*French version follows - La version française suit la version anglaise

IAP2 Canada (iap2canada.ca) is looking for your help in completing a national survey on the public participation tools, techniques and best practices used in Canada. The online survey will take approximately 10 minutes. Your responses will remain anonymous and, when analyzed with responses from other practitioners, will create a picture of public participation practices in Canada. We’ll share these findings throughout the IAP2 Canada community this summer to help you stay abreast of what’s happening in your field.

To take part in the survey, please click on the following link before June 3, 2013:

http://fluidsurveys.com/s/IAP2CanadaStateofPracticeSurvey/

Please forward this widely throughout your Canadian public engagement network and, thank you in advance for helping the IAP2 Canada community keep its pulse on public participation in Canada.

L’Association internationale pour la participation publique (AIP2) du Canada (iap2canada.ca) a besoin de vous pour compléter un sondage pancanadien sur les outils, les techniques et les meilleures pratiques en matière de participation publique au Canada. Répondre à ce sondage en ligne ne vous prendra que 10 minutes et nous vous garantissons que vos réponses demeureront confidentielles. L’analyse de vos réponses et de celles des autres praticiens nous permettra de faire un portrait des pratiques de participation publique au Canada.

Nous partagerons les résultats du sondage avec vous au cours de l’été afin que vous connaissiez ce qui se passe dans votre domaine récemment.

Pour participer au sondage, veuillez cliquer sur le lien suivant avant le 3 juin 2013:

http://fluidsurveys.com/s/IAP2CanadaStateofPracticeSurvey/

Veuillez diffuser ce sondage à l’ensemble de vos collègues dans le domaine de la participation publique.

Merci à l’avance d’aider la communauté de l’AIP2 Canada à prendre le pouls des pratiques de participation publique au Canada!

The IAP2 Board is pleased to announce the selection of Shelley MacDonald as the new Professional Development Manager.  Shelley will be commencing her duties on Monday, May 13, 2013.

Although new to the IAP2 family she is actively involved in local public participation activities and a strong believer that people all around the world should have a voice.  Shelley has over 20 years of experience as a highly successful adult educator, working in the U.S. and in numerous European countries.  She has extensive expertise in designing, developing, delivering, and administering professional development programs.  As well as demonstrated experience in developing, launching, and maintaining innovative and profitable accredited training programs.  She has her Master’s Degree in Adult Education with an emphasis on online teaching and learning and is an ASTD Certified Professional in Learning and Development.

Shelley is passionate about delivering best-in-class learning initiatives and helping others to succeed and achieve their goals.  She is an expert Learning Management System administrator, fluent in English, German and conversant in French and specializes in multi-lingual and multicultural environments.

Please join me in welcoming Shelley to IAP2.  Her email is PDM@iap2.org, she is looking forward to meeting and working with many of you.

Sincerely,

Amelia Shaw

Interim Executive Director

May 9, 2013

Atlantic Chapter News

The group looking to form an IAP2 Canada Atlantic chapter held an event organizing meeting in Halifax on March 14. The meeting focused on potential locations, scheduling and event topics for IAP2 activities in Halifax and the Atlantic region. Meeting Take Aways:

1.       Chapter members will be surveyed for event topics.

2.       At least one event will be held before the end of June, ideally in several locations across the Atlantic region.

3.       The Halifax group will schedule a bi-monthly series of informal meetings in Halifax for active local members to begin networking.

We are planning to have an informal gathering on May 30 from 5-7 in a group meeting area at Pipa Restaurant, 1685 Argyle Street, Halifax. The focus will be “How to incorporate evaluation into community engagement initiatives”. Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) Atlantic Chapter lead Robert Chatwin has graciously accepted an invitation to join us at this event.

The IAP2 Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Amelia Shaw as the interim Executive Director. Amelia will be commencing her duties in this role immediately.

Amelia is well known to many in the IAP2 family. She is the immediate President of IAP2 Canada and a past member of the Board (prior to be a Federation). Amelia has been a leader within IAP2 for many years and has many IAP2 achievements under her belt including being a Core Values Award winner. Amelia has broad experience in the public sector and has recently become certified by the International Association of Facilitators.

On behalf of the IAP2 Board I am delighted that Amelia has accepted this role and look forward to her working with us all in the coming months.

Her email is actingED@iap2.org and she is looking forward to meeting and working with many of you.

Nomi Muthialu

Presiding Member

16 January 2013

Atlantic Chapter News

If you would like to help out, please let us know! Contact Alan Timberlake at 902 4248784 or timberaj@gov.ns.ca

BC Chapter

Winter on the west coast usually means lots of rain but this year we have had more clear days than usual.  This has provided great views of the mountains and has been an effective backdrop for our recent strategic planning process. The BC executive met in January to plan our 2013-2016 strategy. Our vision is to be the leading organization in BC advocating for the practice of public participation. We aspire to engage practitioners throughout the Lower Mainland and regionally throughout British Columbia by offering networking events and higher-level training in partnership with other leading BC organizations and institutions. We also aspire to serve a new generation of P2 practitioners by creating opportunities for networking and learning that engages students.

We are working towards this vision through a variety of strategies including new partnerships that will deliver training and social events with the Canadian Public Relations Society’s Northern Lights Chapter, Simon Fraser University, the BC Government, and other regional organizations. Our annual spring symposium is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, May 15^th and planning is underway for social events in February (South Fraser area of Vancouver) March 14^th (downtown Vancouver), and possibly Victoria in April.  Details of these events will be posted on the IAP2 Canada website and the new IAP2 BC website: http://www.iap2bc.ca/

We are also connecting our members through social media such as Linkedin. We welcome public participation practitioners from across Canada to attend training in BC, to join our events and the conversation in British Columbia at: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/IAP2-British-Columbia-Chapter-4730803

Catherine Rockandel

President, IAP2 BC

Great Lakes Chapter

The Great Lakes Steering Committee is pleased to announce that the inaugural Executive Committee has been formed! The first Executive Committee of the IAP2 Canada Great Lakes Chapter is as follows:

• Laurie Bruce, Principal, Planning Solutions
• Tracey Ehl, Principal, Ehl Harrison Consulting Inc.
• Sherif Kinawy, Graduate Assistant, University of Toronto
• Karla Kolli, Associate, Dillon Consulting Limited
• Katrina McCullough, Environmental Planner, AECOM
• Carrie-Lynn Ognibene, Senior Advisor, Corporate Relations, Hydro One Networks Inc.
• Michael Sullivan, Senior Project Manager, Cambium Inc.
• Sheila Wilson, Manager, Community Development and Partnerships, Haldimand County

All members were acclaimed following a successful nomination process led by Brent Bullough.

In other news, the Great Lakes Steering Committee was thrilled with the great turnout at our December networking event in North York. As their final task, the Steering Committee is preparing to transition to the Executive Committee, including a transition report and financial statements. As they turn the reigns over to the new Executive Committee, the Steering Committee would like to thank all of the sponsors, IAP2 members in the Great Lakes and beyond, and IAP2 Canada who have helped us achieve this important milestone.

Prairie Chapter

Congratulations to the IAP2 members who have been elected to the founding Board of Directors of the IAP2 Prairie Chapter!  The newly elected Board members are:


·        Michelle Holland

·        Janet Kinley

·        Krista Stobart

·        David Marsh

·        Brock Feenstra

·        Kate Moir

·        Dale Karasiuk

·        Michelle Finley

·        Denisa Gavan-Koop

We had a strong interest in these positions and a very tight race. We’re excited to build on the momentum gained in the past couple of months and look forward to networking and training opportunities in the Prairies!

Wildrose Chapter

Announcing Wildrose Chapter’s 2013 Signature Event

The Wildrose Board invites you to join us May 6th and 7th at the bi-annual Signature Event entitled “Pushing Boundaries: What’s Your Edge?”. To be held in Calgary at the Delta Calgary South this year’s conference is all about expanding and growing! Come join us and dedicate a couple of days exploring your P2 boundaries and limits, understanding them and then having the courage, resources and skills to push past. We hope over the course of the event you find your P2 potential!

Last fall, IAP2 Canada launched a pilot program to pair new public participation practitioners with seasoned professionals in learning relationships. This pilot mentorship program is the first step in what we hope will become a unique and meaningful benefit for IAP2 Canada members.

We recently had a check-in call with program participants to see how the program is going. Here are some things we heard:

• Some pairs are meeting by phone, others in person and others via Skype in the evenings for anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour at a time.
  
• Protégés are appreciating the opportunity to “be under the wing of a seasoned professional” and receive confirmation that they are “on the right track” with their own P2 practice.
  
• Mentors are appreciating the opportunity to connect with new practitioners from different industries and backgrounds. They are being reminded that we all come to this profession from a different perspective and it’s important that we value and learn from those differences.
  
• Scheduling is a bit of a challenge, so pairs are finding it most helpful to arrange the next meeting at the end of each meeting and to book it as a calendar request.
  
• Pairs are really appreciating the opportunity to learn from each other and discuss how IAP2’s networks, training, and framework can support a successful career in P2.
  
• This is a valuable program from IAP2 Canada that has definitely met if not exceeded expectations. It’s great to be able to adapt a learning relationship to the unique context of the two people but also to have IAP2 Canada coordinate the relationship and have check-ins to keep us on track.
  
• It’s important to mentor new practitioners to the field.
  

If you’re interested in participating in a future IAP2 Canada mentorship program as a mentor or protégé, please send us an email at info@iap2canada.ca. We will complete and evaluate the pilot this spring and hope to have a full program available for members before summer.

Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy at Kansas State University Announces the 2013 Collaborative Certificate Program in Dialogue, Deliberation, and Public Engagement (DDPE)

We are pleased to announce that we are offering the award winning graduate level DDPE Collaborative Certificate Program in March 2013.

This distinctive program strives for the development of mastery through building the skills, knowledge and intuitive sensibility that are needed to make wise choices about how to bring forms of dialogue, deliberation, and engagement into situations where they are most effective.

Designed and delivered in collaboration with The International Institute for Sustained Dialogue, the Kettering Foundation, and the Public Dialogue Consortium, the DDPE program focuses on proven approaches as well as current innovations in dialogue, deliberation, and public engagement. It is led by an outstanding faculty of scholar-practitioners who have played key roles in developing these approaches and innovations. (Hal Saunders, Phil Stewart, Keith Melville, Jan Elliott, Linda Blong, Lyn Carson, John Dedrick,)

The program also features guest speakers who join us on Phone Dialogues. The guests are widely recognized as scholars and innovative practitioners in the field. Previous featured guests have included: Carolyn Lukensmeyer, Juanita Brown, Martha McCoy, Bob Stains, Shawn Spano, Kim Pearce, Frank Barrett, Joe Peters, Janette Hartz-Karp and Adam Kahane.

Join us. Learn with others, from different backgrounds and countries, who share your enthusiasm for this work. Learn in two face-to-face workshops, online, and on the phone with world renowned practitioners. A program description and faculty information are available at http://www.dce.k-state.edu/conf/dialogue/

To learn more, join us for an informational teleconferences. To register for a call, go to http://www.dce.k-state.edu/conf/dialogue/

Program Structure, Tuition and Registration Information

The DDPE program has a flexible and accessible structure of four courses so that the full depth and breadth of the learning may be gained incrementally. These courses can be combined into the full program or stacked in a variety of ways.

Tuition is US$ 3,950 for the full program. Component courses are also priced individually. See Registration, costs and package discounts for these at http://www.dce.k-state.edu/conf/dialogue/registration

NCDD and IAP2 members receive a 10% discount. 

To register online visit: http://www.dce.k-state.edu/conf/dialogue/