For those of you who couldn’t make it, we missed you! Last week, more than 250 civic leaders, policy makers, researchers, teachers, and students came together at the University of New Hampshire to talk about changes in the landscape of American democracy and what those changes mean for the practice and teaching of democracy. No Better Time: Promising Opportunities in Deliberative Democracy for Educators and Practitioners was hosted by the Democracy Imperative and the Deliberative Democracy Consortium, two organizations that work to promote research and teaching to strengthen democracy. We had timing (other than the economy, travel freezes, and the Swine flu) on our side – an historic election, an administration that’s experimenting with 
e-democracy as a way to include diverse citizen perspectives in policy making, increasing use of dialogue and deliberation to foster social change, record youth political engagement, and a growing interest on campuses (without clear ownership in any one academic department or administrative office) in teaching democratic principles and practices. It did seem like no better time to pause and consider what they mean for deliberative democracy advocates.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be analyzing survey results and sessions summaries, so stay tuned. Here’s a sample: In the session, Embedding Deliberative Practices in Local Democracy, a top action priority was, “train community members and public officials in deliberative practices.” And in the session, “Using Democratic Strategies in the Classroom,” the group created a long list of teaching tools and techniques that could be used across courses and programs. Combined, what needs to happen is aligned (1) professional development for public officials and everyday citizens and (2) faculty development so that colleges and universities graduate students who are already in the habit of doing dialogue and deliberation. And let's explore ways that campuses and communities can do this Better Together (another session).
Keep checking back here, and we’ll update you. In the meantime, to get a sense of the scope of this conference, check out the learning exchanges(with some advance readings) that conference participants designed.
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