The Central Oregon Civic Action Project (COCAP), in partnership with key regional and national organizations, will host the region’s first Civic Action Summit, a 2.5-day training and design workshop running April 7-9, 2026. The event will span two Central Oregon Community College campuses — Redmond on day one and Bend on days two and three — and is designed to build local expertise in civic assemblies and deliberative democracy.
The summit opens April 7 at COCC Redmond with a free public presentation on what civic assemblies are, how they work, and what they could mean for Central Oregon — open to elected officials, civic leaders, youth, and the general public. An institutional session on civic assembly design follows the same afternoon.
Day two on April 8 features a full-day institutional design workshop at COCC Bend for government, education, and civic representatives, covering governance models, deliberative facilitation, and the practical steps of building a civic assembly. The summit concludes April 9 with a half-day Community Steward moderator training led by Healthy Democracy, equipping 25-30 Central Oregonians with skills to facilitate constructive dialogue on complex community issues. Registration is required for the institutional workshop and moderator training.
The summit will also serve as the occasion to announce the launch of the region’s upcoming Deliberative Solutions Initiative on the Impacts of Artificial Intelligence on our Communities, marking an important next chapter in COCAP’s growing civic engagement work.
“This is an important event as we launch a new regional Civic Action Network that will provide resources and expertise for institutions in Central Oregon to build more trust and civic muscle through deliberative problem solving,” said Josh Burgess, executive director of COCAP. “We are excited to bring together community members, institutional leaders, and national experts to lay the groundwork for a permanent civic assembly hub in our region.”
The summit is hosted by COCAP and co-organized with the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC) and facilitated in partnership with the Federation of Innovators in Democracy for North America (FIDE North America), Healthy Democracy, and the Bloom Project. The event reflects a growing regional commitment to building civic infrastructure that empowers community members and strengthens trust in government.
Registration & Information: cocap.us/registration
About COCAP:
The Central Oregon Civic Action Project (COCAP) is a civic action network dedicated to deliberative democracy in Central Oregon. COCAP’s mission is to build civic spirit and capacity, improve governance outcomes, strengthen the social fabric, and create a virtuous cycle of trust between community members and public institutions. Its inaugural project was the 2024 Deschutes County Civic Assembly on Youth Homelessness.
