PublicForum Interview with Nick Wates Beth Offenbacker

The ability to apologize is serious business with serious benefits for the apologizer. It’s not just about being nice. In Effective Apology: Mending Fences, Building Bridges, and Restoring Trust (Berret-Koehler, 2009), John Kador demonstrates that the willingness to apologize is now perceived as a critical test that all leaders must confront. In this July 2009 book talk, Kador describes how leaders of public, nonprofit and private organizations who apologize signal strength of character, accountability, and humility. There is also discussion of how an apology can be a critical part of making difficult situations right while also allowing people or communities to move forward.

This PublicForum Book Talk features Australian community engagement practitioner and author Wendy Sarkissian. She is the co-author of Kitchen Table Sustainability: Practical Recipes for Community Engagement with Sustainability (with Steph Vajda and Yollana Shore, Nancy Hofer and Cathy Wilkinson). Published by Earthscan (2008), this timely book opens the door so that the theory and practice of sustainability can enter into the experience of the "everyday" and be released from the exclusive provinces of experts: planners, bureaucrats, scientists, intergovernmental panels, roundtables, cabinet tables and board tables. As the book explains, top-down approaches close the door to ordinary people, who, sitting at their kitchen tables, feel unable to have the informed conversations about sustaining our futures that every household needs to have. It proposes a model for participatory community engagement, education and development and provides both conceptual and practical tools for those working for and with communities who want to build a knowledgeable and truly sustainable society. Join us for an insightful exploration of practical approaches for transforming community engagement with Wendy during this December 2009 Book Talk.

Community engagement efforts are based on good intentions, although they can easily go wrong and lead to ‘bad’ decisions. Knowing the essential steps that lead to a quality engagement outcome -- and the pitfalls to avoid -- are key for designing and implementing any engagement effort. Join us for a discussion with Australian community engagement practitioner, teacher and author Vivien Twyford about her insights -- drawn from more than 20 years working with public, nonprofit/NGO and private organizations -- about what you need to know about creating sustainable decisions. Twyford is the co-author, with Stuart Waters, Max Hardy and John Dengate, of the noted book Beyond Public Meetings: Connecting Community Engagement with Decision-Making.

PublicForum Book Talk with Author, Teacher and Practitioner Nick Wates, with interview by Beth Offenbacker from PublicDecisions. Nick has authored several books, including the recent book "The Community Planning Event Manual: How to Use Collaborative Planning and Urban Design Events to Improve Your Environment (Tools for Community Planning)" (2009: Earthscan). Nick is also the Site Editor for CommunityPlanning.net.