Member Convening
Convening Agenda
Preparation
To get ready to participate in the strategic planning sessions please review the following documents before May 9: 2021- 2023 Strategic Plan Status and the 2023 Strategy Survey People Powered Summary.
We also ask you to sign up for some of the activities of the convening (welcome dinner, site visits and walking tour + cacao experience) through the form below, if you are planning to attend.
May 5
Pre-Convening Workshop for 17 Rooms Program
10:00-21:00, Ford Foundation
A small workshop with international organizations participating in the 17 Rooms program to identify key actions to institutionalize high quality participatory and deliberative democracy. Participation in the workshop is already at capacity and closed.
Registration for Convening Participants
17:00-18:00, Hotel Fontán Reforma
Welcome dinner
19:30-22:00, Azulísimo
Join the first event of the member convening where we will connect with each other, get ready for the following days, and celebrate the community. We will have dinner at a Mexican restaurant located 20-minute walk from the hotel. We will meet at the hotel lobby at 7 p.m. to walk together to the restaurant. If you will be arriving late, let us know. For this event we will need you to complete the sign up form above.
May 7
Site visits to Mexico City participatory democracy programs
Ollin A.C
8:30-19:00, Multiple locations
Learn about examples of how participatory democracy has been shaping public life in Mexico City. Although these practices are still at an initial stage here, people have taken innovative approaches to bring them into action. In this tour you will meet several activists who have used formal or informal versions of participatory democracy to advance social causes. Find the complete itinerary in Spanish and English.
For this event we will need you to complete the sign up form above.
Board of Directors dinner
19:30-21:00, Barrio Alameda
Free night for members
Choose where you want to have dinner! We recommend you take advantage of this space to spend time with other members and discover Mexico City and its culinary scene. We will provide you with a voucher to have dinner at the hotel if desired.
May 8
Opening Session: Democracy Beyond Elections (Plenary discussion)
People Powered
9:00-10:00, 10th floor
Models of Participatory Democracy (Workshops)
Various People Powered members
10:10-11:30, multiple conference rooms
Learn from experienced practitioners about different models of participatory democracy—legislative theater, participatory budgeting, citizens’ assemblies and participatory policymaking.
*Workshops happening during both rounds are identical
Introduction to Legislative Theater I
Katy Rubin, Legislative Theater practitioner
10:10-10:50, Salon Triciclo, floor M
Learn and practice the essential building blocks of a legislative theatre process (identify and dramatize the problem, improvise solutions, propose policies, debate, amend and vote).
Introduction to Citizens’ Assemblies I
Caroline Vernailen, Democracy International
10:10-10:50, 10th floor 1
Introduction to Participatory Policymaking
Jon Stever, Innovation for Policy Foundation
10:10-10:50, 10th floor 2
Dive into a playful learning-by-doing session where you will equip yourself with the latest tools to hack inclusive participation into policymaking processes. You’ll engage in a hands-on exercise, understand the basics of Decision Thinking as a tool to design participation into policymaking, and learn about a case study of a citizen-drafted law in Senegal. This session is designed for a wide audience—colleagues new to participatory policymaking and experienced practitioners will also find something new.
Introduction to Legislative Theater II
Katy Rubin, Legislative Theater practitioner
10:50-11:30, 10th floor 1
Learn and practice the essential building blocks of a legislative theatre process (identify and dramatize the problem, improvise solutions, propose policies, debate, amend and vote).
Introduction to Participatory Budgeting and PB in Schools
Madison Rock, Tara Bartlett and KaRa Lyn Thompson from Center for the Future of Arizona, Daniel Schugurensky from Participatory Governance Initiative, Arizona State University and Patricia Santamaria and Karla Luna from Ollin AC
10:50-11:30, 10th floor 2
Learn basic concepts of participatory budgeting and school participatory budgeting, different approaches and good practices to implement it for the first time. Facilitators will share lessons learned addressing challenges through years of PB and school PB implementation.
Introduction to Citizens’ Assemblies II
Caroline Vernailen, Democracy International
10:50-11:30, Salon Triciclo, floor M
Break
11:30-11:40
Strategies for Inclusion of Marginalized Communities (Plenary workshop)
Clara Bois, People Powered
11:40-13:00, 10th floor
Help us identify key practical strategies for including marginalized communities in participatory programs. We will learn and exchange concrete practices to make participatory governance responsive to the needs of people who are usually left behind in decision-making. At the end of the workshop, we will have a collection of key practices of inclusion that can be incorporated into participatory programs.
Lunch
13:00-14:30
Resources & Support for Capacity Building (Plenary workshop)
Nikhil Kumar, People Powered
14:30-16:00, 10th floor
Help build and improve practical resources to make participatory programs more inclusive. Test out the Participation Playbook, online resource center and learning management system developed by People Powered and its members, and identify ways that these tools can promote inclusion practices.
Break
16:00-16:30
New Projects (Simultaneous workshops)
Various People Powered members, multiple conference rooms
16:30-18:00
Online Courses on Inclusion (BID)
Amanda Luz, People Powered
16:30-18:00, 10th floor
Help build practical online courses about engaging women, youth and displaced people in participatory democracy! We will turn the inclusion strategies from the morning discussions into content for useful and effective online courses on inclusive democracy for advocates, policymakers and program managers working with governments.
How to select the best voting method?
Giovanni Allegretti, Centre of Social Studies - Coimbra University
16:30-18:00, Salon Triciclo, floor M
Be part of a conversation about specific variables and elements that should be considered when selecting voting methods for participatory processes, which ultimately will generate a guideline for stakeholders and scholars.
Participatory Democracy Summer School
Daniel Schugurensky, Ana Patricia Santamaría García, IVAN
16:30-17:15, 10th floor 2
Help design an in-person participatory democracy summer school or academy, to bring together diverse practitioners and researchers to build relationships, tackle challenges and develop skills. A democracy residencies team has been working on the ‘‘PD Summer School’’ project, which was proposed during the 2023 planning process. The team will share the first draft of the plan to get input to make key decisions together.
Development of Global PB Survey
Alberto Ford, Patricia Sorribas, Rocio Annunziata
17:15-18:00, 10th floor 2
Evaluate a matrix of participatory budgeting survey dimensions, sub-dimensions and indicators developed by the residency team “Global Survey of PB Participants.” This project, proposed during the 2023 planning process, aims to generate systematic information on the experiences of participatory budgeting participants and provide a valuable new data set.
Walking tour and cacao experience
Xilen Experiences
19:00-21:00, Alameda Central and Hotel Fontan Reforma
Meeting point: lobby at 6:45 p.m.
Be part of this cultural experience where we will explore ‘’La Alameda Central’’ park, home of many landmarks such as Palacio de Bellas Artes, Torre Latinoamericana, and la Casa de los Azulejos. After the walking tour we will learn about cacao–its origin, its benefits and properties, and the process to obtain it–while having dinner.
May 9
Training and Networking Sessions (Simultaneous Workshops)
9:00-10:30, Multiple locations
Telling Stories About Participatory Democracy
Pam Bailey, People Powered
9:00-10:30, 10th floor 2
Learn the tools needed to identify and map an effective story that builds support for your work and participatory democracy as a practice. Stories are different from other types of content and are important for our work. During this workshop you will understand the elements necessary for a compelling story, including content and packaging, and you will identify messages/projects from your own work that would benefit from storytelling.
How to (Re-)Define Your Solutions: Technical Assistance and Product Development for Participation Practitioners
Katya Petrikevich, Participation Factory
9:00-10:30, Salon Triciclo, floor M
Join a practical training session where we will review and evaluate existing products and services offered by the People Powered members and identify existing gaps based on the needs of the participation practitioners’ community. Afterwards, we invite you to suggest updates to existing products and services or design new ones that can benefit our community and close identified gaps. This will provide us with a detailed overview of opportunities that will then be prioritized by participants in order to see which ones are most feasible and meaningful on our path to fostering participatory democracy.
Academic Exchange Space
9:00-10:30, 10th floor 1
Regional meet ups
10:30-11:30, multiple spaces
Meet with other people from your region to build relationships and plan activities.
Africa, Salon Triciclo, floor M
Asia, Salon Triciclo, floor M
Europe, 10th floor 1
Latin America, 10th floor 2
US & Canada, Salon Triciclo, floor M
Strategic planning: Context for PP's Next Strategic Planning Cycle: External Analysis (Plenary Workshop)
12:00-13:00, 10th Floor
Build a shared understanding of the opportunities, challenges, and trends for participatory democracy that will inform the next cycle of PP's Strategic Plan.
Lunch
13:00-14:30
Strategic planning: Context for PP's Next Strategic Planning Cycle: Internal Analysis (Plenary Workshop)
14:30-16:15, 10th Floor
Build a shared understanding of PP's strengths and weaknesses that will inform the next cycle of PP's Strategic Plan and meet the opportunities, challenges and trends lifted up in the previous section. Learn from the outcomes of the 2021-2023 People Powered strategic plan.
Afternoon break
16:15-16:45
Strategic planning: Envisioning Our Future (Plenary Workshop)
16:45-18:30, 10th Floor
Help visualize the future state of People Powered and its collective work.
Free night
Choose where you want to have dinner! We recommend you take advantage of this space to spend time with other members and discover Mexico City and its culinary scene. We will provide you with a voucher to have dinner at the hotel if desired.
May 10
Board of Directors meeting
8:00-9:00, Salón Uniciclo, floor M
Strategic planning: Strategic Directions (Plenary Workshop)
9:00-10:30, 10th Floor
Help assess relevance and responsiveness of existing strategic directions and discern if/what revisions may be needed.
Morning break
10:30-11:00
Strategic planning: Strategic Directions (Plenary Workshop)
11:00-13:00, 10th Floor
Help assess relevance and responsiveness of existing strategic directions and discern if/what revisions may be needed.
Lunch
13:00-14:30
Strategic planning: Commitments & Action Plans (Plenary Workshop)
14:30-15:45, 10th Floor
Evening break
15:45-16:15
Strategic planning: Commitments & Action Plans/ Prioritizing Specifics (Plenary Workshop)
16:15-17:30, 10th Floor
Convening wrap up
17:30-18:30, 10th floor
Board of Directors meeting
18:30-20:00, Salón Uniciclo, floor M
Closing Celebration
Join a final dinner to close our time together and say “until next time.”
20:00-22:00, Hotel terrace