Discussion Guide

Make sure to kick–off the conversation by reviewing the ground rules and then asking people to introduce themselves (go around the table and ask people to tell everyone their first name, where they live, and what they like to do in their free time).

• What kind of community do you want?
• Given what we just said, what are the 2–3 most important issues or concerns when it comes to the community? Decide which issue is most important to the group and use it for discussion.
• What concerns do you have about this issue? Why?
  • Does it seem like things are getting better? Worse? What makes you think that?
  • How do you think the issue/concern came about?
• How does this issue affect you?
  • What personal experiences have you had?
  • How about people around you — family, friends, co–workers, neighbors, others — what do you see them experiencing?
  • Are some people affected more than others? Who? In what ways? Why?
• When you think about this issue how do you feel about what’s going on?
  • Why do you feel this way?
  • How do you think other people (in other parts of the community) feel about this?
• Think about your daily conversation — maybe at work, home, schools, clubs, civic groups, elsewhere — who do you talk to about this?
  • Why do you talk to these folks?
  • What do you talk about?
  • Where do you talk? Who else is there?
  • What do you learn from conversations like this?
  • Where else do people get together and talk about things like this?
• When it comes to what you see on television, read in the newspaper or online, and hear from others, what have you heard about this issue in the past few months?
  • What about the past few years?
  • When you hear leaders, experts, or others talking about this issue, what do you hear them saying?
  • Does it sound like the discussions on this issue are leading anywhere productive? Toward some kind of action? Why or why not?
  • Do the discussions make sense to you? Why or why not?
  • What would you like to hear in the discussion?
• When you think about what we’ve talked about, what are the kinds of things that could be done that would make a difference?
  • What do you think these things might accomplish?
  • How about in terms of individuals: What are the kinds of things that individuals can do to make a difference?
  • What do you make of what other people say should be done?
  • What’s important for us to keep in mind when we think about moving ahead?
• Now that we’ve talked about this issue a bit, what questions do you have about it?
  • What do you feel you’d like to know more about that would help you make better sense of what’s going on and what should be done?
  • What kind of follow–up would you like out of this discussion?