Conference Themes

There are four conference themes that come directly out of the conference title Leading Change; Leading Change: How Conversations Make Stronger Communities and Healthier Democracies.  Along with each of the themes we present a series of questions that relate to the theme.

Leading Change

• How have communities and community leaders used dialogue and deliberation to create change?
• What does "leadership" mean when it comes to dialogue and deliberation?
• What are new ways or emerging promising practices?

Conversations

• How can governments use dialogue and deliberation to make more sustainable decisions?
• How do organizations outside government - like community groups, NGOs and businesses - use structured conversations to make important decisions?
• What ways of facilitating dialogue have worked well, or not worked well?  Why?
• What is the role of technology and social media in fostering dialogue?

Stronger Communities

• How can dialogue and deliberation create stronger communities?
• How do we make sure "silent voices" are part of these conversations?
• How do we get people involved across generational divides?

Healthier democracies

• How can dialogue and deliberation help solve some of the problems in today's democracies?
• What can people do to help create stronger democracies?