation, feedback, governance, Lower Manhattan Redevelopment, LMDC, participatory democracy, participatory process, public participation, memorials, urban planning
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