2018 Skills Symposium: Facilitation Skills and Methods for Community Engagement

This two-day workshop will focus on learning and practicing the skills and methods facilitators require to guide effective public meetings and consultations. You will experience facilitation methods that maximize participant engagement and encourage meaningful and respectful conversations.

The workshop contains a facilitator’s toolkit of seven facilitation methods that are particularly effective when hosting collaborative engagement sessions. As a participant you will be provided with the opportunity to co-facilitate one of these methods in a small group setting during the workshop and receive feedback from your peers and the instructors.

The workshop presentation material and practice facilitation are designed to prepare you to facilitate small and large scale public meetings, group gatherings, and community consultations that solicit community feedback with skill and confidence.

Learning Credit: Workshop and training experience are recognized by the Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) and the Ontario Association of School Board Officials (OASBO). The proposed Facilitation Skills and Methods for Community Engagement Workshop for the IAP2 Canada 2018 Skills Symposium has been successfully delivered to members of OPPI and OASBO more than 25 times.

PLEASE NOTE: International IAP2 members require a code to register. Please contact info@iap2canada.ca to obtain it.

— Cancellation and Substitution policy —

Course Learning Objectives

Support participants to design and facilitate stakeholder and community engagement processes by understanding:

• Understanding effective facilitator roles, responsibilities, skills and core values
• Understand the dynamics of working with groups and the changing role of the facilitator
• Understanding the IAP2 Public Engagement Continuum and Levels of Involvement
• Planning for Public Engagement & Tools of Engagement

Learn facilitation methods (FM) techniques, including:

• FM1: Interview Matrix (IM)
• FM2: Affinity Clustering (AC)
• FM3: Nominal Group Technique (NGT)
• FM4: World Café (WC)
• FM5: Force Field Analysis (FFA)
• FM6: Focussed Conversation (FC)
• FM7: Brainstorming (B)
• FM8: Issue Analysis (IA)
• Practice and learn your own skills and attributes as a workshop facilitator

Practice, learn and develop your skills and attributes as a session facilitator and community engagement host.

Trainer: Brian Benn & Lauri Prest

Brian Benn has extensive skill and experience as a trainer, course designer, facilitator, and change leader. He has more than 20 years of experience in designing and facilitating community engagement consultations, strategic planning and decision-making forums. He has been recognized as an effective presenter and facilitator who engages his audience in interactive and meaningful dialogues.

Lauri Prest is an experienced organizational and community development practitioner specializing in change management and leadership capacity building. She is a skilled facilitation process designer with expertise in creating innovative and a collaborative environment that engages people in conversations that lead to wise actions. Lauri is an accredited certified professional coach who co-creates outstanding personal and professional transformation with teams and individuals.

#Schedule at a Glance