DEN guarantees that in each workshop course you will learn the most important skills for being an effective citizen organizer and advocate in Canada.  Set out further below is a list of the lesson materials that make up the two courses.

At present, the Democracy Education Network offers two workshop courses (follow the links for more information):

• Level 1: Introducing Citizen Advocacy
• Level 2: Managing Issue Campaigns

Through 2004-2005, the Democracy Education Network (DEN) is gathering the resources and network together needed to expand the locations in Ontario at which the two courses are offered. 

Significant financial support for developing the Level 1 and Level 2 courses and establishing locations at which the courses are offered has been provided since 2000 in grants by the Atkinson Charitable Foundation, and low-level support has also been provided by the Laidlaw Foundation

As resources allow and as the network expands in future years, DEN will expand the locations at which the workshops are offered across Canada.

Customized Skills Workshops for Citizen Groups
DEN also offers customized democracy skills workshops for citizens groups.  The customized workshops can be scheduled for 1 hour up to several days, and can cover one topic or several topics.

DEN guarantees that in each workshop you will learn the most important skills for being an effective citizen organizer and advocate in Canada.

Set out below is the list of "how-to" lessons available in the customized skills workshops.  If your organization is interested in booking a custom skills workshop, contact DEN for cost information at tel: 613-241-5178 or email: advocacyskills@democracyeducation.net .  If you know the lessons you want taught at the workshop, please list them in any email you send.

List of Workshop Areas (and Lesson Materials) for Democracy Skills Workshops

ON POWER AND INFLUENCE, BOTH PERSONAL AND SOCIETY-WIDE
- The Elements of Power and Influence
- Taking the Self Profile
- Personal Power: Getting What You Want
- The Ladder of Citizen Participation
- Structure of Canadian Society
- Governance for sustainable human development: Glossary of Key Terms

ON CITIZEN ACTION, BOTH PAST AND PRESENT, IN CANADA
- Case Studies of Successful Active Citizens
- Highlights of the History of Citizen Action in Canada 
- Some Key Citizen Organizations in Canada
- Resources on Being an Active Citizen in Canada
- Resources on the History of Citizen Action in Canada

ON GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE AND OPERATION IN CANADA
- Government and Democratic Process in Canada
- The Canadian Constitution
- The Federal Parliament (and Canada's Prime Ministers)
- Provincial Government
- Municipal Government (including School Boards)
- The Roles of Government Departments and Central Agencies in Federal and Provincial Governments
- Usual Structure of a Federal or Provincial Government Department 
- Federal and Provincial Government Policy Development Process
- Creating the Laws
- Federal and Provincial Government Legislative Process
- Federal and Provincial Government Regulation-Making Process
- How City Governments Make Decisions
- Some Key Government Contact Information

ON CORPORATE STRUCTURE AND OPERATION IN CANADA
- General Information About Corporations 
- How Corporations Make Decisions
- Key Corporate Organizations in Canada

HOW MAINSTREAM MEDIA WORKS, AND HOW TO WORK THE MEDIA
- Media Structure and Operations in Canada
- How the Mainstream Media Gathers the News
- How to Work Well with the Media
- How to do a Media Alert
- How to do a Media Release
- How to do a News Conference
- How to Speak Effectively With the Media
- How to Write a Letter to the Editor

ON ORGANIZING YOURSELF, OTHERS AND YOUR CITIZEN GROUP
- The Citizen Group Universe
- Learning Cycles
- Owning Your Communication
- Brief Summary of Logic and Logical Faults
- List of Consensus Attitudes
- How to Get Yourself Organized and Keep Yourself Organized
- Keeping a Record of Your Activities & Tasks
- 10 Steps to Holding an Effective Meeting 
- Things That Can Go Wrong at Meetings
- How to Make Good Decisions/Plans as a Group
- Stages of Group Development
- Giving Support to Group Members
- Conflict Strategies: What Are You Like?

ON ADVOCATING EFFECTIVELY
- Key Factors in Canada's Political Landscape to Consider for Effective Citizen Action
- How to Know Your Political Landscape / Knowing Your Place
- Steps to Organizing
- How to Set Goals and Develop Effective Strategies and Tactics
- Elements of Strategy
- Collaborative Problem-Solving Sequence
- The 4 Main Citizen Action Strategies
- Examples of Effective, and Ineffective, Campaigns
- Ways of Holding Corporations Accountable 
- How to do Effective Research
- How To Make An Effective Speech - A Checklist
- How to Set Up Effective Information Tables
- Checklist for Planning A Public Education Event
- How to Write a Letter to a Politician
- How to Lobby a Decision-Maker
- Key Questions to Ask to Hold Government Accountable
- How to Organize a Network or Coalition
- How to Do a Credible Policy Platform Paper
- How to Use Access to Information Laws
- How to Fundraise
- How to Find and Work With a Lawyer
- How to Do a Credible Survey/Poll
- How to Do a Successful Boycott
- How To Organize An Effective Peaceful Legal Action or Peaceful Illegal Action