Community participation was the latest topic at the new Queen Charlotte Village dialogue sessions.Chief administrative officer Bill Beamish said the sessions are a way to have community conversations and delve deeper into local issues. Around 10 people came to July 29 event, which focused on how to get people involved in the community. Ideas from participants included developing a community welcoming package that would help make people aware of volunteer opportunities and services they might be interested in. These could be left in strategic places like the village office and the library.Mr. Beamish, who took his position in the QC village office in February, brought with him the concept of holding dialogue sessions. He has attended and taught courses on dialogue at Simon Fraser University's Centre for Dialogue, a unique downtown Vancouver facility which provides an environment for interaction and full participation by all delegates and students. He last lived in Gibsons and introduced the idea there in 2005. The sessions continue to this day, he says. "It's an opportunity to focus conversation on a particular community issue that might need input," he said. One example from Gibsons was when a local shopping mall owner invited WalMart to become a tenant. The owner of the mall came to a dialogue session on the topic, as did the owner of a large grocery store that was also a tenant in the mall and worried about WalMart taking away business. These parties, along with others, had their say, says Mr. Beamish.Those for and against an issue can hear each other's sides at a dialogue session. People don't try to convince each other that their position is the right one, but listen and understand each other's positions and explain their own, said Mr. Beamish.Municipal meetings aren't good for community participation. "There is not enough time in a formal meeting for a good discussion on issues," he said.Two other sessions have been held, one on the idea of building trust through public engagement and the other on regulation and how much do villagers want. Seventeen people came to the first one and 23 to the second one. He won't hold one in August, as summer is such a busy time. Still, he is seeing success from the sessions. Out of the session on regulation, a smaller group got together to further discuss the topic, he said. They want to look at how our community can develop a unique Queen Charlotte approach to bylaws - a good neighbour law, if you will, he said.Mr. Beamish was happy to see that Sandspit is starting similar sessions. It would be great if other communities on the islands had their own dialogues on the same topics and then the results of these could feed into a larger process, he said.