CivilSay™ | Regional Civic Engagement through Inclusive Public Dialogue

The CivilSay™ process brings the broadest spectrum of viewpoints possible to the discussion table to address the most pressing regional issues of the day. When citizens of diverse backgrounds, experience and points of view come together, three powerful outcomes are possible:

community relationships are restored or strengthened; future decisions affecting the region are better informed; and participants learn and apply tools and techniques to hold valuable conversations within their own institutions, neighborhoods, and community groups.

The CivilSay™ principles include:

No financial obligation to participate
Welcoming, inclusive and representative of the community, i.e. cross-sector, cross-geography, cross-class, and cross-generation perspectives.
Shared authority and responsibility for the content of the conversation, e.g. no expert and panel presentations and inclusive process for defining topics for consideration
Shared authority and responsibility for the quality of the conversation, e.g. no dialogue facilitators
CivilSay™ endorses and commits to the seven core principles established by the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation

The CivilSay™ process includes:

Inclusive process for identifying relevant community issues
Periodic open community forums
On-going dialogue groups (at least six meetings over a period of three to six months)
Agreement to CivilSay™ ground rules at the beginning of each meeting

CivilSay™ seeks institutions to adopt the CivilSay™ process in communities interested in promoting inclusive civic dialogue. Appropriate organizations will include promotion of civic engagement, public dialogue, and education in the mission of the organization and the CivilSay™ programs must occur as value-added to community.

Join Central Oregon CivilSay Forums or Click Here for Recent Press.

Greg Ranstrom is the creator of CivilSay™. He is founder of Outside Insights and he is an experienced organization development consultant who is currently involved with a cross-sector leadership and community engagement program of regional scope in Silicon Valley, The American Leadership Forum – Silicon Valley. Greg resides in Bend, Oregon. He can be reached at 541.383.2090 or greg@outsideinsights.com.

Central Oregon is the first region for which we plan to pilot the CivilSay™ process. Click here for the latest version of the proposal (pdf).

Please contact Greg Ranstrom to offer assistance to this initiative or to request more information.