PCEL presents:

CIVIC LEARNING MATTERS: Engaging Citizens in Public Problem Solving

June 28, 29 and 30

In the last year, the Great Expectations project and the Central Delaware River project have engaged more than 6,000 citizens in planning a better future for the city of Philadelphia.  The civic dialogues at the heart of these highly praised projects have enabled citizens to dream, to discuss ideas, to make their voices heard, and to have a real impact on events.   The common thread between the two projects is the Penn Project for Civic Engagement, which designed and led the civic process for both.  

Now, here’s a chance for you to learn the theory, the practice, and the techniques that supported these two high-profile efforts.  The Penn Project for Civic Engagement’s Summer Institute has two goals: 1) To teach useful skills about framing and leading deliberative discussion that you can use in your workplace or community. and 2) To train people to work as paid moderators in its civic dialogue projects .

Whether you’re a civic leader, a teacher, a school leader, a manager for a nonprofit or corporation, or simply an engaged citizen, you’ll learn ways to spur productive talk that leads to meaningful action:

• The theory of public deliberation.

• How to moderate a civil, productive, deliberative dialogue.

• Formats and templates for effective dialogues.

• How to use dialogue to help people form a strategic vision

• How to set up dialogues so that they lead to action.

When:      June 28-30, 2008

                  Basic training (2 days)

                           Saturday, June 28: 12:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. (includes dinner)

                           Sunday, June 29: noon -5:00 p.m.

                  Educational Applications: Monday, June 30: 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Where:    Penn Center for Educational Leadership Conference Center

                  The University of Pennsylvania

                  3440 Market Street, 5th Floor

                  Philadelphia, PA 19104

Who:         Community leaders (formal and informal), active citizens, nonprofit leaders, corporate managers, school administrators, teachers, school counselors

Sponsor:  The Penn Project for Civic Engagement and Great Expectations: Citizens Voices on Philadelphia’s Future, Harris Sokoloff, harriss@gse.upenn.edu, faculty director, PPCE

COST: $75.00 – materials and meals included.  Scholarships available.

For more information or to register, contact Holly Kirksey – 215-913-7810; Linda Breitstein – 215-898-1112; or Great-Expectations@gse.upenn.edu. Click here to download the registration form.