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Citizen Engagement

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Citizen Engagement

The Citizen Engagement group is a practical forum designed to engage participants in sharing, developing and improving knowledge on civic engagement. The group hosts conversation on the group wall through sharing experiences and connecting ideas.

While we know a great deal about citizen engagement, and it is a growing area of research and action, it is not always clear what government can and should do in this regard. Local governments can be active contributors to meaningful citizen engagement, but they must act in partnership with a wide range of other actors.

Within this group participants explore successful pairings of local government citizen engagement activities with organizational goals. All Knowledge Network users interested in this topic are welcome to join the group.

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Rick Morse
Rick Morse said

I've put together a resource page on citizens academies at http://www.sog.unc.edu/programs/citizensacademies/
It would be great if some of you who work with citizens academies would check out this site and offer any feedback. We are still adding and revising content and would welcome suggestions.

Dele Lowman-Smith

"Join the Conversation" with Fulton County, GA tomorrow evening during our first-ever live Tele-Town Hall meeting! Citizens can talk directly to their County leaders about the 2012 budget and maintaining our quality of life here in Atlanta-Fulton County in the midst of economic challenges. Watch live on Fulton Government TV or online at www.fultoncountyga.gov/citizensense.

Michael Huggins

Our City Council unanimously endorsed the civil public discourse initiative of the ABA. Copies have been forwarded to our local state legislators and the Wisconsin Governor's office. Link to the resolution and background on the ABA resolution and supporting report: http://www.eauclairewi.gov/news-section/2658-city-council-promotes-civil-public-discourse

Michael Huggins

The Eau Claire City Council will consider a resolution at our next meeting to endorse the ABA resolution and to sponsor consideration of a resolution of support at the annual League of Wisconsin Municipalities in October. The ABA reports notes: "Incivility leaves citizens frustrated, disillusioned, and reluctant to participate in democratic governance. It is well-established that democracy cannot function effectively under these conditions. Without a social structure that supports tolerance, a basic level of trust, and a spirit of community, political institutions become hollow. Government becomes less efficient, effective, and responsive." People learn the skills needed for democracy in the context of their local communities and local government institutions. Our profession and our local governing bodies have much to share regarding the practice of civil public discourse and could provided well-grounded support for future efforts to carry through with the intent of the ABA resolution.

Lawrence Dire

Lawrence Dire The Eau Claire Council's action is commendable. It will be interesting to follow their discussion of the issue. Frankly I have doubts that one more paper resolution (from either a municipal council or the state League) will have any impact on those already dysfunctional organizations. Those groups need real engagement and mediation skills training. "Talking the talk" but not "walking the walk" may only serve to further alienate citizens. Just two cents worth.

Sarah Read

Sarah Read Sometimes these resolutions can provide the platform to advance the discussion on what change is needed and how to get there. As someone who provides skills training, I have seen internal advocates of change wrestle with how to introduce the issue that such training would be worth the investment. The ABA resolution provides a nice platform for raising the issue. Michael - we wish you well in pushing this forward.

Sarah Read
Sarah Read said

Last week the American Bar Association's House of Delegates unanimously adopted a resolution on civility as a foundation for democracy and the rule of law. The resolution and the accompanying report are worth reading. Here is the url: http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/dispute_resolution/civility.authcheckdam.pdf

Lawrence Dire

Lawrence Dire Thanks for the post and link. It is encouraging.

Dele Lowman-Smith

We've embarked on a broad-reaching citizen engagement effort here at Fulton County (Atlanta), pretty much on a shoestring. We're anticipating a ~$30M shortfall in 2012 and the Board has elected to maintain the same millage rate we've had for the past 11 yrs. Therefore, we're using this as an opportunity to start a conversation w/ citizens around their priorities for maintaining our quality of life even as we face persistent economic challenges. We've gotten encouraging feedback and participation from citizens and Commissioners thus far. See the following links for information on our fledgling effort:

www.fultoncountyga.gov/citizensense
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYF3nMQJiPY

Cory Fleming

I've been considering this issue a fair amount in light of the work ICMA has been doing on 311/CRM technology for the past 5 years and observing how popular the technology is with citizens who want to simply and easily connect with their local government. I think traditional citizen engagment techniques -- workshops, public hearings, newsletters -- must be supplemented these days with new techniques to reach citizens where they are. Putting up educational displays in the grocery store, conducting public opinion surveys on issues at the local ballpark, maintaining a robust web presence that allows citizens to report problems or request a service online are just a few of options local governments need to consider if they want real citizen input.

To Sarah's point below, if you ask for citizen engagment, make sure you have a plan in place for letting citizens who responded know what you've decided to do. It's not just about asking for input, but also communicating how you used that input.

Michael Cohen

Edward,
If your civic engagement strategy will include online engagement, then check-out how elected council members are using Peak Democracy's online public comment forums -- for example, in Berkeley CA: http://www.OpenTownHall.com/for/Berkeley. These online public comment forums have the order and decorum of public hearings, so they are civil and insightful (as well as legal). Also, these online forums can be easily integrated with the social media component of your strategy (i.e. Facebook and Twitter).

Edward Dunn

I'm a newly elected council member with Vernon Township, in NJ and understanding the value citizen engagement. I'm at the beginning stages of formulating a strategy to move this forward and not sure where to start.

Suggestions?

Michael Huggins

Michael Huggins I recommend reading The Citizen Solution by Harry Boyte, available through Amazon for about $10. Boyte identifies basic strategies and practices for bulding the capacity of citizens to be effective participants in community problem solving initiatives. An underlying premise is that local governments must find ways to involve citizens in naming problems, crafting solutions, and sorting through options if local government and communities are going to address the wicked, complex problems we face.

Sarah Read
Sarah Read said

Another mistake often made is the opposite of what you describe - telling citizens that they will make the decisions without providing adequate information or building skills, which often results in the rejection of recommendations made. Another is inviting citizens to talk without providing much content or linking the engagement process to the decision-making process. Where you start and how you sequence discussions are important factors, often overlooked. We have some blog posts you may be interested in that outline things to think about when structuring an engagement process (http://buildingdialogue.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/structuring-engagement-series/) and how to evaluate what you want and are getting out of a process: (http://buildingdialogue.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/setting-yourself-up-for-evaluation/)

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