Dear NCSG members,

To encourage GNSO community engagement with the GNSO Council, the
GNSO Council is inviting us all to attend the first ever GNSO Town Hall 
meeting which is planned for Sunday 12 March from 16.30 – 17.30 local
time.

**

The Council has been considering how to facilitate engagement and 
collaboration with the GNSO community which has resulted in this first 
ever GNSO Town Hall meeting. The objective is to have an open and frank 
discussion with the GNSO Community during which any topics or questions 
can be raised.

One particular topic that the Council would like to draw your attention 
to is the recent Council Strategic Planning session and the strategic 
priorities that came out of that meeting (see meeting report 
<https://gnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/policy/2023/correspondence/gnso-council-et-al-to-icann-board-et-al-15feb23-en.pdf>):



   * Develop and implement improvements that ensure that policy
     recommendations are “Board ready” when these are considered for
     adoption by the GNSO Council.

·Ensure timely input into the Board’s consideration of the SubPro ODP 
and related policy recommendations, as well as keeping a close eye on 
dependencies that are within the Council’s remit to address with the aim 
of getting the Board into a position to be able to agree and announce a 
next round date before the end of this Council session / year.

·Engage in further conversations with the ICANN Board as well as the 
GNSO community concerning how ODP type input and assessment can be 
developed prior to GNSO Council consideration of policy recommendations.

·Consider how to create further transparency in small team deliberations.

·Consider how to ensure enhanced uptake and use of the techniques of the 
Consensus Playbook with a specific focus on scoping and chartering, 
learning from approaches applied in efforts such as the facilitated 
dialogue on Closed Generics.

·Exploring incentives for compromising and promoting opportunities for 
mutual gain.

The Council would welcome your ideas/suggestions for how to ensure that 
the Council is able to meet these strategic priorities.

The Council also welcomes your feedback after this session on whether 
this is a welcome approach to encourage such engagement or whether 
alternative paths should be explored. If you would like to submit any 
topics or questions in advance of the meeting, please submit these to 
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>with “GNSO Town Hall” as 
the subject.

	Julf