The Community Teams workshop customizes public deliberation to local hopes and dreams, needs and challenges. It has been discovered that the most effective Community Teams incorporate at least eleven unique but inter-connected roles in their public deliberation research. When these roles are understood and applied, public deliberation can be customized for increased sensitivity to local needs, increased inclusion or diverse voices and increased focus on the decisions that resolve urgent and important issues. The Community Teams workshop continues the learning process for the local practice of deliberative decision making by helping local leaders as they develop a full set of deliberative roles for effective civic engagement.

• Understand the components and flow of deliberative decision making
• Learn the eleven unique roles in public deliberation by Community Teams
• Identify some of the methods and skills needed in each of the Community Teams roles
• Recognize the importance of citizen research in local communities
• Understand the components of project management in developing deliberative projects
• Discover how to develop partnerships in public research and deliberation
• Find new ways to access resources related to civic engagement in public decisions