We offer social innovations
for solving impossible-seeming public issues

In communities, cities, states, and nations … and globally … we are experiencing many impossible-seeming issues like:

• Our collective decision-making processes are flawed … disaffected citizens, money-in-politics, partisan gridlock, etc.
• There are deep inequities … social injustices, prejudice, poverty, etc.
• Our systems are increasingly broken … health care, education, justice, etc.
• Our systems undermine our people … creating wars, creating punishing economic cycles, promoting addictive substances, etc.

• Groups of citizens in Victoria BC, Pleasantville NY, Port Townsend WA, the Rogue Valley of OR, and other communities have used the Wisdom Council to facilitate citizen empowerment.
• The Wisdom Council is working so well in cities of Austria that elected representatives for the state of Vorarlberg use it to improve communication within the legislature. Now the governor and all four parties have worked together to change the constitution to account for the Wisdom Council.

1. Choice-creating … this is the heartfelt quality of thinking needed, where people face difficult issues, think together creatively and collaboratively, and achieve unanimous, breakthrough solutions. Choice-creating is similar to "decision-making" in that we come up with group answers, but it's different in that no judgment is used. (See the chart comparing decision-making, consensus, and choice-creating.)
2. Dynamic Facilitation … here is a way one person can reliably evoke the spirit of choice-creating in a group of people, where they achieve win/win perspectives on ill-defined, impossible-seeming issues. (See the chart comparing Dynamic Facilitation with traditional facilitation.)
3. The Wisdom Council … here is a way to evoke the spirit of choice-creating throughout a large system of people, like an organization, city or nation. The Wisdom Council uses small groups of randomly selected people, plus Dynamic Facilitation to create a voice of the public interest. In practice the larger system usually resonates with this perspective. There are different forms of Wisdom Council including:

1. • The Creative Insight Council is a special form of the Wisdom Council that leaders in government can use to involve citizens and achieve breakthrough progress on difficult public issues.
2. • The Wisdom Council Process is a way to structure deep systems change, so our systems are consistent with human values more than corporate values.

• Be a supporter. Donate to the Center for Wise Democracy! ... All donations are tax-deductible. We are a 501-c3 organization.