As a part of our ongoing series to highlight the issues that will be discussed in Boston at the upcoming conference, I am writing to you this week to highlight some of the best resources around ICMA that highlight effective community collaboration efforts. Read through the following resources to ensure that you are up-to-date with the leading practices in community collaboration.

• In Mike Huggins and Cheryl Hilvert’s August 2013 PM article, “Tackling Wicked Problems Takes Resident Engagement,” you can read about the importance of collaboration and engagement in accomplishing your goals.
• ICMA’s article “Collaboration Across Boundaries: The Basics for Change” outlines the basics of collaboration. Use these ideas to orient yourself with how you can work with the community to accomplish goals. 
• In their article, “Harnessing the Power of Community Collaborations,” Lyle Wray and Paul Epstein offer seven insightful tools for getting the most out of your community collaboration initiatives.
• James Verbrugge’s article “Case Study: Community Engagement Initiative in Brooklyn Park, MN” discusses the path to community engagement in a town that has experienced a long-term demographic shift.
• A wonderful question from Jennifer Smith prompted some great thoughts from the Knowledge Network community about how to work with communities using the Internet.
• In “Results through Collaboration: The Power of Partnership,” you can read all about the practice of turning ideas into action with your community.

I hope that this information has been helpful for you, and I hope that you’ll reach out to the Knowledge Network with any thoughts or comments that you have on this issue. If you would like to take your education to a whole new level, attend these events on effective community collaboration at the Conference in Boston. You can also read documents on effective community collaboration in the ICMA bookstore.

Aloha,

James Davidson

ICMA's Knowledge Network Intern

jdavidson@icma.org