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Deliberation & Public Problem Solving

Since 2013, NCCE has helped campuses gain knowledge and skills in deliberation. We believe living in a democracy means that citizens are at the center and should be deeply involved in decisions that impact their lives. While as a representative democracy, we elect officials to develop policies and to address public problems, we believe those decisions are best when informed by “we the people.” In addition, we believe citizens can come together through deliberative processes to find common ground and take action themselves on the issues directly impacting their lives. 

Quick History of NCCE Deliberative Initiatives:

2023 – We launched the Redesigning Democracy Competition a one-day experience where students explore and deliberate on specific topics related to democracy that are either contested or in need of reform and intervention and propose ideas to address the issue.

2022 – We piloted the NC Student Dialogue Ambassadors Initiative at four member institutions and the NIF deliberative dialogue Forum method was one of the four methods the students learned and implemented. 
2020 — Our Civic Engagement Institute “Engagement 2.0: Civics, Civility, and Civil Discourse” involved teams from 22 member campuses spending a day in immersive learning. NIF deliberative dialogue was one of the featured models.
2019 – We launched the Community Change Collegiate Challenge (4C) a one-day immersion for students in deliberation
2018 — Our Civic Engagement Institute “Education for Democracy: Promoting Civility and Problem Solving through Deliberative Pedagogy” was facilitated by Dr. Nick Longo and Dr. Timothy Shaffer helping member campuses explore deliberative democracy. All member campuses receive a copy of the book. Over 160 individuals from 27 institutions attend.
2013 — Our Civic Engagement Institute “Becoming Citizens, Becoming Community” involved a training of 175 individuals from 21 campuses in the National Issues Forum  deliberative dialogue method. Since that time, we have hosted trainings in how to moderate forums for over 800 faculty, staff, students, and community members from more than 100 colleges and universities. If you are interested in bringing Moderator Training to your college, university, or community group, contact NCCE.