CED 265Facilitation & Participatory Engagement: Leading Groups & Building Consensus

3 credits · Community Environment and Development · Penn State

Strong facilitation skills, such as brainstorming, meeting management, and conflict resolution - along with participatory engagement methods like strategic planning, Open Space Technology, and deliberative dialogues - are essential to successful community engagement. These skills enable practitioners to communicate ideas effectively, bring together people with diverse perspectives and interests, and actively engage them in constructive dialogue to find common ground, make decisions, and develop solutions. This interactive course is designed to help you confidently and effectively lead and collaborate with groups at the community level. You will learn and practice key facilitation and engagement skills, with a strong emphasis on in-class practice, peer-to-peer learning, and coaching.