Davenport Institute Conferences

As a university-based policy institute, the Davenport Institute has access to top scholars working on issues relating to public engagement, technology in government, place-making, and other related fields. Our work with local government also provides access to some of the most innovative practitioners. This combined access to theory and practice allows us to pull bring together outstanding speakers and educators at events that we host and events/conferences we speak at.

See Us At These Future Conferences:

• September 25 & 26, 2025 CAPIO Leadership Summit
  • Make sure to join us for the keynote session on September 25 @ 9:10 Leadership Insights Panel - Moderated by our Executive Director, Maureen Tobin
• October 14 - 17, 2025 MMANC 2025 Annual Converence
• November 12 - 14, 2025 MMASC 2025 Annual Conference

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Here you can explore some of our past and upcoming conferences.

Past State of Public Engagement Annual Conferences:

Back to the Future - Where are we Post-Pandemic (ish)? (July 2022)

This was a discussion about how the state of public engagement continues to evolve and change as we navigate community challenges associated with the events of the last 2+ years. In 2020, public engagement went virtual, and in 2021 hybrid public engagement started to gain momentum along with a return to in-person public engagement.  Still, the question remained: where are we now post-pandemic(ish)? This exciting conversation took place on July 20, but you can watch the recording here.

The Future of Public Engagement In a Hybrid World (July 2021)

This was a special meeting about the emerging hybrid of online and in-person public participation using new digital tools and trusted and tested long-standing methods. This hybrid of digital and in-person engagement didn't functionally exist prior to COVID-19. However, in the last year and a half engagement pivoted to predominantly online. Now, both options are possible and we need to share what the early lessons learned are, how to plan which methods are best for the project and stakeholders, and resources to help all public participation managers succeed in this new era of a hybridized approach with more engagement options. This exciting conversation took place on July 21, but you can watch the recording here.