How to Facilitate a Large Group Agreement Quickly
Quick agreement is needed during the visioning exercise that often occurs during the first public meeting of a charrette. Participants are seated in groups of no more than eight people per table. Each table has a facilitator and recorder. During this exercise, each table creates a long [...]

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Here is an excerpt from a great article written by NCI alumni, Susan H. Cipperly, also a 2007 Irving Hand Professional Development Award Recipient “One thing I have been aware of during my career as a planner is that unless a comprehensive plan is created with the active involvement of community representatives and government officials, it [...]

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Just knowing how to plan a charrette and design a great plan may not be enough to assure a successful charrette. At the NCI Public Meeting Facilitator™ certificate trainings, you will gain the lessons learned from some of the toughest charrettes and learn how so many potential problems can be defused by knowing how to [...]

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By Bill Lennertz, AIA
Last week I conducted an in-house training with Dan Burden, a seasoned charrette veteran with the consulting firm Glatting Jackson. Dan proposed what was to me a radical idea: let the people facilitate themselves. Dan regularly runs small table exercises at public meetings like the ones described in previous NCI newsletters. NCI [...]

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Public meetings can sometimes be seen by opposition groups as an opportunity to undermine a project by calling its validity into question. It is important that a skilled facilitator lead meetings with all of the tools and techniques to handle difficult meetings at his or her disposal. The first task for a facilitator is to [...]

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The final charrette public meeting has the potential to create a wave of public support that can carry a project through the inevitable obstacles to its implementation. It is the high point of the charrette, the culmination of many days of hard work by the charrette team and stakeholders. The level of expectation and energy [...]

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The outcome of the first charrette public meeting can greatly affect the success of a charrette and should therefore be well planned and facilitated. The overall goal of this first meeting is for participants to gain a complete understanding of the project and how they can be involved throughout the charrette. They should leave with [...]

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