Policy Consensus E-News — April 2006
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In this issue:
- Changes in the Field: An Editors Note
- Denver Mayor Convenes Partnership Denver: Neighbors Building Solutions
- University of Arkansas Little Rock Creates Public Conflict Solutions Center
- Legislators at a Crossroads: PCI’s Newest Pub
Changes in the Field
In the nearly ten years since PCI has been in operation, we've seen an important shift in the way collaboration is effectively employed to find consensus on public policy issues. The change is from a model drawn primarily from traditional forms of alternative dispute resolution as they operate in the legal context to one more adapted to formulating public policy in the policymaking context.
One key difference between the models is who plays the central role. In the new model the focus is on the essential role elected officials and other public leaders need to play in policymaking, whereas in the traditional ADR professional third parties (facilitators and mediators) play the central role.
This shift reflects how public policy dispute resolution has “moved upstream.” More and more it involves anticipating conflicts over policies and their implementation and begins working on those conflicts before people are at loggerheads or impasse. As such, the new model goes to the heart of the kind of role elected officials need to play in working with citizens from across sectors to address public issues.
Partnership Denver Links Citizen Engagement to Citizen Action
Public
engagement is a priority for Denver’s Mayor John Hickenlooper. Two
years ago his office organized Denver
Listens, an outreach campaign through which over 600 residents prioritized
services in preparation for the budget process. Last month the Mayor launched
Partnership Denver: Neighbors Building Solutions, an effort seeking to
connect public discussion with citizen action.
The Mayor’s team decided to use the Oregon Solutions model to engage citizens in actually working toward solutions they first identify through discussion. As with Oregon Solutions, Partnership Denver is founded on the premise that partnership among citizens and government creates better and more lasting solutions than any one sector could achieve by itself.
In March and April six community meetings were held throughout Denver. The meetings were centered around the question, “How can I work in partnership to make Denver neighborhoods better places to live, work and play?” Over 400 community members attended the meetings along with the Mayor, City Council members, and City staff. Using keypad voting tools, they identified their most important topics and issues.
UALR Launches Center for Public Conflict Solutions
The
University of Arkansas at Little Rock has announced the creation of the
Center for Public Conflict Solutions. As the first university center of
its type in Arkansas, it will support inclusive and consensus-based public
conflict resolution processes.
Leadership for this new Center is coming from UALR Chancellor Joel Anderson and Dean Angela Brenton of the College of Professional Studies. Chancellor Anderson said this about UALR’s role: “What can the university do? We can break the code of silence that inhibits frank discussion. We can be a convener and call people to the table for discussion. We can provide a neutral site for the dialogue.”
Legislators at a Crossroads: PCI’s Newest Pub
PCI’s
newest report paints a picture of the changing roles legislators are playing
to enable them to work more effectively in the current polarized political
environment. Legislators
at a Crossroads: Making Choice to Work Differently, describes
how some legislators have learned to use the power of their elected office
to act as conveners, bringing all sectors to the table to find solutions
to public problems that go beyond what any one sector could achieve on
its own.
In the course of working with state leaders over the past few years, PCI has gleaned their insights and ideas about what legislators need to know in order to play this convening role.
“When we are elected,” explains former Minnesota Senate Majority Leader and longtime PCI Board member Roger Moe, “we are given a gift, a powerful but little-used tool, and that’s the power to convene. But many don’t know about it.”
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