Civic Engagement and Social Change: Bliss Browne masterclass in Leith on 1 April 2008:

Please join us on Tuesday, April 1, for a workshop and master class on community engagement with Bliss Browne, founder of Imagine Chicago and one of America's leading social innovators. Bliss is known for her uncommon ability to bring diverse groups into productive conversation and partnership, harnessing imagination as a resource for public good and social change. Her work has inspired community innovation projects on six continents.

Bliss has led events in Scotland for Communities Scotland, Imagine Scotland, EDAS, SQA, Scottish Civic Forum, Open Minds, Imagine Inverclyde and the Tomorrow Network. On March 31, she is coming back to Scotland as the speaker on BBC Scotland's Quay Conversations, featuring people inspiring a vital future for Scotland.

We want to take advantage of Bliss' presence by hosting a master class with her on cultivating hope, imagination and commitment in community. She will share her current framework for thinking about that, but focus her stories and examples on the particular questions and issues brought by participants on the day. Space will be limited to 30 people.

In this all-day session, you will learn:

*Techniques for engaging the public and developing community; *Applying Appreciative Inquiry to community regeneration; *Constructively addressing challenges that arise in public engagement; *Enhancing communications skills for group interactions; *Building reliably constructive partnerships across difference

Organizations where Bliss Browne has taught similar courses include:

Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, Canada Manchester School of Business, UK Communities Scotland Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada KCC, London

Cost: £89 inclusive of VAT. Location: The Halls, 6 Henderson Street, LEITH, Edinburgh EH6 6BS www.thehallsvenue.co.uk Time: 9:30 am - 4:00 pm

"Bliss provided a tremendous amount of insight to our work with imagineCALGARY. While she has remarkable credentials, she spends much of her time listening rather than speaking in order to truly understand the issues that are important to those with whom she is working in helping them determine how to move forward. Her ability to provide clarity, synthesize ideas and inspire action is truly remarkable." -- imagineCALGARY's Community Sustainability Leader John Lewis, City of Calgary

To book please reply to Margaret Wright, Resolution, 2 Summerside Street, Edinburgh EH6 4NU 0131 554 9037 or 07703 305223 Email: mwright@resolution-scotland.com and clare@a-okadmin.co.uk