“By listening & sharing stories we can connect on shared values to overcome the issues that divide us & move forward together” – Neighbours United
FAQ: How Does Deep Engagement Canvassing Work?
Underfunded health care and education, inflation, and climate change are problems Albertans are struggling with today. Some of these issues are societal problems and some of them are environmental problems. But, at the heart of it – these are all people problems. “For too long we’ve been divided on how to move forward on solutions to big problems that affect people everyday.”
We’ve heard that Albertans want the same things – to live healthy, prosperous lives.
To get enough people wanting the same solutions, we need to do something we haven’t done before.
We need to listen to people who disagree with us.
We need to connect as humans and find our common ground to move forward together.
Deep community engagement, or deep canvassing, is a practice for having vulnerable, emotional, and non-judgmental conversations in person with strangers.
Deep Canvassing is:
– An engagement tactic that is transformational instead of transactional
– Rooted in listening with honest curiosity and non-judgment to the concerns of people who have conflicted feelings on an issue
Canvassers share personal life experiences & encourage other conversation partner to do the same.
The outcome of deep canvassing is a lasting change of hearts in 1 in 3 individuals. By sharing vulnerable stories and truly getting at the emotional heart of the issues that divide us, we can overcome polarization and prejudice.
Deep engagement is how we build a broad-based movement.