Davenport Institute

Training Seminar

The size and scope of today's budget deficits and longstanding planning battles mean that decisions can no longer be left to bargaining at the "stakeholder" level, instead a growing number of leaders are "looking out" to their residents rather than "looking in" to their own capabilities. 

The Davenport Institute currently offers two seminars to help leaders improve their skills in public engagement: a half-day "101" seminar that provides a solid foundation in best practices in public processes, and how leaders can asses their current efforts, and evaluate the level at which to engage their residents, plus a full-day program that goes deeper into process design and the essentials of meeting facilitation. Both seminars are aimed toward mid- and uppper-level department management, city managers, elected officials, civic leaders, and other leaders in local and regional government organizations.

Full Day Seminar - Public Engagement: Leading and Designing an Effective Process

In this full-day, highly interactive seminar, participants will go beyond the "what" of public engagement and into the "how", learning important process design and facilitation essentials. Specifically, attendees will have:

• Experienced different ways to conduct public meetings
• An increased understanding of the positive possibilities of public engagement
• An understanding of what makes public engagement "good" or "bad"
• A new understanding of "stakeholders" and a framework to better identify and "recruit" them
• An introductory understanding of the key elements of facilitative meetings that are part of an overall process
• An introductory understanding of how to design a process that works based on experience and the latest in "brain science"
• A sketch of a plan for a public process including different levels of engagement, stakeholders to involve, and an overall process plan including timelines, goals, phases and outcomes.

 

Half Day Seminar - Public Engagement: The Vital Leadership Skill in Difficult Times

Public Engagement can be a nerve-wracking undertaking, but conducted properly, public involvement on important decisions can lead to more creative, acceptable solutions when managed effectively. That is why the Davenport Institute has created a practical and participatory half-day seminar where you will learn:

• The "Civic Engagement Spectrum": from "informing" to "involving" your residents
• When your city, region, or school district is ready to engage the public
• How to develop a positive public engagement campaign
• Important attitude and behavior changes for elected officials, staff, and residents.
• The five main criteria for judging an effective civic engagement process

Who Should Attend:

City staff (City Managers, Planners, etc.), elected officials (Mayors, Council Members), school district leaders (Supes, School Board Members), county/regional officials and staff.

Upcoming Training/ Speaking Events

For information on registering for an upcoming training event, please contact the Davenport Institute's Ashley Trim at ashley.trim@pepperdine.edu.

• Date: September 21 & 22
  Title: Public Engagement: The Vital Leadership Skill in Difficult Times
  Host: ICMA Annual Conference
  Location: Boston, MA

Past Training/ Speaking Events

• Date: Friday, March 15
  Title: Public Engagement: The Vital Leadership Skill in Difficult Times
  Host: City of Hayward
  Location: Hayward, CA
  
• Date: Saturday, February 9
  Title: Public Engagement: The Vital Leadership Skill in Difficult Times
  Host: City of Desert Hot Springs
  Location: Desert Hot Springs, CA
  
• Date: Tuesday, February 5 
  Title: Public Engagement: Leading and Designing an Effective Process (full-day seminar)
  Host: The Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership
  Location: Pepperdine West LA Campus, Los Angeles, CA
• Date: Saturday, December 1
  Title: Public Engagement: The Vital Leadership Skill in Difficult Times
  Host: Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkely
  Location: Berkeley, CA
• Date: Thursday, October 18
  Title: Using Social Media for Civic Engagement (panel)
  Host: Municipal Managers of Northern California 2012 Conference
  Location: Napa, CA

• Date: Friday, October 26
  Title: Participation and Transparency in Bell, CA (panel)
  Host: The Hudson Institute
  Location: Washington, DC
• Date: Saturday, October 13
  Title: Public Engagement: A Quiet Revolution in Local Government (presentation)
  Host: National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation 2012 Conference
  Location: Seattle, WA
• Date: Sunday, October 7
  Title: Public Engagement: The Vital Leadership Skill in Difficult Times
  Host: ICMA
  Location: Phoenix, AZ
• Date: Wednesday, September 12
  Title: Connecting Public Engagement With Community Building
  Host: City of Fairfield's Leadership Academy
  Location: Fairfield, CA

• Date: Tuesday, September 11
  Title: Public Engagement: The Vital Leadership Skill in Difficult Times
  Host: City of Roseville
  Location: Roseville, CA

Refund Policy

Refunds will be issued in full up to 48 hours prior to the event date. After that date, no refunds will be issued.