September 18, 2003 | Read Time: 1 minute
Conducting Community Forums: Engaging Citizens, Mobilizing Communities
by Carol Lukas and Linda Hoskins
This book shows how to plan meetings designed to bring together residents and representatives of nonprofit organizations and government agencies to tackle community problems.
Carol Lukas, director of national services at the Wilder Center for Communities at the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, in St. Paul, and Linda Hoskins, a staff consultant at the center, say that such gatherings can increase awareness of community issues, develop solutions to problems, and promote public-policy changes. Meetings might cover such topics as housing, racism, or how to promote social-change legislation.
The guide offers advice on how to determine whether a group has adequate time and money to plan a forum and whether other organizations should be invited as co-sponsors. It details the tasks of planning a meeting, including designing a budget, selecting a location, and choosing speakers. The authors also discuss how to invite, register, and solicit ideas from participants.
To be successful, write Ms. Lukas and Ms. Hoskins, a community forum must prompt action by the people who attend. The authors offer tips on keeping in touch with participants and encouraging them to follow through on problem-solving plans that were devised at the meeting.
The book includes sample promotional materials and checklists to help planners keep track of logistics. Each chapter concludes with suggestions on how to cut costs.
Publisher: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, 919 Lafond Avenue, St. Paul, Minn. 55104-2108; (651) 659-6024 or (800) 274-6024; fax (651) 642-2061; books@wilder.org; http://www.wilder.org; 128 pages; $22; I.S.B.N. 0-940069-31-8.
