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Virtual deliberation? Prospects and challenges for integrating the internet in consensus conferences

¹ Colorado School of Mines
² University of Wisconsin–Madison

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: delborne{at}mines.edu.

	Abstract

Consensus conferences have functioned well in small, relatively homogeneous countries such as Denmark. In the geographically sprawling and socially diverse United States, however, meaningful citizen deliberation and decisionmaking on science and technology depends upon the ability to bring more participants "into the room." The National Citizens’ Technology Forum, held in March 2008, responded to this need by integrating panels of citizens from multiple US cities in structured face-to-face and online deliberation. We analyze the success of this experiment by focusing on the experience of participants during the online deliberation component. We conclude with recommendations for future organizers of online deliberation, focusing on the benefits of combining synchronous and asynchronous engagement and improving facilitation practice and software capabilities.

First published on October 9, 2009
Public Understanding of Science 2009, doi:10.1177/0963662509347138


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