Who We Are

Portsmouth Listens works at the local level to support civil, public deliberation of complex issues affecting Portsmouth residents’ everyday lives. We are committed to neutrality in all the work we carry out to meet our mission of creating and sustaining a fair process for public engagement and action.

A Typical Study Circle Dialogue

Whether it’s creating a vision for the city’s Master Plan (2003) or resolving the dispute over renovating or relocating the city’s middle school, Portsmouth Listens dialogues follow a similar process.

Stakeholders

Volunteers and city officials form a Steering Committee, drawing together stakeholders in the question or issue. This committee frames the dialogue question to be given to the study circles.

Outreach

Facilitators are recruited and trained, helping develop the final study guide. Recruiting is done using posters, direct mail appeal, newspaper ads, even door-to-door canvassing.

Dialogue

 Small groups are formed to be as balanced as possible, and they attend a kickoff, before deliberating over a period of time. City officials present relevant data on the question, and an online database with a wealth of background materials. 

Report

The individual Study Circles write their conclusions in a report, and present their findings. The reports are presented to relevant government bodies (city council, planning board, etc.) in person and their written reports are published in the newspaper.