​Scenario Six Collective’s Reimagining Engagement Workshop is a three-and-a-half-hour, facilitator-led experience designed for experienced civic engagement practitioners who feel stuck with plateauing participation and stale strategies. Rather than offering generic best practices, the workshop helps participants step back from day-to-day pressures to unpack a real engagement challenge they’re facing and develop context-specific, actionable strategies grounded in their community’s lived experience. Using structured, collaborative processes familiar to dialogue and deliberation work, the workshop moves participants from stagnation to strategic clarity, equipping them with practical tools they can continue using independently. Especially valuable for practitioners navigating the “messy middle” of sustaining and deepening engagement, the offering fills a gap in professional development while modeling the responsive, community-informed principles it seeks to strengthen.

Essential Conversations: Re-envisioning the Art of Convening for the Next 30 Years will take place on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, from 9:00–10:30 AM CT (US), offering an Essential Conversation on *Re-envisioning the Art of Convening: Purposeful Leadership Re-imagined*. This session introduces innovative leadership tools developed by the Art of Convening (AoC) Re-Envisioning Team to help leaders create spaces of welcome, safety, and belonging amid the complexity of our time, with conversation starters including CPL co-founder Craig Neal and AoC Re-Envisioning Team members Kim Kristenson-Lee, Brent Schmidt, Cecily Victor, Pamela Meade, Hart Edmonds, Amber Yang, Patricia Neal, Ric Hinkie, Jerry Chang, and Terry Chapman.

​The Democracy Resources Hub (DRH) and NCDD will offer a webinar titled "Using Civic Technology to Facilitate Meaningful Engagement" featuring speakers Lucas Cioffi from QiqoChat, Josh Lerner from PeoplePowered, Ramon Perez from the Digital Democracy Project, and Ann Reidy from the Civic Health Project sharing real-world examples of how communities use digital platforms to listen, deliberate, and decide together across distance and difference. The training addresses critical questions facing dialogue and deliberation practitioners: how digital systems complement rather than replace face-to-face facilitation, what frameworks ensure online participation remains accountable and democratic rather than amplifying power imbalances, and how hybrid approaches create more inclusive processes reaching people facing barriers to in-person participation while maintaining depth and relationship-building. For NCDD members and the civic engagement field, this training offers practical guidance for thinking critically about both possibilities and limitations of civic technology—understanding when digital tools genuinely expand participation and when they risk reproducing or deepening existing inequities in who gets heard and whose voices shape decisions.

​In a recent article for the Nonprofit Quarterly, Chicago-based civic educator and arts activist Tom Tresser made a compelling case for why arts and culture organizations should follow a proven model for civic engagement—one that the far right has successfully employed for over 50 years. Drawing on his experience as a former actor, theater manager, and arts activist, Tresser outlined practical strategies for using creative spaces to build community power and deepen democratic participation.

​Dinner and a Fight/Dialogue (DaaF/D), developed by Fighting to Understand and adapted from Arizona State University's Hot Topics-Cool Heads method, creates structured spaces where community members engage in productive dialogue over shared meals to address divisive local challenges. The 2.5-hour format balances informal relationship-building during dinner with a unique deliberative structure where five volunteers occupy chairs labeled from "Agree-strongly" to "Disagree-strongly," creating a live demonstration of diverse perspectives that normalizes disagreement and models respectful dialogue across difference. DaaF/D has demonstrated real-world impact in communities like South Haven, Michigan, where it was combined with the digital platform Polis to address contentious short-term rental issues, helping residents move past entrenched positions toward a shared understanding while developing practical skills in constructive dialogue and collaborative problem-solving. Read more in the blog post below.

​Round Sky Solutions is offering a free webinar on January 27, 2026, introducing practical tools for teams striving to share power and collaborate more effectively. Drawing from the organization’s long-running Cooperative Leadership Certification Program, the session will feature somatic grounding practices, frameworks for addressing tension in meetings, and opportunities to connect with others navigating the challenges of democratic management. The article highlights how shared-power teams often struggle with unclear processes and entrenched dynamics, and explains how Round Sky’s approach—rooted in mindful facilitation, inclusive decision-making, and supportive peer learning—helps leaders build more equitable and collaborative organizations. The webinar also serves as a preview of the full 11-week program beginning in March, with applications due February 8, 2026.

The Collaborative Discussion Project (CDP) is offering a free toolkit launching in November 2025 to help educators, facilitators, and community leaders strengthen their skills in fostering inclusive and meaningful dialogue across differences. The CDP Toolkit provides adaptable activities and resources designed to build collaborative intelligence and support democratic engagement in classrooms, workplaces, and communities. To introduce these materials, a free online webinar will be held on November 18, 2025, from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. EST, offering an overview of the toolkit, demonstrations of how to tailor its activities to various contexts, and opportunities for continued collaboration. Closely aligned with the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD) mission, the CDP aims to democratize access to facilitation tools that promote equity, understanding, and civic participation, helping people engage more effectively across differences.

The Sustained Dialogue Institute has released a new open-access campus guide that helps communities address “authenticity gatekeeping” — the pressure individuals feel to prove their belonging within identity-based groups. The resource explores how rigid standards of authenticity can create both connection and harm, drawing on social identity theory to explain why groups enforce boundaries and how these behaviors can silence diversity or reinforce hierarchies. It offers facilitators practical tools, including dialogue prompts and scenario-based exercises, to help participants reflect on their experiences of inclusion and exclusion. By encouraging empathy, critical thinking, and honest discussion about identity and belonging, the guide supports the creation of more inclusive campus environments where complexity and difference are embraced. Read more in the blog post below.

The NCDD Resource Center is your all-in-one destination for exploring a wealth of tools, guides, and frameworks designed to support meaningful dialogue, deliberation, and public engagement. Whether you’re new to the field or an experienced practitioner, you’ll find resources like the Beginner’s Guide, Engagement Streams Framework, and over 40 assessment tools to help you plan, facilitate, and evaluate conversations that bring people together around complex issues. Organized by practical categories—from participatory practices to big-picture theories—the Resource Center also connects you with a community of leaders and offers opportunities for ongoing learning and collaboration. By tapping into these curated resources, you’re helping build a stronger culture of democratic dialogue and informed engagement. Read more in the blog post below.

​Dr. Lori Britt, a longtime dialogue educator and current Visiting Fellow with the Interactivity Foundation’s Collaborative Discussion Project, has developed a new systems thinking activity to help groups better understand the complexity of civic issues. Designed for use with the CDP Toolkit, this activity supports participants in mapping connections, identifying intervention points, and finding pathways to meaningful action. NCDD members are invited to join an upcoming workshop on July 17 to explore and test this tool firsthand. Read more in the blog post below.