COMMUNITY DIALOGUES
Diversity Awareness Workshops
Diversity Awareness Workshops are designed to fit the specific needs of the organization requesting the workshop. Workshop topics include: cross-cultural communication, white privilege, police and community relations, and youth issues. Various local organizations have utilized the Diversity Awareness Workshops, including: All Saints Health Care, Alverno College, Gateway Technical Institute, Kenosha County District Attorneys Office, Leadership Institute of University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Leadership Racine, Lincoln Lutheran, Sustainable Racine, Wheaton Franciscan, Youth Connections, YWCA, Wisconsin Education Association of Student Support Programs.
Diversity Circles
Diversity Circles are small groups of people talking together about critical public issues. Participants meet together over a period of six weeks to look at an issue from many points of view. The goal of Diversity Circles is to engage participants in dialogue to promote action and change. The democratic dialogue provides citizens the opportunity to have their voices heard in a respectful, thoughtful format, and then invites them to take what they have learned and put that in action in the community. The dialogues, led by trained facilitators, raise awareness and increase understanding, so that together, citizens create change in their communities.
Since 1999, the Center for Community Partnerships has worked to promote the Diversity Circle process throughout the Kenosha and Racine areas as well as other communities throughout the state of Wisconsin, including: Appleton, Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Manitowoc, Oshkosh, and Stevens Point. We have also worked with communities in Illinois and Michigan. Currently, we are working with the University of Wisconsin-Extension to promote a statewide Diversity Circles initiative. We have dealt with various issues, such as: racism, education, police/community relations, sexual orientation, and poverty. Our program is affiliated with the National Study Circles Resource Center. For further information from the Study Circles Resource Center, see www.studycircles.org.
Facilitator Training
Facilitator Training is offered to those who want to develop their skills to promote community change. Highly skilled facilitators are necessary for any successful dialogue forms. Effective facilitator training develops discussion leaders who understand the principles and techniques of effective small-group deliberations and the broader civic context in which the facilitation takes place. Facilitators have an interest in how groups work, the skills to guide the conversation, and a desire to help people have a productive experience. They are good listeners and relate well to many different kinds of people. Above, all, they are interested in improving their communities.
We have trained hundreds of facilitators throughout Kenosha and Racine counties as well as throughout the state and in Illinois and Michigan. High school students, college students, community members, and inmates have all been trained to play this critical role in community dialogues. For further information from the Study Circles Resource Center, see www.studycircles.org.
Peace Learning Circles
The mission of Peace Learning Circles is to promote a culture of peace through education to youth and communities. The goal is to provide students with an opportunity to practice conflict resolution, peaceful living skills, and gain increased environmental awareness. Peace Learning Circles host 4th and 5th grade classrooms at its Peace Centers in Kenosha and Racine. In its first year, it taught conflict resolution skills to 450 students. Besides the action-packed, fun-filled field trip, each student is given a peace pledge, a workbook, and the Peace Facilitators visit each classroom for 4 "booster visits." The "boosters" ensure the students are successfully using the skills they were taught. For more information contact Sue Hollow jshollow12@yahoo.com or 262-681-0135 or Denis Wikel dwikel@wi.rr.com or 262-843-3864.
Brochure
Peace Learning Circles video (3 minutes)
For further information about Peace Learning Circles, see: http://peacelearningcircles.cfsites.org/
Peace Learning Circles - Education & Development Coordinator
World Café
World Café is a flexible, easy-to-use process for fostering collaborative dialogue, sharing collective knowledge, and discovering new opportunities for action. Seven core design principles provide practical tips and tools for convening and hosting “conversations that matter,” even with very large groups. The World Café approach can be adapted to many different settings and cultures. Based on living systems thinking, this is a proven approach for fostering authentic dialogue and creating dynamic networks of conversation around your organization or community’s real work and critical questions--improving both personal relationships and people’s capacity to shape the future together.
Since 2005, the Center for Community Partnerships has offered the World Café dialogue method to various community partners, including the Local area high schools, Kenosha Job Center, Kenosha County District Attorneys Office, and Kenosha County United Way. We also use elements of the Open Space Technology. For further information from the World Cafe website, see www.theworldcafe.org.
