Localities are achieving a higher level of citizen engagement by strengthening connections with and in their communities.  As stated by Svara and Denhardt in Connected Communities, “Citizen engagement focuses on revitalizing democracy, building citizenship and reinforcing a sense of community, and it cannot be equated with one-way exchanges between government and citizens.”   The examples below demonstrate how localities are successfully stretching beyond traditional means to tackle challenging problems, build community and foster a civic culture.   

Speak Up Winnipeg - Winnipeg, MB

Winnipeg took a leadership role in re-writing its approach to planning and inviting the community into a frank and open conversation about what that might look like.  This required securing the necessary resources to plan effectively, do background research that had been lacking before, and engage an energized, creative and diverse planning team.   Enter . . . SpeakUpWinnipeg: Winnipeg’s public engagement process. A major component of the process was SpeakUpWinnipeg.com, a blog-based website serving as the interactive hub for information sharing and conversation with and among citizens. This innovative new consultation tool featured a host of blog topics, video stories, questions of the day, and reference materials, all designed to generate informed opinions from a wide cross-section of Winnipeggers directly via the site, and through the most popular social media applications.  In addition to the project website, Winnipeg sought input through roundtables, focused neighborhood conversations, stakeholder workshops, speaking engagements, community interaction and major public events. The planning exercise also benefited from the mobilization of over 120 members of the City of Winnipeg Public Service. The tentacles of the plan truly reach all operational areas of the organization at the most senior levels and will profoundly influence the way service is delivered for years to come.

Engaging Suburbia – Wellington, FL

It’s tough to engage in suburbia, especially with less funding and less resources. Wellington is realigning existing resources, refocusing priorities and reinvesting in community to transform neighborhoods and inspire residents.  Wellington’s Community Relationships initiative was first developed in an effort to stabilize neighborhoods and to prevent, reverse and diminish the impact of the foreclosure crisis in multifamily neighborhoods. The Community Relations formula involves a combination of cultivating an active volunteer base, soliciting business and civic partnerships and working directly with residents to make a difference by providing them with a transparent government. By stabilizing neighborhoods and attracting businesses that generate family-sustaining employment, Wellington is securing its tax base, taking the City from bust to boom.  Wellington has yielded rapid change in under two years: crime is down; code compliance is up; residents are active volunteers; landlords have joined forces; HOAs, local not-for-profits and faith-based organizations are ready partners.  

Engaging Diverse Community – Brooklyn Park, MN

Significant demographic changes in Brooklyn Park have resulted in a community of communities; people of different backgrounds were living near one another but not with each other. It was another indicator, a symptom, of a much larger problem – a lack of connectedness.   As a result, the City of Brooklyn Park embarked upon a “Community Engagement Initiative” (CEI), where a community‐wide strategic planning process was designed to engage all residents and inspire a social movement. For 4 months, Brooklyn Park held Community Cafés at City Hall, area churches, and schools through an intensive mass marketing campaign. Over 400 individuals attended Community Cafés to give input on what would enhance our quality of life, our opportunities, what characteristic contribute to our quality of life, what detract, and what did they not want to see change as we plan for our future.  Residents provided incredible feedback on what they valued in the community, what they viewed as barriers, and what untapped potential they felt existed. Participants left energized and encouraged about the possibilities for their community.

From Storytelling to Policy – Golden, Colorado

For thousands of years, the traditions, norms, and values of societies (and communities) were transmitted through the telling and retelling of stories.  Golden Vision 2030 utilized innovative community engagement techniques to identify and confirm its core community values, and is currently using these values to guide decision making in the arenas of policy, investment, and on-going municipal operations. Through unprecedented outreach efforts in 2009, Golden identified the values of Golden citizens through telling, sharing, and retelling of stories.  The project kicked off with an event at the local high school where participants shared on a “reaction wall” what Golden means to them.  Other events used to collect stories from diverse constituencies included neighborhood block parties, the Farmers Market, “on the street” interviews, chili socials, and various civic groups.  A facilitated focus group extracted value statements from over 350 video stories share.  Value statements with emerging themes were identified and formed the basis of a Community Summit.  During the summits  citizens gathered to distill value statements under the umbrella of a given theme and create a set of guiding principles and core community values.  

Budget Woes into Civic Engagement Wows – Hampton, VA

The initiative, called the “I Value” campaign, blended some of the best traditional citizen-outreach practices, such as face-to-face community discussions, with an array of Internet-based engagement tools, including live online chats and electronic polling. And all this came about while Hampton, like most local governments, was still reeling from the worst nationwide economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Much of the “I Value” campaign involved asking citizens to rate what city services they value in terms of “needs” and “wants,” as well as engaging in deeper discussions with the city manager or other Hampton staff. To flesh out the details, Bunting convened a team of city staff from the marketing, communications, neighborhood facilitation and technology professions. The team crafted a simple yet focused message to disseminate to citizens: The City can do many things, but we can’t read minds. We are facing budget challenges and need your input. Please tell us what you value and together, we will shape our future. A variety of communication methods were deployed, such as online chats with the city manager, creation of a dedicated website, survey boxes at city events, Facebook, Twitter and informal chats in diverse locations, including coffee shops, churches, libraries and meetings of professional associations. At many of the meetings, staff distributed hand-held electronic keypads that gave citizens an efficient way to rank city services. Comments and other information were posted within 24 hours on hamptonvalues.com. The methods and lessons from Hampton’s “I Value” campaign are being applied to other community concerns, such as flooding and neighborhood planning, and there will be many more issues on which Hampton city government will engage its residents.