Events Guide: “Your City Your Ideas” Public Dialogue

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdyK4Z_HS_w[/youtube]

St. John’s – On Saturday, October 30th from 10am to 1pm. a public dialogue will be held in the Foran room of city hall. This public dialogue is not an initiative of council to  review of our out-of-date municipal plan, but a continuation of the work of HappyCity.ca, who organized a public forum on smart growth in downtown St. John’s back in February. Since February, Happy City has been using their newly updated website, facebook, youtube, and twitter to “inform and encourage dialogue about development and growth in St. John’s.”

Happy City is a perfect example of a group who simply wants to give everyone the opportunity to voice their opinion on the future of St. John’s, encouraging people to do so online, or at the forum on Saturday.

What: “Your City Your Ideas” Public Dialogue

When: Saturday, October 30th 10am-1pm

Where: The Foran Room, St. John’s City Hall, New Gower St.

Facilitated by Bui Petersen from the Centre for Negotiation and Dialogue, the session will use a novel approach to a public meeting. At the outset, participants will have the opportunity to suggest issues that are most important to them. These topics will then be discussed in a series of “break-out” group sessions, and participants will be free to choose which discussions they wish to join.

As Bui puts it, “Not only will citizens get to voice their thoughts on what is important for the city, they will literally get to set the agenda.”

So come on down on Saturday to share your ideas for the future of St. John’s, or post them online. Either way, make sure to join the dialogue.