Laserfiche WebLink
Other participants stated strongly that all of us are responsible for welcoming new people into <br />the community. Community members need to be open minded, reach out to new neighbors and <br />make individual efforts to help others feel welcomed. <br />Responses to the second question of what are your customs regarding personal space, <br />communication and the roles of men and women brought out diverse view points from <br />participants. Each village participant had a different perspective of customs, personal space, <br />communication and roles of men and women. Participants felt that this was because everyone <br />comes from diverse backgrounds that change from homeland to America. <br />Regarding personal space, some participants felt that there were other contributing factors to <br />the diversity of perspectives. These included; technology, social vs. work personal space, kids <br />in the fact that there is not much space with kids, and different stages of aging. <br />In the area of the roles of men and women, participants tended to be in agreement with culture, <br />age and gender as the contributing factors of varying view points. Examples of participant <br />statements that support these factors included: <br />• Women and men's roles need to be complementary, each have great gifts to bring forth <br />just like the cc model <br />• There are many cultures where women are more focused on the family and home <br />As far as communication, participants tended to be more in favor of direct communication but <br />also keeping in mind being considerate of people from cultures that are uncomfortable with <br />direct communication. <br />So, what does it mean to be a good neighbor? Participants shared common approaches to <br />. being a good neighbor. Approaches included: being centered on communication; caring for one <br />another. Being open minded and looking at things from different perspectives, getting to know <br />each other so you can help each other and pretend that we all have porches in our front yards <br />are ways to demonstrate being a good neighbor. <br />Summary of Participant Evaluations <br />In their evaluations, participants vocalized that they were very appreciative of the opportunity to <br />dialogue with one another. Many of the dialogue attendees also stated that they have now <br />realized not only of how Roseville has changed but also the community's commitment to <br />accepting and adapting to diversity. One person stated that "Roseville really cares about the <br />issue!" <br />On an individual level, many participants stated that they learned many lessons from the <br />dialogue. Some of these lessons included having a better understanding of why people fear <br />other cultures that come to live here, or have an improved comprehension of how others think <br />and feel about different cultures. Other participants gained more knowledge of how great a role <br />diversity plays in creating solutions and expanding the perspectives in decision making. <br />The other main area that dialogue attendees stated that they learned from the dialogue was <br />"how to be a good neighbor", or how other people approach the issues of living together in <br />community. Comments to improve the dialogue included: <br />• Offer tools and next steps <br />• Logistics such as more microphones to hear other people in the large group discussion <br />and a smaller circle <br />• More information on specific cultures living in the community <br />• Discussion of the role of law enforcement <br />