Civil discourse in action: DU’s Colorado project addresses sustainable economic growth

The Colorado Project seeks to reduce polarization, strengthen democracy, and find solutions to Colorado’s difficult problems by harnessing the power of civil discourse. This year-long initiative is housed in the Douglas and Mary Scrivner Institute of Public Policy at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies. Beginning March The project published a report proposes a strategy for sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Colorado, addressing issues such as water, energy, jobs and housing.

Starting in July 2023, the project’s 33 members met eight times virtually and in small groups to develop recommendations for an economy that lifts all boats as Colorado’s economy grows.

“On the surface, our economy looks good, but historically, our economic growth has not helped every segment of the population equally, particularly people of color and those living in poverty,” says Rebecca Montgomery, the former director of democracy and civic discourse initiatives at Scrivner and the project’s collaborator. “Rural communities have not recovered since the 2008 recession. Until now, policymakers have worked on these issues in isolation, but there is potential for policy alignment that we are not seeing if we can break out of these silos.”

Landon Mascareñaz believes the group accomplished this. He served on the committee and was hired as a consultant to replace Montgomery, who has since left the project. He currently serves as chair of the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education and co-founder of the Open Systems Institute. The civilized discourse process used in the project left him excited about the project’s potential and results.

“I really had an incredible experience,” he says. “I loved the partnership, the facilitation and the really great ways we could take the content to the next level.”

The group’s members were selected to represent diverse views from different geographic and social sectors: industry, business, nonprofits, rural and urban areas, ethnicity, water, energy, labor, housing, land use, and others. Only a few held elected office.

Although civilized discussions were the order of the day, the conversations were not easy. The group adopted four rules to keep conversations civilized:

1. Assume a positive intention
2. Come to every meeting and participate meaningfully
3. Treat all conversations confidentially
4. Base all your posts on facts, research or practical experience

“We held each other to the values ​​and agreed on the constructs we created at the beginning,” says Lisandra Gonzales, one of the three co-chairs and executive director of Rocky Mountain Partnership.

These points kept the discussions on track, especially when the conversations became difficult, as they did on the first day. Ideas about equity and inclusion presented a high first hurdle.

“How do you deal with racial issues in parts of the state where race is not a major issue?” asks Steve ErkenBrack, co-chair and CEO of the Buell Foundation. “It was very tense for a while, but we got through it because we realized it was about inclusion. Even parts of rural Colorado feel like they haven’t always been included.”

Gonzales says the conversation revealed something else. Definitions are shaped by people’s personal experiences, giving language nuances of meaning that go beyond the dictionary. In the end, she says, people generally agreed on what something meant but used different words to describe it.

“Even if you hear something that is off-putting,” says ErkenBrack, “don’t react immediately, but make sure the person is really saying that. We all have biases. These biases that we all bring to the human experience are not inherently negative, but you have to face them and recognize them in yourself. We ended up having an open process and agreeing on where we wanted to go.”

Questions didn’t go unanswered. “When something felt weird, we reached out to the others to make sure we were having real conversations,” Gonzales says. “We didn’t lose anyone just because we didn’t have those conversations about accountability.”

Topics often arose in smaller working groups, were presented to the larger group, discussed, sent back, revised, resubmitted, and accepted or not, usually by consensus.

“Can you live with that? That’s what we’ve finally come to an agreement on,” says Gonzales. “Are you comfortable with your name being associated with it? That’s the question we asked.”

ErkenBrack says the group’s diversity was its strength, especially when participants realized that all of the issues were interconnected. Water impacts businesses, which in turn impact housing, education, land use, etc. Each individual issue evoked other issues, and the group was determined to create a plan that would benefit the entire state, not just one part of it.

“You finally realize that no matter what you know yourself and what you know, you have to rely on the expertise of others,” says ErkenBrack. “You realize how important it is to listen to the expertise of others.”

Gonzales says the group spent a lot of time “sitting in dialogue” and listening before making decisions. “What was most inspiring about this process and gives me the most hope, including for the country,” she says, “by bringing this wide range of people together, the end result was something we were all committed to. We respected other opinions.”

“You can’t bring people from such diverse backgrounds together and expect everyone to think like you,” says ErkenBrack. “We live in a political environment that is increasingly contentious and emotional. Bringing together several dozen leaders from different fields and reaching an outcome and consensus document inspired us to translate this into our daily jobs and communities – making progress by listening.”

“We built relationships across ideas and differences. It was so powerful,” says Mascareñaz.

The focus now is on getting the report into the hands of opinion leaders. Finally, a new group will be convened for the Colorado Project to tackle a new topic yet to be determined. It will certainly be difficult, but the discourse will be civil.