Expert to address challenge of democratic deliberation

An expert on public communication and mediation will speak March 1 on “the challenge of democratic deliberation,” particularly when that deliberation involves public participation with many stakeholders.

John Forester, a professor of city and regional planning at Cornell University will speak on Monday, March 1, at 7:30 p.m. in Room 1B50 of the Humanities Building on the University of Colorado campus. Forester will deliver the 2010 Annual Josephine B. Jones Lecture, sponsored by the CU Department of Communication.

Forester's recent research draws lessons from the experience of mediators of public disputes to inform the work of a wide range of “planners” and community actors working in the face of conflict.

Drawing from experiences with participatory design and coalition-building in urban transportation planning, Forester explores a critical, pragmatic and mediated style of deliberative democratic work—work that makes clear that skillful mediators no more make agreements than mid-wives make babies.

The practical consequences that follow include distinguishing not just the distinct, if interrelated, processes of dialogue, debate and negotiation but also the practices required to enable these processes in contentious cases: facilitating dialogue differs substantially from moderating debate, and both of these practices differ deeply from the work of mediating negotiations.

Forester is an internationally renowned theorist, researcher and consultant, in addition to being a locally involved citizen-practitioner. During more than three decades, he has conducted research in diverse settings around the world and written influentially on political deliberation, public dispute and participatory elements of the planning process.

Among his books and edited collections are “Critical Theory and Public Life,” “Planning in the Face of Power,” “The Argumentative Turn in Policy Analysis and Planning,” “The Deliberative Practitioner: Encouraging Participatory Planning Processes,” and “Dealing with Differences: Dramas of Mediating Public Disputes.”

Feb. 18, 2010