If you are looking for fantastic D&D related reading this Summer, we encourage you to check out the recent publication of the National Civic Review (NCR). The National Civic League, an NCDD member organization, recently published the Summer edition of NCR in collaboration with the Kettering Foundation. NCDD members receive a digital copy of NCR for free! (Find the access code below.) This esteemed quarterly journal offers insights and examples of civic engagement and deliberative governance from around the country. Thanks to Rebecca Trout, NCL’s Program Director for the DC Office & All-America City Award, for sharing this announcement with the NCDD network! 

National Civic Review Summer Edition 2023 – Access Code: NCDD23

The summer issue of the National Civic Review features insights on innovations and new roles for journalists and artists in engaging the public and strengthening American democracy. The issue was published in collaboration with the Kettering Foundation.

To access this edition, go to the table of contents where you will be prompted to enter your unique access code: NCDD23.

One of the Nation’s Oldest and Most Respected Journals of Civic Affairs
Its cases studies, reports, interviews and essays help communities learn about the latest developments in collaborative problem-solving, civic engagement, local government innovation and democratic governance. Some of the country’s leading doers and thinkers have contributed articles to this invaluable resource for elected officials, public managers, nonprofit leaders, grassroots activists, and public administration scholars seeking to make America’s communities more inclusive, participatory, innovative and successful.

Find the NCR Summer Edition on NCL's site at: www.nationalcivicleague.org/national-civic-review/issue/summer-2023-volume-112-number-2/.

PACE - Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement - announced they have a new biweekly podcast, Keeping Pace with Kristen. PACE CEO and podcast host, Kristen Cambell, shares thoughts on philanthropy, democracy, and civic life; and the first two episodes are already out! Learn more below and listen to the podcast over on Soundcloud here. Do you have a D&D related podcast and/or content channel you love? Please share with the community in the comments section below.

Keeping PACE with Kristen

​Welcome to Keeping PACE with Kristen, a bi-weekly podcast with Kristen Cambell, CEO of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (or PACE). PACE is a philanthropic laboratory for funders seeking to maximize their impact on democracy and civic life in the United States. In this podcast, Kristen shares her thoughts on some of the most pressing news, conversations, and questions facing democracy and philanthropy in America today.

Find the podcast at: https://soundcloud.com/pacewithkristen.

The holiday season often means more gatherings, which sometimes puts us in the middle of difficult conversations. Talk of politics and other hot topics can be tricky to navigate with family and friends – especially when we don’t see eye to eye. How can we engage in important conversations, without things getting out of hand?

We at NCDD want to share some tips and resources that you can use to help keep the party and dinner conversations more about genuine dialogue and understanding despite differences than heated rhetoric and emotional outbursts.

In addition to our quick tips above, NCDD  has tons more resources that might help you have difficult conversations and good dialogue in our Resource Center. If you’re looking for some additional go-to resources, consider these:

• The Quick How-To Guide for the Conversation Café process includes agreements and questions that can be helpful ways to start and manage conversations that might prove difficult
• For another good list of tips about keeping things civil during holiday dinners, check out the “Holidays or Hellidays?” blog post from NCDD member organization Essential Partners
• And if you need a reminder or cheat sheet with some similar good conversation tips to keep in your pocket in case of emergency, you can print out this short list of dialogue techniques from NCDD member organization Building Dialogue

Even if there are fights and arguments, we hope some of these tips and resources will help you navigate your holiday gatherings better than the past. Whatever happens during your Thanksgiving dinner with friends or family, we are wishing you all a safe and positive weekend.

H.R.6843 - Building Civic Bridges Act was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Andy Barr [R-KY-6]* & Rep. Derek Kilmer [D-WA-6] with 20 cosponsors in the Education and Labor committee on 02/25/2022 to help local communities foster civil discourse to address shared challenges. The bill would establish a new, non-partisan pilot program, led by an Office of Civic Bridgebuilding, within AmeriCorps focused on building relationships across lines of difference. The program would have four core pillars:

• Administering a grant program to support civic bridgebuilding programs across the nation;
• Supporting the training of AmeriCorps members in civic bridgebuilding skills and techniques;
• Supporting research on civic bridgebuilding, civic engagement, and social cohesion; and
• Activating a public conversation about the importance of civic bridgebuilding by serving a key role as both a convening and coordinating partner to the national civic bridgebuilding movement—providing resources, network, and collaboration opportunities to the field.

Executive Director, Courtney Breese was recently featured on the Co-creating Peace Podcast, hosted by NCDD Member Kathleen Oweegon. The Co-creating Peace episode "Let's Talk About It" (episode 66) is part of a series about conscious communication and conflict transformation.  From the episode description:

The difficulties we have with one another are very often the result of lack of insight and understanding. In the absence of information we make assumptions about one another – assumptions that often lead to conflict.

There is a cure for this phenomenon, and that is dialogue – sitting down with one another to have conversations that help us to learn about one another at deeper levels. When we put aside our assumptions, our biases, and the fears on which those are often based, and enter into dialogue with not only a willingness, but a desire, to learn about others and the way they experience and see the world, and then deliberate together to arrive at paths forward that can better meet the needs of all, we begin to build bridges of peace which can one day span the world.

America Talks is back April 21 and 23, and now is the time to sign up!

America Talks (April 21 & 23) invites Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs to connect one-on-one or in small groups, face-to-face on video. America Talks is powered by over 150 nonpartisan, bridge building organizations and promoted by USA TODAY and other media partners. This is an exciting opportunity to meet other Americans who want to connect across differences and talk. You can sign up to participate on one or both of these dates at this link. 

The 5th annual National Week of Conversation that follows (April 24-30), invites Americans to find their place in the bridging movement with events hosted by over 80 bridging organizations. These events provide Americans from every corner of the United States the opportunity to discover common interests, solve problems and raise their voices together. Join lots of NCDD member orgs and friends to connect, discuss, and decide together in the many events being offered throughout the week! 

Are you hosting an event during National Week of Conversation? Let us know! Add your event in the comments. Don't forget a link for people to find out how to join!

The National Civic League, an NCDD member organization, released the National Civic Review (NCR) Summer 2021 edition and  NCDD members receive a digital copy of NCR for free! (Find the access code below.). This esteemed quarterly journal offers insights and examples of civic engagement and deliberative governance from around the country. Thanks to Rebecca Trout, NCL’s Program Director for All-America City Award & Communications, for sharing this announcement with the NCDD network!
Friendly reminder that the League is always seeking articles for NCR on community-based examples of civic engagement, public deliberation, co-production, and democratic innovation – more info here.

Students spend most of their days in school. Naturally, when national events occur, this extends the teachers regular duties to the role of  “first responders”. This publication from Essential Partners was adapted for the classroom from their Reflective Structured Dialogue, and is offered as a tool for teachers to create a space of self- reflection, deep listening and open sharing in the classroom.  The prompts and guidelines to consider, proactively invite the students to process crisis in a healthy way.
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Read about the structure and prompts offered below or find the original post here.

By Lydia Hooper

How many conversations have you had this week about something you saw, on TV or happening in front if you? Vision is the primary way we sense and experience our world, and we are social beings who process information with others. We can easily leverage these tendencies if we want to inspire specific conversations in specific moments.

​The conventional way of doing so is using presentation slides or videos to introduce or explain important topics. These visual forms, however, emphasize what is important from the perspective of the presenter. They do not necessarily offer opportunities to capture what a larger group of people thinks or feels.