• The Civic Index for Quality Public Education

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    Many have lamented the loss of public support for public education.  Indeed, Dave Matthews 1996 book, Is there a Public for Public Schools? tackled this question head on.  Now, the Public Education Network, long a leader in promoting civic engagement in public education, has published The Civic Index for Quality Public Education.  This tool:

    • Helps communities define and measure their support of their public schools
    • Helps communities identify what they are doing right and what they can do to improve their support for their public schools
    • Offers strategies and other resources for communities to increase their support for their schools

    I was particularly impressed with the resource section which offers ideas for how to increase support for public schools in your community.  These materials, which are supported by a diverse array of education organizations, can be found at:  www.civicindex4education.org. 

  • Champions of Participation: Engaging Citizens in Local Governance

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    UK institutions continue to set the pace in efforts to promote authentic civic engagement.  The newest publications from the Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability (Citizenship DRC) at the University of Sussex offer lessons learned from a cross country comparison across 15 nations.  The Centre, an international network of researchers and activists exploring new forms of citizenship that helps make rights real, has published Champions of Participation: Engaging Citizens in Local Government, a 52 page document with unflinching analysis of the challenges and opportunities in making civic engagement work. 

    Two of the lessons certainly reflect my beliefs:

    Community involvement is at the heart of sustainable change and is central to the task of revitalising democracy, improving service delivery, tackling poverty and building strong, rsourceful communities. It is not an otional extra, but is essential if we are to achieve meaningful and sustainable outcomes for people and society.

    Citizens should be ‘makers and shapers’ of policy and practice rather than merely ‘users and choosers’ of public services. They should also be encouraged to speak and act as part of a community, as well as exercise the freedom to make their voices heard as individuals.

    Indeed, in the press for time that characterizes our "do it now" culture of performance, it is often these meaningful civic roles that are lost in the haste to make "progress."  The report, and numerous support documents can be found here.

  • Enough is Enough

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    Enough is enough.

    America's politics should be driven by the priorities of the people, not sound bites, special interest money, partisan gridlock, and polarizing rhetoric.

    It is time for a change.

    We believe that politics cannot and should not be a spectator sport. No politician, party or ideology will solve America's mounting problems alone. Only by providing authentic opportunities for the people to be part of the solution can we rebuild trust in our political institutions and create mandates for meaningful action on the critical issues facing our nation.

    So begins the introduction to the November 5th Coalition, an all-partisan alliance, committed to civic partnerships that address our biggest challenges. Check out the website, and sign the petition, for this promising effort. Members include American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), AmericaSpeaks, Center for Democracy and Citizenship, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), Mobilize.org, National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation, National Civic League, National Wildlife Federation, Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network, Take Back our Citizenship (student group), and the Study Circles Resource Center.

  • New UK Pub on Best Practices in Community Engagement

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    The Local Government Association in the UK sponsors IDEA, the Improvement and Development Agency, a very active learning network for local government. In addition to an active website, they also produce high quality guides. One of their newest publications, Local Development Frameworks: Effective Community Involvement, provides a thoughtful guide to constructing a multi-layered community engagement process. The guide, which can be found here, includes a number of worksheets as well as an accompanying spreadsheet to support the design phase.

    Their view of engagement is broad; as the guide puts it, "The term ‘engagement’ refers to more than just ‘consultation’. It extends the more traditional approaches, where questions and parameters tend to be restrictive, to include opportunities for the community to gain a greater understanding of pertinent issues and contribute towards finding solutions." What I find particularly intriguing is that the guide supports the development of a mandatory description of the engagement process which is shared with residents and stakeholders prior to the beginning of the process, something that is rarely found in the states.

  • Collaboration DC helps Near SE, SW Aim for Consensus

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    Collaboration DC, a network of practitioners working to build civic capacity and solve community problems in the Nation's Capital, has been working with residents and community based organizations in Near Southeast and Southwest for over a year to help forge a collective approach to neighborhood change.  Collaboration within the community has not always been the case.  As Reverend Ruth Hamilton, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church, says in the Hill Rag, “The rap on our community is that we can’t get along.”

     Now, the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6D, Southwest Neighborhood Assembly, and the Southwest/West of the River Family Strengthening Collaborative have worked together to engage the community and build a "consensus vision on what community benefits residents most want to demand from developers."

     The process of relationship building was supported by Mary Jacksteit, former director and now consultant to Collaboration DC.  Residents see the benefit.  Rev. Hamilton, continued, "“The relationships that we have built, they pay for this process already. We just have to continue doing this as new residents come in.”

     This story is excerpted from the June 2007 edition of the Hill Rag.  The full story can be found here.

  • New Handbook on Democratic Dialogue

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    Colleagues around the world are working to improve their public conversation. The Canadian International Development Agency, UN Development Program, and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and several other organizations have published Democratic Dialogue: A Handbook for Practitioners. Backed by a technical assistance team of 90 practitioners, the Handbook is a part of a larger effort to help countries learn the value of dialogue and consensus building processes and build capacity to design and manage the processes. The manual, which is also available in Spanish and more resources can be found on their website.