Comments can be added as replies to any other item in the dialogue. Comments can also be posted as new ideas to the dialogue. We encourage team members to reply to each others comments to create focused conversations within the dialogue.

• Click Reply to reply to any item in the dialogue.
• To reply to a comment, the comment must be opened by clicking the comment title to expose the comment body and the Reply link.
• To add a new comment to the dialogue, use the comment form at the top of the page.
• Enter a meaningful title. Only the first 32 characters will be displayed in the comment title when the comment is closed.
• Add your comment or reply. Comments are limited to 1500 characters. It is difficult for people to respond to very long comments. We encourage members to break their long comments into shorter, focused sections that make it easier for the team to engage in a dialogue.
• You can post your comment with your name or anonymously. We encourage members to own their comments.
• Click the Submit button.
• Comments can be edited or deleted at any time by the author.

New comments are added to the top of the dialogue, while replies will appear below the item they reference.

1. Click the Edit link on the comment title line.
2. Make the changes to your comment title and message.
3. Check the status of the comment posted by field, it will default back to your name.
4. Click the Update button.
5. You can delete your comment by clicking the Delete button.
6. Be respectful with how you edit your comments, and explain your changes if necessary. Your teammates may have trouble trusting you if you have a habit of altering your comments significantly.

Key points are the building blocks for your team proposal. Any team member can create a new key point or edit a key point suggested by any other member.

Key points can be added as a reply to an existing comment, key point, or resource. Key points can also be added as new items to the dialogue.

• Click the Suggest a goal* link in the top of the comment form. (*The link label is different on each page: goal, action, advantage, first step)
• To add a key point as a reply to another item, you must first open the comment form by clicking the Reply link for the item you want to reference.
• Enter your suggested key point.
• Your key point is limited to 500 characters, so try to be clear and concise.
• You can post your key point with your name or anonymously. We encourage members to own their key points.
• Click the Submit button.

Remember, you and your teammates can edit the key point as often as necessary, so don't worry about making it perfect. It is much more important to jump start the brainstorming by posting your thoughts now.

If you are timid about making a suggestion to the team, you can make your suggestion anonymously.

The team can recognize its best ideas easily when team members endorse the ideas they like. Endorsed key points are listed on the right side of the page in order of their popularity.

• To endorse a key point, click the Endorse link.
• You can unendorse a key point at any time by clicking the Unendorse link
• You can endorse as many key points as you like.
• Each time you endorse or unendorse a key point, the list on the right is updated to reflect the new endorsement count and relative popularity of the key points.
• Key points with zero endorsements will be dropped from the list on the right, but they will remain in the team dialogue.

Any team member can edit any key point in the proposal. The purpose of editing key points is to refine the idea and make it more clear and concise. Editing should not be used to significantly alter the meaning of the key point unless you are the only author.

1. Click the Edit button to open the key point edit form.
2. Edit the key point in the input box.
3. Check the status of the key point posted by field, it will default back to your name.
4. Click the Update button.
5. Your revision will be saved as the current version of the key point.
6. If you edit the key point repeatedly in a short time, your accumulated changes will be treated as a single revision.
7. Past versions and the complete revision history can be viewed by clicking Show edit history.
8. Please review the Key point editing etiquette tips below.

These tips for etiquette are things to keep in mind when you work together as authors:

• Be respectful about what the current author has written.
• Consider the extent of your planned revision: if your changes are very significant or fundamentally change the meaning of the key point, it is more appropriate to create a new key point.
• Don't engage in major "back and forth" revisions. If you change someone's key point, and they change it back, please create a new key point and let the earlier author maintain their preferred ideas or wording.
• Please leave a comment explaining your changes if the reason for them may not be obvious to your teammates

No. Members receive an exclusive 5 minute interval to edit a key point and save their changes. After 5 minutes, another member can request the exclusive right to edit the key point, if you haven't saved your changes by then.

This five minute lock lets you safely edit a key point, but makes sure others will get a chance to edit it also.

When you try to edit a key point that another member started to edit but didn't save, you will be told how long ago the other member started editing. We allow you to start editing after five minutes, but it is up to you to decide how long you want to wait.

If no other user has updated the key point since you started editing, you can save your changes.

If the key point you started to edit a while ago has been changed by another user, you can still save your changes, but you will need to take their changes into account.

The newest version of the key point will be copied into your edit area at the top and your current edited version will be shown below it. You must edit these two to create your new version and save it. You can also click the Cancel button to cancel your changes.

Please be considerate of your teammates before you decide to overwrite their changes.

If a key point has been edited, it will include a Show edit history link. If the key point has not been edited, it will show Version 1.

If you create a key point and then edit within an hour, your edit will not count as a new version.

• Click Show edit history
• Each version of the key point will be shown in chronological order, with the newest version at the top.
• Red strike through indicates that the text was deleted from the previous version.
• Green indicates text that was added to the previous version.
• You can compare any two versions by selecting them with the radio buttons and clicking the Compare button.

Only key points with zero endorsements can be deleted. If a key point has zero endorsements, it will show a Delete link.

To delete a key point with zero endorsements, click the Delete link.

Team members can share documents and online resources such as websites, and even references to books and events in the team dialogue.

Resources can be added as a reply to an existing comment, key point, or resource. Resources can also be added as new items to the dialogue.

• Click the share a resource link in the top of the comment form.
• To add a resource as a reply to another item, you must first open the comment form by clicking the Reply link for the item you want to reference.
• Enter all relevant information for this resource.
• The Title and Description fields are mandatory, the other fields are optional.
• You can share a document by uploading it to the CivicEvolution server. Click the Browse... button to select the file you want to upload.
• You can share a document or website online by entering the web address (URL) of the item you want to share.
• Click Submit
• Your resource will be added to the team dialogue as well as the list of resources on the right.
• You can edit this resource at any time if you wish to add more information.
• You can discuss the resources by clicking the Reply link with each resource.

You can edit your resource at any time.

• Click the Edit link above the resource.
• Make the changes to your resource.
• If your resource contained an uploaded file, it will be retained by default.
• If you want to upload a new file, click Browse...
• Click the Update button.
• You can delete your resource by clicking the Delete button.
• Be respectful with how you edit your resources, and explain your changes if necessary. Your teammates may have trouble trusting you if you have a habit of altering your resources significantly.

The View all link in the top right opens a window that lets you quickly explore all of the contributions to your team project. In addition, this link will also indicate the number of new items.

• Click the View all link
• The three links across the top allow you to view the comment, key points, and resources.
• You can click the column titles such as New, Author, and section to sort the items. By default, the items are sorted chronologically, with the newest items at the top.
• Click the row of an item to view it in the lower pane.
• Click the Goto link to view the item within its team dialogue.

• The team idea summarizes what this proposal is about. It consists of a clear title, a short description of the problem to be solved, and a brief summary of the solution.
• The idea provides clarity and focus for the team and helps drive all other decisions.
• While the initial idea was suggested by the team leader, every team member should help refine it.
• The team should agree on the Idea before before defining the goals.
• It should be written in ordinary English (Avoid technical jargon and buzzwords).
• The title, problem and solution will be the introduction at the top of your proposal and it is the first thing people will see when they browse through the proposals.

• "Our goals" states what you want to achieve by when. Your goals set the targets for your team's proposal, so make sure they are clear and carefully considered.
• Your goals should be S.M.A.R.T., which stands for
• Specific: stating exactly what the project is to accomplish
• Measurable: how you will know the goal has been accomplished
• Agreed-upon: how you will get those who will implement and be impacted upon to agree
• Realistic: do-able—how we can get the skills/resources/etc to achieve it
• Time-framed: the deadline for your proposal to be implemented

• This is the main outcome of the project—the initiatives or practical ideas that can achieve your goals. Describe how they address the key issues noted in your research and how the actions to be taken will achieve your goals. The proposal should answer the questions:
• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• How?
• Why?

This is an assessment of the potential impacts—social & cultural, economic and environmental - of implementing your proposal. Where possible, support your assessment with evidence, research and/or experience. Include both pros and cons to provide a balanced argument of all the impacts.

• Social & cultural impacts—assess the ways your proposal could alter how people live, work, play, relate to one another, organize to meet their needs and generally cope; as well as changes to their norms, values and beliefs. It could include, eg: social equity (will people benefit/be impacted equally?); employment (will it generate/cost employment?); social capital—the collective value of social networks (will people be more/less willing to do things for each other?) etc.
• Environmental impacts—assess the likely human environmental health impact, risk to ecological health and changes to nature's services that your project may have, eg air pollution (will it reduce/increase greenhouse gas emissions?) ecology (will it reduce/increase our ecological footprint) etc.
• Economic impacts—assess the costs and benefits if we do it, if we don't do it, outlining the money it will cost including eg (will it reduce/increase transport costs, consumer costs?) etc.

How can you begin to enact your plan?

• What are the next steps to implement or further develop this proposal
• Who needs to be involved?
• Who can help implement it?
• Which groups or agencies might be responsible?

You can view your proposal at any time during the development process. Click the Publish & promote link at the top to see your proposal. The proposal view is updated each time you visit your proposal project. It isn't complete and final until all of the sections have been completed.

• You cannot directly edit the proposal.
• The proposal is automatically compiled by selecting the key suggestions from each section
• Team members can influence the content of the proposal through the key ideas they suggest and revise in each section.
• Teams will need to discuss the key ideas and revise them.
• The layout of the sections in the proposal is fixed and each section should be completed.

Our proposals can impact the key elements that affect policy decisions:

• Clear and broad understanding Publicity and transparency can tip the scale and minimize backroom deals. Besides, we don't fix it if we don't know it's broken.
• Good solutions Publicizing the availability of good solutions gives the community options to support and makes it difficult for decision makers to ignore them.
• Influence Decisions are often made by negotiation of the interests at the decision making table—the one we aren't often invited to join. Transparency and community support can help us demand our place at the table.
• Community support When the community knows about the problem and good solutions, they will demand action.
• Community engagement When the community is encouraged to be involved they become partners in governance and this increases civic respect and responsibility.

The value of creating a proposal should be clear when we keep these points in mind. You can change your community's discourse on an issue—how they understand it and see themselves in relation to it. As a community we can discover creative solutions to our problems when everyone is invited to the search.

• Community members who can help improve the proposal as well as benefit from the proposal and show their support for it.
• Community leaders who can persuade their constituents to become engaged as well as influence the decision makers
• Media makers that can help publicize the issue and drive more engagement
• Decision makers (formerly known as public servants) that referee the competing interests and render a decision

Your proposal should be aimed at convincing this audience to listen to your proposal and respond constructively.

The goal at this stage is to educate the public, solicit feedback from the community, engage the community in the issue, build support for your proposal, and influence the decision making process. Here are a few initial steps:

• Publish your proposal through your network of friends and acquaintances
• Approach the local media to cover this issue and your proposal
• Encourage community members to provide feedback on your proposal and become engaged in this process
• Recruit supporters in your community
• Start a petition drive to document support for your proposal
• Meet with elected officials and decision makers

Your ultimate goals

• Improve the proposal by soliciting feedback and engaging the affected community
• Move the community toward consensus on the issue
• Pressure the decision makers to respond to the community consensus
• Consensus doesn't mean everyone likes a proposal, it means that enough people respect the proposal that we as a group can move forward peacefully.

Once the team has completed each worksheet, the members should review the proposal in the Publish & promote page. The members now need to endorse the proposal.

• Only team members can endorse a proposal.
• Click the I endorse this proposal button at the bottom of the page.
• If you endorse the proposal, your name and location will be added to the "This proposal is endorsed by" list.
• You can revoke your endorsement at any time until the proposal is submitted
• If you have any concerns about the proposal, please discuss them with the team before revoking your endorsement.

• Discuss the issues with the team and try to find common ground and build some consensus.
• Not everyone has to endorse the proposal.
• Only five team members from Australia are required to endorse a proposal in order to submit it.
• Only those members that endorsed the final proposal will be identified when the proposal is published.
• It is okay if you don't agree with the proposal your team has generated. You will not be associated with the proposal when it is published if you didn't endorse it.

• Follow and participate in the group discussion by reading the daily email summary of activity and/or visiting the project site daily.
• Review and suggest key points at each stage of the discussion and help the team refine them.
• Discuss the issues with people that are not on your team and share their perspectives with your team.
• Respect the privacy of your teammates and do not reproduce their comments without their permission.
• Engage in and encourage respectful dialogue and sharing of ideas by all team members - the goal is dialogue and deliberation, not debate and argument.
• A good proposal requires your team to find common ground and build on it. Simply making and defending statements won't lead to a proposal.
• Always model good behavior: act in the way you want your teammates to act.

How do I send a message to the team leader?

• We need to listen to others and hear what they are saying—the refusal to listen is the most effective and insidious way to silence others.
• We listen best by suspending our opinion and hearing what someone else has to say.
• We need to respect our team members as legitimate participants with the same rights we expect for ourselves.
• We must be willing to put ourselves in the shoes of others and consider a situation from their perspective.
• We must be accountable for our statements.
• Think and reflect before you speak or type.
• Collective decisions must be made in terms that can be understood and accepted by everyone subject to the decision.
• Our procedures and communication should be fair, equal, reciprocal, and free from coercion, deception, and manipulation.

It is your responsibility to help your team sustain a healthy dialogue by encouraging your teammates to engage each other in an atmosphere of respect and diversity of opinion.  The greatest accomplishment of a moderator is to create and sustain a welcoming and dynamic space in which all members are encouraged to share and feel heard and respected.  Of course you need to do this with a light touch, and to encourage all team members to create and appreciate this environment. Here are some of the things you can do:

• Post comments directly in the discussion to help guide the dialogue in a more open and productive direction
• Coach team members when needed on how to be more effective team players
• Monitor the various discussion areas and try to redirect conversations into the appropriate sections. For instance discussions about team dynamics should be in the Team discussion section instead of the Goals section
• Post comments to the team giving regular feedback on how they are going
• Help ensure that all team members know how to participate and encourage others to assist if anyone needs help.
• Remind team members about the ground rules if needed
• The moderator can also send private messages to specific team members about particular problems or issues (This feature will be explained in a future email)
• It can be helpful for you or another teammate to play devil’s advocate when appropriate, to challenge the group’s dominant ideas.
• Monitor the edit history of the key points to spot violations of key point editing etiquette

It is your responsibility to make sure that the important ideas in your team's discussions get captured as key points under the headings, eg Suggest goal, Suggest Impact etc.  It is not necessarily your responsibility to write every key point.  Every team member can create and edit key points.  You need to keep up with all of the team discussions, and if you see an important idea in the discussion that no one has submitted as a key point, then you should write it and submit it.  Here are some of the things you can do to meet your commitment:

• Read the team discussions in a timely manner
• Capture important ideas in the discussion and submit them as key points under their appropriate headings
• Encourage your teammates to submit their important ideas as key points
• Remind people that it is everyone's right and responsibility to suggest key points to the group
• Ensure that your teammates know how to suggest key points to the team
• Initiate discussion about the key points that you and others post.  Encourage others to join the discussion.
• Encourage others to help refine the key points. Everyone has the right to edit any key point
• It can be helpful for you or another teammate to play devil’s advocate when appropriate, to challenge the group’s dominant ideas.

It is your responsibility to make sure that the key points in your team's proposal are clear, concise, and accurate.  Your team's proposal is automatically generated by compiling the key points from each section into a document, so it is important that the key points be well worded.  It is not necessarily your responsibility to rewrite every key point.  Every team member can edit any key point.  Here are some of the things you can do to meet your commitment:

• Read the team discussions in a timely manner
• Read all of the key points in a timely manner
• Post replies to key points and suggest changes to make them more clear and concise
• Edit the key points to make them more clear and concise
• Suggest tips to your teammates for writing better key points
• Try to bring consistency to the style of the key points in each section and throughout the proposal: the key points should mimic each other in construction and style
• Initiate discussion about the key points that you and others post, encourage others to join the discussion
• Encourage others to help refine the key points. Everyone has the right to edit any key point
• Monitor the edit history of the key points to spot violations of key point editing etiquette. If any are noted, send a respectful email to those concerned suggesting changes to key points or in team behavior

It is your responsibility to make sure that there is adequate research for your team’s proposal.  It is not your responsibility to do all the research for your team.  But it is your responsibility to ensure your proposal is supported by relevant research. In addition to finding resources for your team, you should also consider these tasks:

• Find and post relevant research information for your team at any point of the team’s work
• Encourage your teammates to do research and post their findings to the group.
• Send emails to individual members when appropriate, asking them if they can back up their suggestions with any research or experience elsewhere
• Ensure that your teammates know how to share their resources with the team
• Initiate discussion about the resources that you and others post.  Encourage others to join the discussion.
• It can be helpful for you or another teammate to play devil’s advocate when appropriate, to challenge the group’s dominant ideas.

It is your responsibility to help keep your team members involved and engaged until the proposal is submitted. It is also your responsibility to help the team maintain momentum so they can finish their proposal.  Of course you can't do this alone so you need to recruit the other team members to help.  Here are some of the things you can do to help meet your commitment:

Post motivational comments in the discussions
• Coach team members when needed on how to be more effective team players
• Provide members with positive feedback when tasks are done well and on time
• Check team members' participation and if one or several team member's participation has started to wane, send private messages to encourage them back into participating
• Help ensure that all team members know how to participate and encourage others to assist if anyone needs help.
• Acknowledge team accomplishments such as finishing a proposal section
• Encourage other team members to talk positively and maintain a productive tone in their discussions
• Send private messages to specific team members about particular problems or issues (This feature will be explained in a future email)
• It can be helpful for you or another teammate to play devil’s advocate when appropriate, to challenge the group’s dominant ideas

Team members are expected to contribute to the management of the team by committing to one or two roles. Two members can commit to each role. This division of responsibility spreads the "burden" of managing the team while increasing transparency and accountability.

1. Members are asked to commit to a role when they first visit their project.
2. They will be reminded to commit to a role until they have committed to at least one role, or all of the roles have at least one member committed to it.
3. You can view and change your commitment by clicking Team roles in the My team section on the left.
4. Click the I commit button to commit to a role
5. Click the Sorry, I must resign this role button to resign your commitment to a role

We hope all of the teams work well together, but we also realize that conflicts may develop or members may participate in ways that are detrimental to the team. In the event of a problem, there is a conflict resolution process that starts in the team and can escalate to the system facilitators.

First, it is important to keep in mind that teams are engaged in deliberation— diversity is important and differences of opinion are welcome. Disagreement is natural but we expect team members to treat each other with respect.

Here is the process for addressing conflict and other problems in the team:

1. Treat all members with respect.
2. Remember that differences of opinion are healthy, and we can find common ground in spite of them.
3. If there is a conflict or problem, team members should address it by posting in the Team discussion. If you feel you cannot post publicly, you can post your comment anonymously. If you feel the issue is very sensitive you can send a message to the team leader.
4. If the problem cannot be resolved, the team leader should send a message to the member(s) involved in the problem and encourage them to resolve the problem in the Team discussion.
5. If the team cannot work out the problem, the team leader should contact the member(s) directly to address the problem.
6. If the efforts by the team leader cannot resolve the problem, the team leader should contact a CivicEvolution facilitator using the Contact us link.
7. The facilitator will review the problem and may suggest strategies for dealing with the problem.
8. The facilitator will review the problem and may contact the member directly.
9. If the facilitator cannot resolve the problem with the member(s) and the team, and in the view of the facilitator, the member(s) are acting against the guidelines and/or against the legitimate interests of the team, the facilitator can remove the member(s) from the team.

• You need to be a member of CivicEvolution with a confirmed email address. See the link How do I join CivicEvolution? below.
• Go to the team sign up page for the topic that interests you.
• Click the Add your own idea for a proposal link at the bottom of the page
• Enter the title for your idea. Your title should be clear and concise. It is the first thing people will see. If it isn't clear or interesting they may not sign up. The title should be 4-8 words and must be less than 100 characters long
• Briefly describe the problem you are trying to solve.
• Describe your solution in 1-2 sentences. It should provide the what, how, and why of your idea.
• Remember, the idea you post should be clear and compelling. This is one way you will recruit team members to work with you. The other way is to invite your friends and colleagues.
• The description provides clarity and focus for the project team
• Use ordinary English (Avoid technical jargon and buzzwords)
• You can edit your idea title and description at anytime. Perhaps the first members that sign up can help you to make the title and description more clear and compelling.

• You need to be a member of CivicEvolution with a confirmed email address. See the link How do I join CivicEvolution? below.
• Teams are listed in the Team sign up page which is accessible from the home page by clicking one of the topics.
• You can join a team by clicking the Sign up button in the details section of any idea that sounds interesting—click a title to display the details section.
• If less than 5 people have signed up for an idea, you will be added to the waiting list
• If 5 or more people have already signed up for an idea, and the team is still open, you will be added to the team.
• You will received an email with instructions about accessing your team.

What is the waiting list?

Can I participate on multiple teams?

1. You need to be a member of CivicEvolution with a confirmed email address. See the link How do I join CivicEvolution? below.
2. Click the Invite my friends link in the details section under the proposal idea.
3. Enter one or more email addresses for the friends that you would like to invite
4. Enter a message that you would like to share with your friends.
5. An email will be sent to your friends with information about the idea, your message, and a link that will let them access the team sign up page.
6. If your friends want to join the proposal team, they will have to join CivicEvolution, confirm their email account, and then sign up for the proposal team.
7. Once they click the link on the invite email, they can join CE, confirm their email, and sign up for a team in less than one minute.

• Membership in CivicEvolution is free.
• Click the Join link on the left side of the page.
• You need to provide a valid email address. An email will be sent to this address to confirm your membership before you can participate.
• Please use your full real name—this encourages a more respectful exchange of ideas
• Your IP address (the network address of your computer or Internet provider) will be logged and the your approximate geographic location will be included with your name in the team listing: e.g. Jane Doe, Perth, WA, AU
• We record and display your location so your teammates will know they are working with a true stakeholder, rather than someone from the other side of the world.
• After joining CivicEvolution, you still need to join a specific proposal team.

Do you protect my privacy?

How do I confirm my email address?

Help, I lost my password!

How can I change my password?