Building consensus in public meetings Save article Remove saved article

You’ve been to those dreadful meetings, the ones where the debate polarizes and neighbours start acting like enemies. The microphone becomes a weapon. Names are flung across the room. Ground-rules are discarded. Good people storm out of the room, turning their backs on each other. And the facilitators are left to sweep up the pieces of a shattered attempt to bring people together.

As civic leaders, we strive to organize our constituents to better our