In case anyone is interested, I'm in Washington DC this week attending the national Steering Committee of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (I'm a guest).
This is giving me a chance to share stories of our St. Paul Issues Forum successes with folks from across the US and the world. I'm also picking up a lots of information and inspiration. On Thursday and Friday, we'll be meeting with folks from the Philipines, Mexico, India, Brazil, and other developing nations to talk about local citizen engagement projects.
I look forward to sharing some of what I've learned with those of you who are interested.
"The mission of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium is to bring together practitioners and researchers to support and foster the nascent, broad-based movement to promote and institutionalize deliberative democracy at all levels of governance in the United States and around the world."
http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/about/
I mention this, because one of my own goals for the work that I do with St. Paul E-Democracy is to use the internet to provide opportunities for citizens to participate in thoughtful civic discussions and become engaged in important community decision making.
I'm hearing many stories about how citizens have been able to come together and deal with controversial topics, while dealing with each other with respect and civility, despite political differences.
This is part of my hope for St. Paul.
Best wishes,
-- Tim Erickson List Manager St. Paul Issues Forum http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/ Hamline Midway Resident 651-643-0722 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
St. Paul Links - http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/links.html
"The St. Paul Issues Forum is a interactive e-mail discussion on important issues about St. Paul public policy. Participation is free and open to anyone. We currently have about 350 concerned citizens and community leaders subscribed to our discussion."
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