Citizen’s Assembly and Democracy with Large Groups with Bill Potapchuk

What happens when facilitation moves beyond the conference room and into entire communities? Around the world, facilitators help thousands of people participate in decisions that shape the future of democracy. In this session, veteran facilitator Bill Potapchuk introduces several of the world's most successful large-scale participatory processes, including large-scale town meetings, participatory budgeting, and Citizens' Assemblies.

Bill will explore replicable models that governments and communities use to engage citizens in meaningful decision making. You'll learn:

• how these practices grew from Porto Alegre, Brazil into a global movement,
• why people report high engagement with these processes even when their preferred outcome doesn't prevail, and
• how Citizens' Assemblies use randomized participant selection (sortition) to create representative deliberation.

We'll also examine what changes when facilitation scales from a small group to hundreds or even thousands. Through examples and discussion, Bill will unpack the design principles, staffing considerations, and infrastructure required to create conversations that are both inclusive and impactful at scale.

Following a brief presentation, we will open the conversation for audience questions. You'll learn how to strengthen democratic participation and help communities make better decisions together.

Bill is the president and founder of the Community Building Institute. He serves as an adjunct professor in the Carter for Peace and Conflict Resolution School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution and as senior fellow in the Center for Peacemaking Practice at George Mason University

Connect with Bill https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-bill-potapchuk-3994786/

You can find Bill’s class at https://carterschool.gmu.edu/research-impact/centers/center-peacemaking-practice

Bill works in situations where there are deep rifts and a need to focus on both healing and results. For 25+ years, he has helped communities reach collaborative agreements and make progress on critical issues like youth violence prevention, education policy, economic development, and landscape conservation.

✏️ NOVA Scribes has entered into a partnership with the IFVP: the International Forum of Visual Practitioners! This workshop is an IFVP Learning Lab. All IFVP members have access to Learning Labs at https://ifvpforum.circle.so/c/learning-hub/

🎥This workshop will be recorded and posted on YouTube for anyone who cannot attend. You can find the YouTube link in the Comments section of this NOVA Scribes Meetup event once the workshop video has been uploaded to YouTube.

🎥You can find previously recorded videos at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJfInZHmS8prj2_DUaJ35CYY8n7SzoPMJ

💰We’re not charging for this workshop, but we will be asking for donations! Donations cover the costs of hosting events on Meetup, to honorariums for new graphic recorders, and scholarships.

💣Please be sure you are registered on Meetup! If your Zoom name doesn’t match your name on Meetup, you will not be admitted. (We’ve had Zoom bombers.)

📶Find us and join us on LinkedIn, or on our website:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/nova-scribes/
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