Want to regain control and promote civility in your public meetings?

The National Civic League and ICMA invite you to join us in a four-part online workshop designed to equip local government leaders with the skills to plan, facilitate, and manage official public meetings.

The series will address common challenges faced by managers in public meetings, explore opportunities for improvement, and offer innovative approaches to enhance public engagement, ensure civility, facilitate inclusive discussions, and present information effectively.

In this series, we will cover:

• Navigating the Challenges of Public Meetings
• Designing Effective Public Meetings
• Facilitating Civil, Effective Meetings
• Improving Engagement Before, After, and Alongside Public Meetings

This online workshop cohort is limited to 35. 

Schedule: 

May 27, 2025, 1-2:30 pm Eastern
NAVIGATING THE CHALLENGES OF PUBLIC MEETINGS
Compare notes with other managers about the challenges you are facing in public meetings, identify factors that help and hinder the effectiveness of these meetings (such as state open-meetings laws), preview innovative approaches and tools that enhance public engagement and promote civility, and discuss the central question: "What does it take for people to feel (and be) heard?" 

June 3, 2025, 1-2:30 pm Eastern
DESIGNING EFFECTIVE PUBLIC MEETINGS
Explore options for designing public meetings that are participatory, equitable, inclusive, and compliant with open-meeting laws. This workshop introduces tools and strategies for deliberation, input-gathering, and measuring participant satisfaction, illustrated with real-world examples.

June 10, 2025, 1-2:30 pm Eastern
FACILITATING CIVIL, EFFECTIVE MEETINGS
Develop the skills for encouraging civility, presenting information to citizens effectively, resolving conflicts, and closing the feedback loop. The workshop will provide sample ground rules, facilitation techniques, and online polling tools.  

June 17, 2025, 1-2:30 pm Eastern
IMPROVING ENGAGEMENT BEFORE, AFTER, AND ALONGSIDE PUBLIC MEETINGS
Discover how communities have established new avenues for sharing information between meetings, using network-based recruitment to engage all populations, and employing hybrid strategies that combine the strengths of digital and in-person engagement.