THE MODERATORS CIRCLE  
AN OCCASIONAL UPDATE HIGHLIGHTING NEWS FROM THE NETWORK OF THE NATIONAL ISSUES FORUMS
FORUMS MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Growing Signs of a Powerful Impact
 FLORIDA NEWSPAPER SEES PROMISE IN NIF FORUMS

"IT'S THE KIND OF SMALL THING THAT LEADS TO HUGE STRIDES IN IMPROVING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT"
“That’s why the usual Kettering forum brings together 12 to 18 people who are freely encouraged to speak — but to listen, too. A moderator keeps things on track and prevents any single person from dominating the dialogue. It’s a simple step. But it’s the kind of small thing that leads to huge strides in improving community engagement.”
 
This is how an editorial in The Jacksonville Times-Union described one of the 12 NIF Safety & Justice forums held in that Florida city over the past few months. Convener Gregg Kaufman met with the newspaper editorial board to discuss what citizens had to say in the Jacksonville forums. Together, the forums have drawn some 190 participants with 85 percent of them returning questionnaires.
 
Like many areas in the country, Jacksonville struggles with police-community relations. As the newspaper reports: “Over the past few years, for instance, there were 10 police-involved shootings that received tremendous TV coverage — yet during that same time frame, the number of total encounters between police and citizens averaged 1 million a year.” 

In the NIF forums to date, participants have talked about the danger police officers face and the impact media coverage has on perceptions of law enforcement. At the same time, some 8 in 10 of those in the forums say police officers need more training in de-escalating tense situations.
WHAT FORUM PARTICIPANTS SAY
Conveners and moderators see the results all the time: People often leave the forums saying the country needs more conversations like this. Over the years, Kettering and the National Issues Forums have looked at the impact of NIF forums. Here are some amazing numbers showing how NIF forums affect those who participate:
THE ECONOMY: Every day, every hour, the media report on what’s happening in the U.S. economy. Most of us think about how the economy is doing and how it affects us on a regular basis. Yet:
  • 44% of those in last year’s Making Ends Meet forums said they talked about aspects of the issue they hadn’t considered before.
  • About 4 in 10 said they were thinking about the issue differently.
HEALTHCARE: In last year’s NIF forums on healthcare costs
  • 46% said they talked about aspects of the issue they hadn’t considered before
  • 44% said they were thinking about the issue differently.
END OF LIFE: Convener Gregg Kaufman held an August forum using NIF's end of life guide.
  • 79% of the participants said they talked about aspects of the issue they hadn't considered before.
  • Half said they were thinking about the issue differently
Gregg noted the compassion and subtlety in the forum deliberations:

" I was struck by how forthcoming people were in sharing their experience and perspectives relative to each of the three options. In particular, the sensitive issues of physician-assisted death and taking one’s own life were discussed in profoundly moving ways."

Gregg reported that more than a third of the deliberators sent messages of appreciation afterward.

WHAT HAPPENS IN FORUMS IS REMARKABLE. NEVER FORGET THE IMPACT YOU CAN HAVE.
American Library Association Offers Free Webinars on Convening and Moderating
modern_library.jpg
Learn How to Convene, Moderate, Name and Frame
Public Deliberative Forums

Prepared by Nancy Kranich
American Library Association Center for Civic Life and Rutgers University School of Communication and Information

Need an online solution for teaching how to convene, moderate, name and frame deliberative forums? The American Library Association (ALA) Center for Civic Life has produced 7 free webinars entitled:  The Conversation Continues @ your library: The Place Where Democracy Happens. Produced with the assistance of NIFI Secretary Patty Dineen, Kettering Associate Ellen Knutson, and the David Mathews Center for Civic Life in Alabama, these webinars are archived and publicly available. 
_______________________________________________

Series 2: Naming and Framing
Public Issues

Learn ways to uncover the public concerns of your community by listening to people reveal what really matters to them.
Webinar 1: Beyond Deadlock: A Better Way to Talk about Difficult Issues. Uncover the deeper concerns of our communities.
Webinar 2: Tools for Naming and Framing Public Issues. Learn the steps and processes for leading a “naming and framing” effort.

This fall, ALA is working with NIFI and NCDD on a new series of training sessions as part of its Libraries Transform Communities: Models for Ch ange initiative. Click here for more information.

Tools produced from an earlier Libraries Transform Communities: Turning Outward partnership in conjunction with the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation are also available here.

For More Information, contact: Nancy Kranich or Sarah Ostman
Remembering
Daniel Yankelovich
In September, we received the sad news that Daniel Yankelovich, a founder of Public Agenda and long-time member of the Kettering Foundation board, died at age 92. Here are some comments on Dan's passing:

KETTERING PRESIDENT DAVID MATHEWS:
"Dan's contributions to the foundation were beyond measure. We will miss him greatly."

PUBLIC AGENDA'S WILL FRIEDMAN:
"Dan's life brimmed with intellectual adventure, real-world accomplishment and service to the nation."

SO. AUSTRALIA PREMIER JAY WEATHERILL
"A thinker ahead of his time, his ideas about improving the way we “do” democracy were enlightening, practical and realizable."
PUBLIC AGENDA COLLEAGUES JOHN DOBLE, JOHN IMMERWAHR & JEAN JOHNSON IN AN AUGUST 2017 LETTER TO DAN:
"We don’t know if you’ve been able to keep up to date on NIF. The work is actually remarkable, and it wouldn’t be taking place without you, Dan — without your ideas and contributions. In colleges and universities, K-12 schools, libraries, senior centers, churches, and community organizations nationwide, people are using choicework to wrestle with tough issues of all kinds. People are, as you recommended so many years ago, looking at benefits and trade-offs. The approach you developed, working with Public Agenda and Kettering, is an integral part of university and high school courses across the country. There are tens of thousands of Americans who are now using your ideas to think about how to solve problems and work together. To us, these people offer one of the best hopes for our country in these difficult times."
The Moderators Circle
National Issues Forums Institute
200 Commons Road, Dayton, OH 45459
800-221-3657 /  www.nifi.orgjjohnson@nifi.org