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Upcoming Events

UNCG Annual Conference (In-person)

Collaborative Governance in Action: On the Ground in Virginia

October 26 - 28, 2023 in Charlottesville, VA 

Hosted by the University of Virginia's Institute for Engagement & Negotiation (IEN)

Register today via Eventbrite (registration closes September 25, 2023)

More information here

UNCG Zoom Discussions

UNCG Zoom discussions are free for members.  Non-members who are interested are welcome to attend for a small registration fee ($5 - $25 sliding scale) to UNCG. 

Teaching / Training Bi-monthly Discussions

Join us for informal members' discussion on collaborative governance teaching & training (Zoom link for each: https://pdx.zoom.us/j/81012469552)

  • April 10th, 2023: 110am Pacific, 11am Mountain, 12noon Central, 1pm Eastern
  • June 12th, 2023: 10am Pacific, 11am Mountain, 12noon Central, 1pm Eastern
  • August 14th, 2023: 10am Pacific, 11am Mountain, 12noon Central, 1pm Eastern
  • November 13th, 2023: 10am Pacific, 11am Mountain, 12noon Central, 1pm Eastern

Collaborative Governance and Democracy

  • May 18, 2023: 9am Pacific, 10am Mountain, 11noon Central, 12pm Eastern

Join us for a members' discussion from UNCG's Research / Scholarship Sub-Committee Chairs

Coming out of last summer's UNCG Annual Conference in Boise, a conversation between long-time UNCG members Wendy Willis and Palma Strand has led them to a research project draws from the experience and perspectives of UNCG members to explore how collaborative governance "fits" in and with the U.S. constitutional system. Join this Zoom discussion to hear more about their plan and, most importantly, to contribute your voice and perspectives! 

Background and Research Rationale:

Collaborative governance nests within the U.S. constitutional system.  Collaborative governance has been used to develop and implement policy on numerous public issues and at numerous institutional levels (federal, state, regional, local).  Collaborative governance sometimes supplements and sometimes replaces conventional governance processes.  Both the U.S. constitutional system and collaborative governance processes assert grounding in democratic principles.  There is a perception that conventional governance processes are often ill-suited for addressing “wicked problems” – complex public problems that are adaptive and systemic – and that collaborative governance offers a way for communities to grapple inclusively and productively toward constructive interventions to move forward.  Historically, collaborative governance has emerged from and in contexts in which “nothing else worked.” 

While the experience and commitment of UNCG members – and others – to collaborative governance is strong and deep, the theoretical grounding for collaborative governance is under-developed.  This project aims to tap into the experience, knowledge, and wisdom of UNCG members as a starting point for articulating the “why” of collaborative governance in the existing U.S. constitutional system. 

Working in Communities with Collective Trauma: Some Lessons

  • July 20, 2023: 9am Pacific, 10am Mountain, 11noon Central, 12pm Eastern

Join us for a members' discussion from the UNCG Practice / Engagement Subcommittee

The last decade has seen COVID-19, recurrent episodes of mass gun violence, and multiple murders of black people by police or vigilantes, among other events. We all have become more familiar with basic concepts of both individual and collective trauma. However, most communities in the United States and elsewhere have histories reaching back decades and centuries that also have produced collective trauma. Frank Dukes will offer examples from his work or of how he and his partners have acknowledged and addressed such trauma. He will then invite a conversation among participants about how are the prevalence of collective trauma impacts our profession’s needs and obligations.

UNCG 2023 Retreat (Wyoming)

This retreat will combine two of UNCG's Strategic Areas: Teaching / Training and Research / Scholarship. Thank you to the University of Wyoming's Ruckelshaus Institute for hosting and making arrangements to bring UNCG members from around the country together for joint work focusing on these two areas. 

Participant Agenda