notes from flip chart:

Qualities of Good Conversation

•   comfort with virtual mediums
•   starts with neighbourgood
•   politicians ask questions
•   host events / places to have discussions (BBQ, community leagues, etc)
•   bring people together to talk
•   people gather around interests
•   Arts - mainstream / xmmmm broader reach / scope
•   sense of neutrality or sense of the group (elite)
•   How to create a neutral place for conversation?
•   Had to be neutral. trust is needed
•   wonder who is listening

How to Generate Trust?

  [between citizens and government]

• the conversation is positive
• discussion between problems - ongoing conversation
• create a culture of positive conversation
• role of "people in the middle"  -what?
• talk @ community events is often not political, but valuable.  Polititicians should be there
• Citizen responibility.  How to get people involved. How do we break cynicism?
• Reward depolarizing people
• municipal Voter turnout - see most people don't care
• make discussions  more accessible
• polarization brings people out to vote 
• polarization causes barriers
• change signage for elections - web site

What's possible with polarization?

• polarization is not necessarily negative thing
• how do we get those not speaking to speak
• take courage to talk at value level, rather than solutions.  Jup to solutions too quickly
• explore tools for Argument Mapping - tools exist, can be online, can be used during & after decision making process
• engage those who are not yet engaged
• polarization is people & discourse
• How the discourse happens is what matters
• see the merit everywhere
• how polarization comes about matters  i.e. debates w/ predetermined positions
• what does community think (is influence) rather than politicians
• what we are talking about is  actually having conversations
• role of consensus?
• dialogue vs. debate 

  -end of session  10:43-