Periods of chaos and uncertainty create opportunity for transformation. Communities and their residents need local news and information to engage and grow a healthy democracy. How can the public engage, not as an audience or marketplace, but as participants in creating and sharing local news and information?<\/i><\/p>\n
This open-space<\/a> gathering is for journalists, community storytellers, active citizens, students, educators, researchers, funders, artists, social entrepreneurs, librarians, information technologists, urban designers, sustainability experts and other pioneers in engagement.<\/i><\/p>\n Our goal<\/strong> Together, we\u2019ll generate actionable tools, illuminate innovative ideas and practices\u00a0and develop strategies for helping communities have the news, information and connection they need to create thriving, healthy, inclusive communities. <\/i><\/p>\n Join us in a lively and productive exchange around challenging questions with a diverse group of peers who care about storytelling with civic impact — the capacity to address shared public challenges. <\/i><\/p>\n Register now!<\/a> When? Where?<\/b> Who? Hosted by Journalism That Matters and UO SOJC’s Agora Journalism Center.<\/p>\n Who will speak? What do we hope to accomplish? How? Every activity during the conference models an engagement practice that can be used for community engagement. For example, at the heart of the conference is Open Space Technology<\/a>, a process that enables groups of any size to self-organize and take responsibility for what they love as a means to address complex, important issues.<\/p>\n We’ll also model a couple forms of evaluating impact, including Developmental Evaluation<\/a>, an approach intended for working with the uncertainty inherent in communities.<\/p>\n Why come?<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n For a taste of the conference hosts, check out the video<\/a> from the Seattle Journalism That Matters gathering on news and community\u00a0and\u00a0the Agora Journalism Center’s \u00a0Front50 event\u00a0video<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nBring together the best practitioners on the leading edge of engaging with communities to learn from one another.<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>Space is limited to 125 people.<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>October 1-4, 2015
\nWe start at 3 p.m. Thursday and end at noon Sunday.<\/p>\n
\nAgora Journalism Center
\n<\/span>George S. Turnbull Portland Center
\n<\/span>University of Oregon\u2019s School of Journalism and Communication
\n<\/span>70 NW Couch Street
\nPortland, OR 97209-4038<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>Journalists, community activists, students, educators, researchers, funders, artists, social entrepreneurs, librarians, technologists, and other pioneers in engagement.<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>You will. We\u2019ll be identifying a handful of \u201cconversation catalysts\u201d to stimulate our exchange, but the majority of our time will be a chance for you to pursue the questions that matter most to you.<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>Our intent is to advance our thinking and practice of engagement so that communities and journalism thrive by:<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/b>This is a working conference for people already involved with civic engagement and journalism. So be prepared to roll up your sleeves and participate as a sage off the stage!<\/p>\n\n