Community Engagement Learning Exchange

Thanksgiving Day Lessons: What family expectations, turkey, and being grateful can teach us about public participation

This entry was contributed by Jennifer Phillips, on December 3rd, 2014 at 8:00 am and is filed under Outreach Methods.

Full disclosure – I grew up in a large family with lots of extended relatives. On one side we could trace our roots back to tiny villages in Italy and on the other side we still had relatives living in Beirut, Lebanon. If you have seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding then you will have some idea of what growing up in a family like mine entails which is lots of expectations, relatives who are not afraid to share their opinions on areas of your life that you didn’t realize they had a say in, and tons of delicious food. Continue Reading

Creating Sustainable Civic Participation

This entry was contributed by Kevin Smith, on December 3rd, 2014 at 8:00 am and is filed under Capacity Building, Civic Education, Online Participation, Outreach Methods.

Local governments are working to find ways to create sustainable civic participation. Some have taken steps to create programs and initiatives that gain the sentiments of their respective citizenry. However, sustainable civic participation is more than gaining the sentiments of citizens, or the perspectives of activist. Obtaining sustainable civic participation comes from inclusive and interactive engagement. Continue Reading

Filling the empty rooms

This entry was contributed by Emily Edmonds, on December 3rd, 2014 at 8:00 am and is filed under Public Meetings.

Covering town and county board meetings for the local newspaper might be one of the most boring jobs in the world. Convinced I could be the next Seymour Hersh, I took a job as a reporter when I was 23, in the county of less than 35,000 people where I was born. It took exactly one school board meeting, two town meetings and one county meeting to utterly disabuse me of that idea. Continue Reading

Citizens Academies and Civic Infrastructure

This entry was contributed by Rick Morse, on December 3rd, 2014 at 8:00 am and is filed under Civic Education.

Citizens academies are educational programs conducted by cities and counties aiming to create better informed and engaged citizens. These programs involve ordinary citizens participating in several (usually between six and twelve) sessions taught by local government officials on the wide range of local government services and operations. Programs are usually taught to cohorts of 20-25 residents and end with a graduation. Participants not only learn about their local government, but also learn about how they can be directly involved in it by, for example, serving on citizen advisory boards or committees. Continue Reading

Protected: Testing

This entry was contributed by SOG Apps, on March 27th, 2001 at 1:43 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.