8/12/2019 Sheet 12 - Planning an Education Forum

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Drought Fact Sheet #12

Forums Can Attract Additional Involvement and SupportForums Can Attract Additional Involvement and SupportForums Can Attract Additional Involvement and Support

How Do You Put On aDrought Education Forum?

Who, When, Where and How

Once you have established your purpose, determinewhom to invite, when the event will take place, andwhere it should be held. Drought affects peoplefrom all facets of the community, and they shouldall be represented. Ignoring or leaving out a specificinterest group early on is a sure way to have yourDrought Plan challenged down the road. Theforum committee should identify a potential list ofstakeholders that includes various interests in yourcommunity. This may include policymakers,influential members of the community, specialinterest groups, tribal groups, watershed councils,

agriculture, municipal planners, as well as waterprofessionals. When scheduling your event, planaround major community and area events to ensurea large turnout. The location you select should beneutral and accessible to community participants.

You will also need to decide how the forum will beoperated. One way to conduct a forum is to use afacilitator who will ask open-ended questions andguide the discussion. Another way is to invite

A community forum is an extremely valuabledrought planning tool. A forum provides communitymembers an opportunity to share the concerns theymay have regarding their water resources whilepromoting a thoughtful dialogue for many points ofview. This dialogue may inspire creative ideas andthe development of realistic solutions.

To be successful, considerable time and energy mustbe committed to the planning and execution of acommunity forum. However, if implementedproperly, your forum will result in an importantunderstanding of the issues and an opportunity toimprove your communitys ability to deal with adrought. This fact sheet provides some importantplanning steps to get you started and additionaldetails can be found at http://publicforuminstitute.org/involved/host.htm.

Designate a Committee and CoordinatorA steering committee should consist of individualswith broad representation in order to gain buy-in forthe forum. Volunteers on this committee will beresponsible for all aspects of event planning, fromdetermining the forums primary focus and arrangingall meeting logistics to cleaning up after the forumand sending out thank-you notes. One personshould be selected to coordinate the overall planningprocess and serve as the primary contact.

Define Your Purpose or GoalAssemble the committee and decide what you wantto achieve. A forum can be a vehicle for educatingcitizens and sharing information regarding theircurrent and future water supply and quality. Aforum can also be used to encourage cooperationbetween citizens, industries, farmers, and others,while exploring solutions for immediate water supplyissues or concerns. Identify your goal and decide ona message, primary topic and title for your event.

A Education Forum is a great way to involve yourcommunity in the drought planning process.

8/12/2019 Sheet 12 - Planning an Education Forum

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March, 2006

panelists to discuss the issues and invite the public tolisten and comment on the discussion. Acombination of these methods may also be used.The format you select depends on the your purpose.

When using a facilitator, it is important to choosesomeone neutral who has experience presiding over

meetings and can solicit audience participation whilekeeping within time constraints. Some ideas for afacilitator are local news personalities, publicofficials, educators, or a professional facilitator. Besure the facilitator you choose is articulate andunderstands current water resource issues and thepeople involved.

Inviting panelists to participate in your forum canenhance discussion among diverse groups withdifferent perspectives. Panelists might include localwater rights examiners, local industrial

representatives, elected officials, and water resourceprofessionals. Remember to be inclusive whenchoosing panelists and invite individuals whorepresent different cross-sections of the community.

Invitations and PublicityGetting the word out about your event is crucial. Acommunity forum can be a media event that drawsattention to your cause and results in additionalparticipation and support. Start with printing anintriguing flyer containing the name of your forumand the date, location and topic and distribute it wellin advance. Send out press releases to the localmedia. Many times your local newspaper, televisionstation or radio station will donate free advertising toyour cause. Creating and distributing media kitswould be useful to the media, potential panelmembers, policy makers and other communitymembers you invite. Media kits are basically foldersof information and background sources that yourinvitees can reference to better understand the topicto be discussed. A combination of these tacticsoffers the best chance of bringing together a largeturnout.

Forum LogisticsIn order for the forum to run smoothly, properplanning for the actual event is imperative.

Determine what tools would help convey importantideas and facts. Some supplies you might considerobtaining before your event include banners,nametags, pens and pencils, microphones andaudio/visual tools such as an LCD projector. Asign-in sheet should be placed at the forum entrancewith room to write an organization name, address,

telephone number and e-mail address. You maychoose to photograph, videotape or even broadcastyour forum on your local community access cablenetwork. If the forum is productive, a great deal ofinformation and ideas will be brought up. It is veryimportant that someone is in charge of capturingwhat is said during the forum. This may be thefacilitator, or someone else who listens well, and isnot planned as one of the speakers. Flip charts orblackboards are helpful in capturing ideas as theycome up and are discussed.

After the ForumThe real work begins after everyone leaves theforum. Soon after the event, the forum committeeshould reconvene to evaluate the event and send outthank-you cards to volunteers, donors andsponsors. Also, a follow-up plan should bedetermined. Valuable information was gatheredand exchanged during the course of the forum andshould be put into an official forum report. Ifpossible, the report should be shared with all forumparticipants. Local agencies, public officials andother organizations can then use the information

when developing a Drought Plan. Communicationbetween all forum participants should continue wellafter the event to further the ideas and programsstarted at the forum.

A forum promotes respectful relationships throughthe sharing of ideas and concerns. Whencommunity members are afforded the opportunityto learn, contribute and be heard, it validates yourDrought Plan and increases the likelihood that itwill become a reality.

The NARC&DC would like to thank the USDAsNatural Resources Conservation Service for theirassistance in the development of this fact sheet.