Blog
Written by Max Hardy and Paul Waite It’s my pleasure to interview a new friend and colleague Paul Waite who is a ‘dialogue practitioner’ amongst other things. Paul, I know you sometimes refer to this as ‘dialogue for understanding’. Can you tell us what that means? Thanks Max. As you know, dialogue means different things…
The importance of defining the term community engagement before designing a community engagement process.
It was hectic. Five workshops, in five cities, over eight days – Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. A weekend glamping in the Rockies in between, followed by two nights at Tofino before returning to Melbourne Australia. Find out what it was all about!
Thrilled to be part of the Tamarack Learning Centre Rethinking Democracy: Strategies That Put Citizens at the Centre webinar with Sylvia Cheuy. The recording of the session is now available online from their webpage. Or you can see it directly here: . You can also download the presentation slides. Please share these links freely with…
Introducing and interviewing Jade Herriman I have known Jade for over 10 years. She’s smart, creative and soulful. Her journey has been fascinating, and if you are keen to discover how art and democracy go together then read on. Max: We co-wrote a paper together with some Canadian academics/colleagues a few years ago (You can…
A Social Scientist, Design Thinker and Science Impact Practitioner walked into a bar. The Social Scientist asks “how can we work together to solve the most complex problems with communities?” Two hours later and here are their 5 top killer tips for inter-disciplinary approaches to solving wicked problems with communities. @Robyn Mansfield@Anthony Boxshall@Max Hardy 1.…
As many of you will know I have long been a fan of Fran Peavey; especially her work in developing the concept and practice of strategic questioning. Fran put forward the power of questions that make it impossible for the status quo to remain. Questions that create movement; questions that cannot be answered immediately, without…
As someone who has advocated for, and designed/facilitated, deliberative engagement process since 1998, I can honestly say I’m a fan. Time after time we see everyday citizens rising to the occasion to consider complicated or complex issues, work together and to provide sensible, wise and well-reasoned advice to decision-makers. Deliberative processes lead to citizens appreciating…
I am very excited to be the winner of the recent IAP2 Australasia Wordsmith Competition. The Wordsmith competition asked members to come up with the best definition of an engagement practitioner using everyday language. My winning entry was: “An engagement practitioner helps individuals, groups, organisations and decision makers with different interests to talk, listen, learn,…
Max Hardy discusses Citizens’ Advisory Panels and their usefulness to councils.