I salute the team of students who developed For Future Generations. An effective collaboration on such a complex project is a true accomplishment. The guide is easy to follow. It's beautifully "designed" and has real eye appeal. It's been carefully researched; the facts are presented clearly. And the personal stories add interest and support for the arguments. The language is clear and there's a positive tone that gives the reader a sense that the approaches are valid. These are all real strengths. What's missing, and why is this important? This guide doesn’t offer opportunities for people to roll up their sleeves and explore the root causes of the problem before they try to find solutions. It documents the challenges, but it doesn’t invite people to express their own views about why the challenges exist and how these challenges have affected their lives. Before considering a range of approaches, it’s important for participants in a dialogue to come to an understanding of why this matters to each of them. That’s what gets them invested in solving the problem. That's when they discover that they have a voice and that it matters. A second concern is that, while there are pros and cons listed under each approach, there are no “probing questions” provided to help people deliberate and dig deeper into the possible solutions. Given the opportunity, everyday people can and will solve problems together. They just need some tools to open up the discussion. (Perhaps the facilitators had a set of questions to work with?) I guess what I’m trying to say is this: For Future Generations does an excellent job of teaching, but there's little opportunity for people to add their own opinions to the mix. It doesn’t say: "Come on! WE can do this! What do YOU think? Let’s look at the challenges from all angles, consider the options, and come up with some solutions, together.”

Many discussion guides designed for young participants include icebreakers to keep energy high, but this guide cuts to the chase. It sets a welcoming tone, but, from the start, it's clear that this is going to be a serious, substantive conversation. Since at least 450 young people participated in Teen Tulsa Talks, the formula seems to have worked. Early on, participants are encouraged to think about the difference between dialogue and debate, and there are a number of opportunities to reflect on the dialogue process. This is a great way to help students learn how to "practice" democracy. The six sessions flow nicely, from relationship building, to looking at ways to create a better environment for teens in the schools and in the greater community, to sorting and prioritizing ideas for action. And the language is clear and concise. My only concern is that Sessions 3 and 4 present a combination of problems and ideas for solutions without first providing a session where teens can name and explore the issues that most concern them. In practice, this may have worked very well, but we usually recommend starting with “views” (various perspectives on the nature of the problem) and then moving to “approaches” (possible solutions). It may be that discussing a fact sheet—in Session 2—turned out to be a useful way to uncover the things that young people really wanted to talk about. In Tulsa, the discussion ended up focusing on obesity and safety—both issues of great importance to teens. It's just not entirely clear to me how they got there, but the important thing is that they did, and they made progress. What’s the lesson here? Often, the dialogues take on a life of their own. Discussion guides (including those published by Everyday Democracy) provide a starting place for a lively, productive exchange of ideas, even if people don’t follow them, step by step.

Rapidly changing demographics in Lexington, Neb., forced town leaders to look for ways to involve newcomers in public life. In particular, they needed to encourage Latino families to play an active role in their children's education. This guide helped open the doors to much needed parent involvement. Also available in Spanish, it provides a basis for a rich discussion. Anchored in personal experience, it offers a range of views and solutions, and ends by giving participants an opportunity to set priorities for action. The guidelines for the facilitators are clear, and the language is simple and straightforward.

This guide is proof positive that brief and accessible discussion materials are all that people need to build a productive dialogue that yields countless, practical ideas. (In Decatur, participants in the Roundtables generated more than 400 ideas to help inform the city's strategic plan and, in the process, they began to understand one another and their potential--as individuals, and in groups--for bringing about positive change in their community. The writers managed to distill complex issues into ideas that any of us can grasp, and the simple presentation put participants at ease. It's a wonderful example for other communities.

Building Strong Neighborhoods combines simple organizing advice with a broad "menu" of topics for discussion. In addition to being effective in a neighborhood setting, it's an ideal guide for new steering groups to use in a practice study circle to learn how the dialogue-to-change process works on a range of issues. This discussion guide was published in 1998, years before Everyday Democracy began to focus more intentionally on ways to support action that leads to institutional, systemic, and policy change. To address this problem, we suggest that you consult our how-to guides, as well as discussion guides published within the last 5 years.