Good for Dover to offer program with study circle expert Jim Noucas on Feb. 7

In its continuing effort to promote civic engagement and encourage healthy dialogue about issues that impact the community, Good for Dover invites all Dover citizens and elected officials to attend a presentation by Jim Noucas, an expert on study circles. The program will take place on February 7 at 6 p.m. at the McConnell Center in Meeting Room 3 on the third floor. Study circles are moderated volunteer citizen groups organized to discuss and gather information on specific community issues and have been successful in bringing people together for nearly a century.

"Recent events in Dover have had a tendency to divide our community,” said Bill Garrison, Good for Dover chairman. “People on both sides of the issues want the same thing: to make Dover a better community. We need to find ways to put aside our differences and unite our community toward common goals.”

Mr. Noucas, co-chair of the community group Portsmouth Listens (www.portsmouthlistens.com), has a decade of experience in this grass-roots form of democracy. According to Noucas, some of the advantages of the study circle process are that it involves more and different people in community affairs and fosters new relationships. Portsmouth residents have successfully employed study circles to provide input on a variety of issues, including school redistricting and the city’s master plan.

“It’s getting people together on a level playing field. At a traditional public hearing, there is no interaction. When you get people together in small groups, they all can contribute and create a marketplace of ideas,” said Noucas.

Good for Dover is a non-profit, non-partisan coalition of concerned residents who are dedicated to maintaining and improving the quality of life for Dover citizens and the community as a whole. Since it’s inception in the spring of 2007, the group has drawn interest from many individuals in the community who want to be informed about important issues and happenings in Dover. New members are welcome. For additional information, please visit www.goodfordover.org.

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