Crossroads of Community Engagement
-
Upload
matt-leighninger -
Category
News & Politics
-
view
265 -
download
0
Transcript of Crossroads of Community Engagement
The crossroads of community engagement:
Moving from temporary tools to sustained plans and systems
Community Engagement Leadership Institute
Los Angeles, CA
January 11, 2012
The Deliberative Democracy Consortium
The context:
How have citizens* changed?
More educated More skeptical – different attitudes
toward authority Have less time to spare Use the Internet to learn and connect
* “citizens” = residents, people
The context:
Families with young children
Have the most at stake in community success
Parents have even more motivation to engage, but even less time, than average resident
Want opportunities to engage in community, not just politics
Successful recent community engagement tactics
Proactive about recruitment Bringing diverse perspectives together Sharing experiences Giving people chance to make up their own
minds (deliberative) Different levels of action: volunteers, teams,
organizations, policy decisions Increasing use of online tools
Successful tactic: Proactive recruitment
Map community networks;
Involve leaders of those networks;
Hold a kickoff meeting;
Follow up, follow up, follow up.
Successful tactic: Small-group strategies
No more than 12 people per group;
Facilitator who is impartial (doesn’t give opinions);
Start with people describing their experiences, end with action planning.
Successful tactic: Framing an issue
Provide an agenda or guide that:
Begins by asking people to talk about why they care about this issue or question
Gives them the information they need, in ways they can absorb and use it
Lays out several options or views (including ones you don’t agree with)
Ends with questions that get people to plan what they want to do (not just what they want you to do)
Successful tactic: Online tools
Complement face-to-face communication, don’t replace it
Particularly good for:o Providing background informationo Data gathering by citizenso Generating and ranking ideaso Helping people visualize optionso Maintaining connections over time
Digital divides (plural)
Overall, Internet access growing “Access” – to Internet, to government – has
never been enough Different people use different hardware Different people go to different places on the
Internet Communities just as complex online as off –
recruitment must be proactive
In other (fewer) words, the key success factors are:
Diverse critical mass Structured Deliberative Action-oriented Online and F2F
“Community Chat” Southwest Delray Beach, FL
Outcomes: Parent support group Youth basketball team Expansion of “Delray Divas” youth group Westside Neighborhood Presidents’ Council Citizen input to street redevelopment plan “Maintaining the Village” effort to rehab
housing New deregulated public
school - the “Village Academy”
“Horizons” Rural communities in seven
Northwestern states
Initiated by Northwest Area Foundation 284 towns, with poverty rates between
10% and 78% Issues: poverty reduction and economic
development 3,000+ participants
“Horizons” Rural communities in seven
Northwestern states
Outcomes listed in recent evaluation: “Community gardens and farmer’s markets, parks, trails (one with a $1.2 million grant), and recreational opportunities, community and community resource centers, scholarships for low income children and families for daycare, after school programming and recreation, including Boys and Girls’ clubs, car repair and home maintenance programs, and in (at least) five communities, the establishment of community foundations.”
Other research findings about engagement
Having a relationship with a person of a different group = greater empathy and understanding
People get involved because they want to affect an issue, stay involved because (and only when) they enjoy the experience (both process and outcome)
Stronger feelings of belonging to community = increased likelihood that person will stay in that place
Stronger feelings of loyalty to community = greater community economic health
Successes, limitations of engagement so far
Why do it: Make a decision or plan in a reasonable wayGet more people working on the issueBuild trust
Successes: When done well, meets all three goals aboveGives new leaders a chance to step forward
Challenges: Takes lots of time (especially recruitment)Hard to sustain (not designed to be sustained)May meet goals of ‘engagers,’ but not ‘engaged’Doesn’t often change the institutionsTrust, relationships fade over time
1. Sustain the benefits2. Allow the ‘engaged’ to set the agenda3. Better address inequities 4. Increase community attachment and
economic growth5. Increase residents’ sense of legitimacy and
“public happiness”
Why plan for more sustainable kinds of engagement?
Need more sustained, holistic forms of engagement - regular, structured, enjoyable opportunities that enable people to: Connect with other people (particularly people who are different from themselves) Feel like they belong to a community that values their voices and contributions Bring their concerns and priorities to the table (they help shape the agenda) Participate in governance (they have a say/hand in decision-making and problem-solving)
Social media is a critical tool for new forms of engagement
More sustained Larger, more diverse numbers of
people Easier for ‘engagers’ – recruitment
doesn’t have to start from scratch More open to ideas from the
‘engaged’
Community engagement planners should
consider some key building blocks::
“Portsmouth Listens” Portsmouth, NH
Ongoing process since 2000 Several hundred participants each time Addressed a number of major policy
decisions: bullying in schools, school redistricting, city’s master plan, balancing city budget, whether to build new middle school
Jane Addams School for Democracy West Side of St. Paul, MN
Community center that regularly hosts “neighborhood learning circles”
Involves recent Hmong, Latino, Somali immigrants
Young people involved in circles and other activities
Cultural exchanges - food, crafts, storytelling
Has resulted in new projects, initiatives, festivals, and a change in INS policy
“Democracy needs a place to sit down” Communities need places that are:
1. Permanent 2. Not just “open,” but actively
welcoming3. Centered on citizen needs and
priorities4. Powerful 5. Political, social, and cultural
Resources
• www.deliberative-democracy.net• www.soulofthecommunity.org • www.everydaydemocracy.org• www.publicagenda.org• www.kettering.org• On Facebook: “Deliberative
Democracy Consortium” group page• The Next Form of Democracy
Resources (continued)
• On YouTube: the DDC channel
• Using Online Tools to Engage – and Be Engaged by – the Public at http://bit.ly/iwjgqn
• Planning for Stronger Local Democracy at bit.ly/rWeHaU – and other resources at www.nlc.org