My past research has dealt with theories and practices of democratic dialogue and deliberation, with particular focus on understanding the impact (or lack of impact) of innovative citizen involvement processes given the complex systems in which they intervene. My publications in this vein include two edited volumes, Deliberative Democracy in Theory and Practice and Dispute Resolution in Aboriginal Contexts: Land Claims, Treaties, and Self-Government Agreements; and chapters and articles like “Climate change, social change, and systems change: Lessons from Alberta Climate Dialogue," "Norms and nature: deliberative democracy, systemic design, and participatory systems change," and "Designing more democratically, deliberating more systemically: A conversation between systemic design and democratic deliberation" (with Alex Ryan).
From 2010-2016 I was Principal Investigator and Project Director of Alberta Climate Dialogue (ABCD), a $1 million SSHRC-funded community-university research partnership that convened citizens in Alberta to deliberate on climate change policy, and learning from careful evaluation of these processes and their outcomes.