Presented by Rachel Gooen, MS, MSW, LCSW

People have a strong sense of place which they become passionately attached to. As Landscape Architects guiding future land use and community design your job puts you at the crossfire of people’s desire to have input, their diverse perspectives and their primary personal needs. This session will share how the human psychological “threat system” which compels people to argue, defend, and resist change, can be softened through personal engagement techniques. This session will explain the psychology behind this, share ad example of a forum designed to reduce conflict and give you some tips on how to design meetings, large or small, for engagement.