Consensus Conferences

A method first pioneered in Denmark in the mid-1980’s, Consensus conferences bring a diverse group of 12 to 15 citizens together over three or more days to discuss a high-profile technical matter and to compose an official statement targeting local decision-makers.

Consensus Conferences follow a standard procedure, and have several components:

• A steering committee selects a diverse and representative group of non-expert citizens from applications

• A general background material is supplied to the selected citizen group

• The citizens are convened for three formal meetings, lasting a day or longer. Each meeting covers the following in order:

  • • 1. The citizens discuss questions elicited from reading the background materials

      2. The citizens deliberate with a group of experts to answer the questions brought up in the previous meeting

      3. The citizens draft a report of their conclusions and recommendations for the Conference topic

• The report written by the citizen panel is then distributed to relevant decisionmakers at the immediate, county, and state level