CommunityMatters:

CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE

Table of Contents
3 | Foreword 4 | CommunityMatters 5 | Introductory Remarks 9 | Building Blocks of Civic Infrastructure 10 | Our Perspectives
11 | The Power of Ten: Why Great Places are More Than the Sum of Their Parts 16 | Building Community Through Engagement and Dialogue 20 | What Matters Most: Using Community Values in Decision-making 23 | A Curbside Chat: Why Were Broke and How to Incrementally Change That 25 | Grassroots Grantmaking and the Power of Collective Action 29 | Engaging Citizens in Public Decision-making and Problem-solving

30 | Assessing Your Communitys Civic Infrastructure

COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE | 1

CommunityMatters:

CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE

Foreword
How are decisions made in your city or town? Is the whole community engaged in the
process, or is the direction of your area determined by a select few? Driven by seven national organizations, members of the CommunityMatters Partnership share the belief that people have the power to solve their communitys problems and direct future growth and change. Ofcially launched in June 2012, the Partnership equips cities and towns for meaningful engagement through an approach that strengthens place and inspires change. Each Partner organization takes a different approach to promote community-led work in our local cities and towns. From grantmaking and placemaking to community planning and deliberative dialogue, our interests span a range of topics. While our specic focuses are unique, the Partnership believes that the suite of tools we offer are most powerful when used in concert. Thats why we came together in February of 2013 for a community workshop in the rural community of Newport, Vermont. Working with a local organization, the Newport City Renaissance Corporation, Partners focused on an assets-based approach to strengthening Newports ability to solve problems, make decisions and build a resilient city. Partner organizations shared concrete, tested tools and ideas that have worked in other communities nationwide in areas such as community engagement, placemaking, outreach and communications, dialogue and problem-solving. Coming out of the Newport workshop, we knew that our combined approaches could be useful for other cities and towns. This guide highlights the strategies and resources shared during the Newport event that can help you advocate for community-driven decisionmaking in your local community. Take a look through the following pages to learn about each approach, then use the enclosed assessment to help determine what your town needs most.

COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE | 2

CommunityMatters:

CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE

CommunityMatters
CommunityMatters helps cities and towns steward change by fostering what we call civic infrastructure. Civic infrastructure consists of the opportunities, activities and arenas, both online and face-to-face, that allow people to connect with each other, solve problems, make decisions and celebrate community. There is no prescription for what strong civic infrastructure looks like there is no silver bullet. Instead, we offer a diverse set of tools and resources that communities can adapt to best serve their local culture. If youd like to learn more, we invite you to visit the CommunityMatters website: communitymatters.org. On the site, youll nd our free conference call series, a project of the Orton Family Foundation. Join our calls to learn about interesting projects and innovative methods related to civic infrastructure and other community-based initiatives. CommunityMatters Partner organizations include the Deliberative Democracy Consortium, Grassroots Grantmakers, National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation, New America Foundation, Orton Family Foundation, Project for Public Spaces, and Strong Towns.

COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE | 3

CommunityMatters:

CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE

Introduction
Matt Leighninger
Executive Director, Deliberative Democracy Consortium
THE BIG PICTURE IS important. And even though Ive been doing this work for a long time, I didnt really have a good sense of the big picture until I was doing work in Lakewood, Colorado, a city outside of Denver. The reason I was there was because residents said Lakewood was a great place to livethe schools were great, the parks were great, they valued the services of local government. It was all wonderful, and yet the city government had gone pretty deeply into the red because nine times in the past 30 years people had voted down local sales tax increases to maintain the same level of services. The mayor called a meeting of various community leaders and asked what to do. Should we raise taxes again? Should we cut services? Finally someone said, You know, we like you, Mayor. But, what we have here is a parent-child relationship between government and citizens. What we need to establish is an adult relationship. That was a nice image for me because I realized it was what I was seeing in all these other places, too - a dramatic, generational shift in what people contribute and what people expect out of government. I began to realize that people are busier than ever, they have less time to get involved. Yet, when they do get involved, they bring valuable skills and capacity to the table. In many ways, people feel more entitled to protection and services of government and other institutions in their lives and yet they have less condence that those institutions are going to be able to deliver. People are less aware of whats happening in their town or community. Yet, when they nd an issue or cause that they care about they are better able to nd the allies, the research, to make an impact on that issue. People are less willing to be governed and better at governing than ever before. That affects our relationship with all kinds of groups 4 | COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE

in our lives, from grassroots activities to governments and school systems. CommunityMatters works to build civic infrastructure - the regular opportunities, activities and arenas that allow people to connect with each other to solve problems, make decisions, and be part of a community. We lack the civic infrastructure in most communities that would be best for capitalizing on the skills and talents of citizens to help meet their expectations of government. In some places, it is easiest to dene civic infrastructure by talking about gaps the ways our institutions work that dont match up to the new skills and attitudes of citizens. For me, one of the most common examples of this is the standard way in which most public meetings are runthe three minutes at the microphone where you have people up on a stage who are making decisions and at some point in the proceedings people out in the crowd have their three-minute increments in which they can ask a question or make a statement. This is by far the most commonly practiced form of public participation in the United States. It is, in my opinion, the least effective. I have not found a public ofcial who likes this, I have not found a citizen who likes this. Even at the grassroots level, like homeowners associations and PTAs, you often have this same setup for public input. You have a group that doesnt understand how to tap into all the people that it could be bringing to the table. So, you end up with organizations that are run by a small group of volunteers who are great and passionate, but they burn out quickly and they dont know whether or how to get other people involved. They dont know how to get people who are different from themselves (in terms of age or other differences) to the table. We have this ground oor of democracy, which in most cases, in most communities, is not functioning the way we want it to. We also have physical infrastructure gaps. A lot of communities lack good spaces for people to get together and be part of communities to make decisions, to solve problems. The way in which, in most communities, decisions are made and services are delivered conform to silos where it is difcult to have collaboration even in relatively small places. It is very difcult to have collaboration across the different kinds of people and policy makers working in different areas. Why does this matter? In the larger sense, it matters in several ways: Research shows that in cases of crisis and natural disasters, civic infrastructure matters. The extent to which people are engaged in helping networks in their community makes them resilient and better able to deal with these events. Where civic infrastructure and engagement is lowest, you also have relatively unplanned, unmitigated growth and development. Whereas places that have fairly COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE | 5

strong patterns of engaging people and strong civic infrastructure tend to produce physical spaces that people are happier with. There is a link to economic growth and development. Communities that have stronger civic infrastructure and stronger patterns of engagement seem to have lower unemployment and higher economic growth and vitality. In terms of thinking about civic infrastructure, we break it down into categories and look at the basic ingredients for a better recipe for your community. The recipe involves looking at new ideas, but also being open to the things you are already doing well. You probably already have assets in each of the civic infrastructure categories, though they might not be linked together as part of an overall plan. Creating Spaces for Citizens These can be all kinds of spacesthey can be physical spaces, they can be spaces people have to gather at the neighborhood or town level, they can be online spaces designed for young people in particular. Think about what regular opportunities there are for people to get together. Are these spaces meaningful? Do people turn out? Are they powerful in terms of helping people solve problems and make decisions? Building Skills and Capacity Getting People to the Table Building strong infrastructure means not just calling a meeting and hoping people show up. If you want people to engage in anything, you have to go out and get them. You have to gure out rst what they belong to, what kinds of networks. Think about people who are least likely to come, or have come least often in the past. You need to gure out what networks people belong to, then go out and talk to those networks so that people invite people they already know. The reason people are going to come to something or be involved in something is because someone they already know and trust asked them. Giving People Good Opportunities to Contribute This often means getting people into small groups of about 8-12 whenever you want them to learn, deliberate, plan for action, or work on divisions. Facilitation is helpfulgiving people a chance to buy-in to ground rules and utilizing other basic group process techniques. Grassroots Grantmaking Seed problem-solving efforts with small bits of money. Tap into the creativity and time that people want to spend on projects. Measuring What You Do How do you know if you are making progress at bringing people to the table or solving problems? Think about measurement from the beginning and consider 6 | COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE

what processes can be used to determine whether youre making progress. Public Decision-Making and Problem-Solving When you are engaging people in decision-making, one of the key things that works is giving people options. This is often difcult for those of us who are doing this kind of work because we know a lot about an issue, and we know what we think should happen about a particular public decision. You also have to put out options B and C that you dont agree with. And, youve got to put down the information people need to make an informed decisionthe pros and cons of various different possibilitiesand trust them that in a good process, with that information and a chance to talk to each other, they will make good decisions. That is the leap of faith that underlies civic infrastructure and engagement. It is difcult to do, but the more you do it, the more trust you build and the more people want to be engaged because they feel like they have a meaningful say on issues that they care about. In most communities, the laws around public participation dont match up with these practices. Participation laws are generally about 30 years old. They are pre-internet and pre-everything else when it comes to productive engagement. Associations that focus on local government are working to create a new model ordinance for restructuring the legal side of engagement in communities. When you are talking about weighty decisions or big public problems, you never want to forget about fun, especially when you are trying to create a long-term process. Think about infrastructure and all along the way how we want people engaged with each other, engaged with public ofcials and other types of people in their communities. People may come at the beginning because it gives them the chance to make an impact on a big decision or a big issue, but they are only going to come back when the experience is enjoyable. This might mean opportunities to meet friends, events that involve their kids or include food and music. I love this quote from the head of the National Civic League, Gloria Rubio-Cortez, Sometimes you need a meeting that is also a party; sometimes you need a party that is also a meeting. The genesis of this CommunityMatters Partnership was the notion that we all are part of this broader work of civic infrastructure. Were all part of the bigger picture, but we each have specic expertise: Placemaking, grantmaking, engagement, economic development. We realized that we represent a spice rack of different skills and areas of knowledge and the combination of them might be helpful to communities. The idea is that there is not a cookie cutter recipe for how to build civic infrastructure. With the assets you already have, the spices in different combinations are helpful in different places.

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Building Blocks of Civic Infrastructure

Civic infrastructure consists of the opportunities, activities, and arenas that allow people to connect with each other, solve problems, make decisions, and celebrate community. The CommunityMatters partners believe that by strengthening their civic infrastructure, communities can become more powerful, less divided, more prosperous and more vibrant places to live. Each of the six breakout sessions during the workshop related to one of the three categories of civic infrastructure. The following building blocks of civic infrastructure are excerpted from the report Planning for Stronger Local Democracy by Matt Leighninger and Bonnie C. Mann. The full document is available at www.tinyurl.com/psldpaper.

Creating Spaces for Citizens 1. Democratic spaces in neighborhoods, schools, and other settings 2. Democratic spaces online 3. Democratic spaces for young people 4. Buildings that can house citizen spacesphysical hubs for engagement 5. Engagement leadership

Building Skills and Capacity 6. Public information dissemination 7. Engagement skills training 8. Tracking, measurement and technical assistance to improve engagement

Improving Decision-Making and Problem-Solving 9. Ofcial public meetings that are more participatory and effective 10. Recurring deliberative processes on key issues and decisions 11. Systems that encourage innovation by citizens 12. Cross-sector problem-solving teams

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CommunityMatters:

CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE

Our Perspectives
CommunityMatters partner organizations offer concrete, tested tools and ideas that have worked in communities nationwide in areas such as community engagement, placemaking, outreach and communications, dialogue and problemsolving. The pages that follow provide an overview of our perspectives, sharing the key tools, resources and approaches we think can be most effective to spark community-driven change in your city or town. We start with Project for Public Spaces (page 11), an organization offering tools for invigorating communities through the creation of vibrant public spaces. Then, youll learn about best practices in public engagement from the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (page 16). The Orton Family Foundation is pioneering a values-based approach to community planning. Find their strategies for identifying and articulating values starting on page 20. Next, read about Strong Towns and their Curbside Chats (page 23), which are changing the way we all think and talk about economic development. Grassroots Grantmakers (page 25) advocates for the value in funding peoplepowered possibilities. In their section, youll learn more about the power of small grants and tools for starting a small grants program in your community. Pairing insight from the Deliberative Democracy Consortium and New America Foundations California Civic Innovation Project (page 29), the nal perspective from our Partner organizations highlights digital engagement techniques for building a stronger local democracy. COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE | 9

The Power of Ten: Why Great Places are More Than the Sum of Their Parts
By Ethan Kent and Cynthia Nikitin
Project for Public Spaces
WE SHAPE OUR PUBLIC spaces, therefore our public spaces shape us. The Challenge of Making a Great Place In most cases, conventional planning doesnt start with questions about how people actually use places, and unfortunately, our cities and towns have been suffering the consequences. If you plan for cars and trafc, you get cars and trafc. If you plan for development, you get development. If you plan for good design, you get good design. Design is important, but if you lead with it, you are limiting the outcomes. Project for Public Spaces nds that a focus on placePlacemakingchanges how everything works. It isnt about having a pretty streetscape or a pretty public space, it is about creating a vision for a great place, and then guring out what you need to support that. More often than not, we nd this actually means spending a lot less on design. Using Placemaking approaches, you can make a lot of changes in a lower cost way in the short term, and then get momentum for a bigger and better idea that is informed by a program of uses.

hen you focus on place, you do everything differently. It takes many disciplines and skills to create a place. It takes a community to create a place. You cant know what you are going to end up with.

Placemaking helps communities transform their public spaces into vital places with programs, uses and people-friendly settings that highlight local assets, spur rejuvenation and serve common needs. To develop successful public spaces, we nd that it is essential to understand the needs of both current and potential users, and of community dynamics and conditions. It is the process through which the places we most care about are built with and for our communities. Placemaking is turning a neighborhood, town or city from a place you cant wait to get through into one you never want to leave. The Placemaking Approach Knowing how to have a vision for great places isnt about formal education; its 10 | COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE

about tapping into the expert vision, our greatest resource our communities. People love to talk about placeswhat they like about them, what they dont like about them. We often have great ideas, were just not asked about them in the right ways. We believe that focusing on place as an outcome, and creating opportunities for people to gather and connect, is really the leverage point for also addressing many other issues that communities might have. The Placemaking tools we commonly use are the Power of 10 and the Place Game.Together, these help communities to collectively develop a place vision. This vision is not a design, as communities should not necessarily be expected to have these technical skills. Instead, the vision is more about what the community wants to do there, and the values they want to see expressed. With technical support, the vision can be implemented Lighter, Quicker, Cheaperin short term, low-cost ways. Placemaking is therefore about short-term experiments, long-term experiments, then ongoing evaluation and improvement.

f you have a library with a childrens reading room, a laundromat next door, and a bus stop and coffee cart with seating out front, youll have the busiest place in your community. It may be the same uses that you see in every community, but it is how you combine them that can make a place viable.

The Power of 10 The Power of 10 is a concept PPS uses to kick off the Placemaking process. In a Power of 10 workshop participants might envisage 10+ major destinations in their town, 10+ great places in one of these destinations, then 10+ things to do in one of these places. The idea is that its not enough to have just one great place in a neighborhoodyou need a number of them to create a truly lively city or town. The Power of 10 is how we frame this concept on many different scales. Weve found that a great place has at least 10 reasons to be there, and it is the layering of those uses that really make it great. The Power of 10 offers an easy framework that motivates residents and stakeholders to revitalize urban life, and shows that by starting efforts at the smallest scale its possible to accomplish big things. The concept also provides people with something tangible to strive for, and helps them visualize what it takes to make their community great. The Place Game The Place Game exercise is the next step to developing a place vision. Its very simple. You go to a place you may know very well, and use a worksheet to help you take a step back and look at how it is performing based on some very simple qualities. Then, as a small group, you come up with a short-term and long-term vision for how to improve that space. This step helps people actually listen to each other, realize that their expertise is broader than their one issue or idea, and challenges them to come up with a solution as a group. Groups then report back their discussion, and together take some responsibility to help implement a solution. This process shifts the expectation we often have that only governments or designers can x a problem, as it empowers people to become co-problemCOMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE | 11

solvers and asset-builders. Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper (LQC) LQC is the way we think it is best to apply Placemaking. It is about low-cost amenities or events that can be easily implemented to test ideas and build momentum. Sometimes they even become the ultimate end of a good public space, as you might nd that a full capital project or redesign will no longer be needed. Moving Forward Be proactive about demanding the type of community you want to have. Ideally, youll attract investment, development, and design in a way that supports that vision. The best way forward is to develop a collective community vision about what your community could become, and to work together to achieve this not just in the early phases of the Placemaking process, but as your city or town continues to transform, grow and ourish over time.

Making a Vision By Evaluating Place

1. Comfort and Image: Is it inviting? Does it reect local identity and personality? 2. Access and Linkages: Can you cross the street? Can you park/bike/walk there? 3. Uses and Activities: Are there a range of things to do for visitors, business owners, workers, and residents? Are there activities for every season, and different times of day? 4. Sociability: Are there people in groups? Are all community needs being accommodated - young families, people with limited mobility, new visitors?

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Key Resources
PPS PLACEMAKING RESOURCES: Visit the Project for Public Spaces website for resources, tools, and inspiration on Placemaking.
http://www.pps.org/reference/reference-categories/placemaking-tools/

PPS PLACEMAKING BLOG: Read the PPS Placemaking blog for insight on successful projects and strateies for creating great places.
http://www.pps.org/blog/

THE PLACE GAME: Use this worksheet for a structured exercise to generate creative ideas around place. The Place Game asks participants to imagine the place and identify opportunities, using the following four attributes: comfort and image, access and linkages, uses and activities, and sociability.
http://www.placemakingchicago.com/cmsles/placemaking_PlaceGame.pdf

POWER OF 10: The Power of 10 is a concept PPS uses to start off a Placemaking process. At the core of the Power of 10 is the idea that any great place needs to offer at least 10 things to do or 10 reasons to be there. The local folks who use the space most regularly are the best source of ideas for what uses will work best.
http://www.pps.org/reference/the-power-of-10/

DIGITAL PLACEMAKING MAP: Share your low cost, high impact suggestions for transforming an underutilized public space in your community with a PPS digital placemaking map.
http://www.pps.org/placemap/southburlington/

WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL PLACE?: In evaluating thousands of public spaces around the world, PPS has found that successful ones have four key qualities: they are accessible; people are engaged in activities there; the space is comfortable and has a good image; and nally, it is a sociable place: one where people meet each other and take people when they come to visit. PPS developed this guide as a tool to help people in evaluating any place, good or bad.
http://www.pps.org/reference/grplacefeat/

SNAP/EBT AT YOUR FARMERS MARKET: SEVEN STEPS TO SUCCESS: Increase the number of farmers markets accepting SNAP benet to make local, sustainable food systems a reality. with this important publication
http://www.pps.org/pdf/SNAP_EBT_Book.pdf

HOW TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS ARE SHAPING AMERICA: Learn how transportation is shaping our communities with this collection of case studies on transit and streets highlighting specic projects that address different transportation and livability concerns in a variety of communities and among different constituencies.
Part 1: http://bit.ly/14VrR5I Part 2: http://bit.ly/14VrUyd

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About Project for Public Spaces pps.org

Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is a nonprot planning, design and educational organization dedicated to helping people create and sustain public spaces that build stronger communities. Our pioneering Placemaking approach helps citizens transform their public spaces into vital places that highlight local assets, spur rejuvenation and serve common needs. PPS was founded in 1975 to expand on the work of William (Holly) Whyte, the author of The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. Since then, we have completed projects in over 2500 communities in 40 countries and all 50 US states. Partnering with public and private organizations, federal, state and municipal agencies, business improvement districts, neighborhood associations and other civic groups, we improve communities by fostering successful public spaces.

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Building Community Through Engagement and Dialogue

By Diane Miller and Sandy Heierbacher
National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation

HOW DO WE CREATE a strong and resilient community that can tackle any challenge and work through contentious issues in ways that improve relationships instead of damaging them? How do we build that civic muscle that enables people to engage with each other, and with the tough decisions that need to be made in ways that feel safe, practical and productive? The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD) promotes the use of dialogue, deliberation, and other innovative group processes to help people come together across differences and talk, listen, and act together in ways that strengthen relationships, build community and improve decision-making. Leaders in NCDD crafted a set of guiding principles that distilled the most essential ingredients for effective community engagement. This article explores three of these principles inclusion and diversity, impact and action, and sustained engagement. Well look at three specic examples of communities that engaged with each other in new and productive ways, building not only on their existing positive character and qualities, but using some new tools to nd common ground and shared understanding. The aim is to understand how these or similar efforts could help foster more engagement and productive discourse in local communities. How do communities shift from a decit-based way of approaching their problems to one that reveals and connects the assets, gifts and motivations of people? Asset-Based Community Development, is a place-based approach that focuses on the assets of a neighborhood or community and helps identify and connect people that care deeply about issues and mobilize them to action.

Core Principles for Public Engagement

Careful planning and preparation Inclusion and demographic diversity Collaboration and shared purpose Openness and learning Transparency and trust Impact and action Sustained engagement and participatory culture

In rural Upstate New York, this approach, and a process called Asset Mapping, brought community members (including those who were normally not involved) together to identify tangible ways they could improve the health of their community. COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE | 15

By surveying residents about their talents and passions, and then creating an inventory and map of not only the individual assets but also institutional, economic, physical, and social assets, they launched new initiatives to improve health, such as tness competitions and walking trails. The principle of impact and action is, at its core, about making sure that when people are engaged to talk about a complex issue, their input and the results of their discussions lead to meaningful results. One method that communities have used with powerful outcomes is the deliberative forum approach, such as that used by National Issues Forums. Deliberation is based on the premise that many people have pieces of the answer and that together they forge new approaches and solutions. A deliberative forum is a structured conversation with ground rules and a neutral, trained moderator. During a deliberation, people are asked to examine all sides of an issue and eliberation is the kind of reasoning identify potential costs, benets and consequences and talking we do when a difcult associated with possible actions to address the issue. decision has to be made, a great Through this rigorous process, people can uncover deal is at stake, and there are competing the inherent conicts and trade-offs associated options or approaches we might take. It with position-based solutions, and begin to identify means to weigh possible actions carefully shared values and interests, which can form the by examining what is most valuable to foundation for moving forward. us.

In Central Texas, a volunteer group of parents, teachers, administrators and students came together over multiple weeks to deliberate how they could help improve student success and ensure that their children were positioned for jobs in the 21st century. Over 200 people came together each week to discuss in small groups possible approaches not only the school district, but the community at large, could take to support students. They identied numerous themes that were essential to creating a holistic and balanced approach to education. Specic initiatives emerged and were spearheaded by community leaders, such as engaging residents with no children in the district and looking across campuses to identify successful projects that maintained academic rigor while creating a more balanced, well-rounded educational experience. The School Board took this community input and used it as foundational input for their strategic planning and goal-setting processes. The use of dialogue is a way for people from very diverse backgrounds to talk in authentic and meaningful ways about questions that matter. Dialogue is all about creating understanding, listening deeply, exploring assumptions, and ultimately, about building relationships. Dialogue processes take many forms and can transform the way that people treat each other and the cultural norms that too often foster division and resentment. 16 | COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE

A simple and elegant approach for convening conversations that promote dialogue about issues that matter is a process called Conversation Caf. A Conversation Caf uses a small-group format of six to eight people with a host at each table and discussion agreements that help set the tone and keep the conversation on track. The group takes turns going around individually, using a talking object that each speaker holds while they share a response to a key question or idea. After several rounds of individual reection, the group has open discussion for typically an hour or so about the issue. The process wraps up with a nal round of individual reections. An interfaith group in Austin, Texas has been convening dialogues using this method since 2009. Theyve brought together people from all faiths to explore what they share across their faith traditions and how these commonalities, and differences, impact everyday life, family and community.The dialogue series, called The Red Bench, has tackled such issues as religion and the state, reconciliation, and civility and polarization. These examples highlight an array of engagement and dialogue and deliberation strategies that could help your community grapple with change in the years ahead. The challenge is to foster the awareness, skills and commitment to using these kinds of approaches to build relationships and improve decision-making broadly in the community.

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Key Resources
NCDD RESOURCE GUIDE ON PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT: Access valuable resources, points of contact, and case studies on public engagement.
http://www.ncdd.org/rc/pe-resource-guide

NCDDS ENGAGEMENT STREAMS FRAMEWORK: Navigate the range of dialogue and deliberation approaches with this popular series of two rich charts that help people make design choices that best t their context and resources.
http://www.ncdd.org/streams

ASSESSMENT TOOLS: Find 40 great tools for assessing and evaluating dialogue and deliberation programs.
http://www.ncdd.org/rc/item/category/assessment-tools

TECHNOLOGY FOR ENGAGEMENT: Access 140+ tools and resources to help you utilize modern technology to engage citizensboth online and face-to-face.
http:/www.ncdd.org/rc/item/category/collaborative-technology

NCDD RESOURCE CENTER: Engage and mobilize people around critical issues with resources from NCDDs online clearinghouse (includes over 2,700 tools, research, discussion guides, videos, more).
http://www.ncdd.org/rc

About The National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation ncdd.org

The National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD) promotes the use of dialogue, deliberation and other innovative group processes to help people come together across differences to tackle challenging community problems. NCDD serves as a hub for a large network of civic innovators (1,700 members and 25,000 subscribers) and provides resources on best practices in the public engagement eld.

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What Matters Most: Using Community Values in Decision-making

By Betsy Rosenbluth and Rebecca Sanborn Stone
The Orton Family Foundation
DO YOU WANT CHANGE to shape the character of your community, or your communitys character to shape change? There is no question that your community has major change coming down the road. Thats true of communities everywhere. But there are two ways to respond: some communities let change happen to them, and other communities use their unique character and assets to steer change. The Orton Family Foundation uses a process called Heart & Soul Community Planning to help communities steer the changein short, to identify shared community values (or a communitys heart and soul) and ensure that those values guide change and decision-making. We believe that every community has its own heart and soula set of characteristics, customs and places that make it unique. Both tangible and intangible. We believe that strong communities are those that make decisions and take actions in a way that protects and enhances these community values. So, we put these valueswhat we call heart and soulat the center of our planning process. We nd that when communities do take the time to identify their heart and soul and use it to drive decisions, those decisions stick. Residents and stakeholders will have greater buy-in and ownership of decisions, the benets to the community will be clear, and meaningful engagement will build support and momentum.

How do you identify community values?

1. Ask key questions, like What do you love most about this town? or Why did you come here and what makes you stay? 2. Ask as many people as possible. Identify all community networks, go out and meet people where they gather. 3. Listen to their stories and pull out key themes.

So what are community values, exactly? Things like small town character. Family friendliness. Living and working locally. Local history and culture. Sense of community. Each of these can be better articulated and distilled down into concrete, measurable and actionable statements. Once your community has articulated its shared values, you can use them to help prioritize actions, weigh options, and evaluate progress based on how well they COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE | 19

The process of articulating values includes three steps:

Value Articulation Step 1. Identifying core values through storytelling, community conversations, or other engagement processes 2. Dening values by adding specic details that describe how the value manifests itself in your community 3. Creating actionable value statements that can inform decision-making Value Articulation Example Core value: Small Town Character

Walkable downtown, slow-growing population, people waving to each other, dened neighborhoods, locally owned businesses We value our small town character where the rate of population change and pattern of new development occurs in a way that encourages people to get to know each other.

protect or enhance your values. Its hard to measure small town character, but easier to measure how quickly the population grows or evaluate whether a new development proposal will increase walkability. Your community can further identify a scale by which to evaluate change: what would it look like to have enhanced small town character? What if it were eroded? If you can answer those questions, you are well on your way to ensuring that changes move the community in the right direction.Thats what several communities across the country have found when theyve applied Heart & Soul Community Planning to their own challenges: Rockland, Maine is using community values to help reinvent a sprawling commercial corridor. Community values are central to new design principles that will shape development around what the community wants and needs. Biddeford, Maine developed a set of core values to guide action planning and a new Downtown Master Plan, which have helped citizens focus on local assets and nd a renewed sense of opportunityattracting entrepreneurs and new businesses and a growing arts community to a former mill town. More than 2,000 residents helped Golden, Colorado identify two guiding principles and ten core community values, which were formally adopted by the City. Those values now shape all policy decisions from capital improvements to departmental budgets and will help developers avoid costly controversies and delays. Moving Forward Values-based community planning and decision-making isnt about community leaders identifying local values and priorities. Its about the people themselves speaking up for what they love, and taking responsibility for shaping their future. And when people come together to articulate and advocate for their community, they have the power to create real change. 20 | COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE

Key Resources
HEART & SOUL COMMUNITY PLANNING HANDBOOK: Learn about project design, outreach and communications, building partnerships, engaging youth, and using storytelling to identify community values with this online resource.
http://www.orton.org/resources/heart_soul_handbook

COMMUNITY NETWORK ANALYSIS: Use this step-by-step activity to identify and map key community networks and stakeholder groups and how to reach them.
http://bit.ly/10TVJ21

HEART & SOUL IMPLEMENTATION GUIDES: Access a series of guides outlining on-the-ground action steps and tools on a range of issues, including enhancing local character, inclusive government, housing, local economies, and community building.
http://www.orton.org/resources/heart_soul_implementation_guides

STEWARDING THE FUTURE OF OUR COMMUNITIES: CASE STUDIES IN SUSTAINING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PLANNING IN AMERICAS SMALL CITIES AND TOWNS: Read this report on how to sustain meaningful engagement and success over time.
http://www.orton.org/resources/stewardship_study

SETTING CLEAR PROJECT GOALS: Dene clear goals for a community project using this worksheet and exercise for small groups.
http://bit.ly/11fa5f7

PLANNING TOOL EXCHANGE: Access 400+ tools, resources, and project examples in community planning and civic engagement.
http://www.planningtoolexchange.org/

VALUES-BASED DECISION-MAKING CASE STUDIES: Learn about Orton Family Foundation projects that have used community values to guide decision-making.
http://www.orton.org/projects/past

About The Orton Family Foundation orton.org

The Orton Family Foundation helps small cities and towns describe, apply and uphold their heart and soul so that they can adapt to change while maintaining or enhancing the things they value most.

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A Curbside Chat:Why Were Broke and How to Incrementally Change That

Nathaniel Hood and Ryan Kelley
Strong Towns
WE OFTEN FORGET THAT the post World War II American pattern of development is an experiment. We assume it is the natural order because it is what we see all around us, but our own historylet alone a tour of other parts of the worldcontains a different reality. Across cultures, over thousands of years, people have traditionally built places scaled to the individual. It is only in the last two generations that, here in the United States, we have scaled places around the automobile and silver-bullet approaches to community growth. This dramatically changed the way we built cities and towns, creating a dominant horizontal component to post World War II growth. It also changed the underlying economic relationship between public infrastructure and private-sector investment, between local governments and growth. While the United States has enjoyed sustained economic prosperity for two generations, today the economy is stalled. A housing bubble is in the process of correcting along with a corresponding bubble in commercial real estate. The traditional ways we have stimulated the economy in down timeslow interest rates and public works spendinghas failed to create sustained growth. It is time to question whether this experiment is really workingespecially when dealing with large projects in small towns. We need to ask ourselves if the risk is worth the reward. The Curbside Chat presentation covered the causes and impacts of the current economic crisis, examined case studies on the nances of Americas development pattern, reviewed dead ideas of the suburban era we need to shed and proposed strategies for adjusting to the new realities we face. The standard approach emphasized growth over resiliency, which is a key part of our problem. To truly do more with less, we need to understand how we have built ourselves into decline and more importantly, how we start a real recovery. The Curbside Chat is a narrative about Americas post World War II development pattern and how it relates to the economic hardship being experienced nationwide today. There are three main takeaways. 22 | COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE

 The current path cities are pursuing is not nancially stable. The future for most cities will not resemble the recent past. The main determinant of future prosperity for cities is the ability of local leaders to transform their communities. This is a hopeful narrative. We believe there is opportunity for people to work together in their own communities to stop the decline. We have the power to make different choices in the places we live. The Curbside Chat is a catalyst for changing the local conversation about growth and prosperity.

Key Resources
CURBSIDE CHAT REPORT: Share the Strong Towns message in your community with this booklet, formatted specically for public ofcials and change advocates.
http://www.strongtowns.org/companion-booklet/

STRONG TOWNS NETWORK: Get expert advice, consult peers and learn how to start building strong towns with this free online, interactive networking tool.
http://www.StrongTowns.net

STRONG TOWNS BLOG: Access resources for contemporary commentary on building resilient communities.
http://www.strongtowns.org\journal

About Strong Towns strongtowns.org

The mission of Strong Towns is to support a model for growth that allows Americas towns to become nancially strong and resilient. The American approach to growth is causing economic stagnation and decline along with land use practices that force a dependency on public subsidies. The inefciencies of the current approach have left American towns nancially insolvent, unable to pay even the maintenance costs of their basic infrastructure. A new approach that accounts for the full cost of growth is needed to make our towns strong again.

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Grassroots Grantmaking and the Power of Collective Action

Janis Foster Richardson and Shannon MB Dixon
Grassroots Grantmakers
TELL US ABOUT A time when you were part of a group where no one was paid and you did something amazing together. If we asked everyone in your town to share a story of people-powered possibilities and we listed the ingredients, our hunch is that like the basic ingredients in a cakeour, sugar, butterwe would nd the same basic things. We would hear something about the place itselfthe land, the buildings, the parks, the sidewalks and streets. Our hunch is that we would hear a lot about what people were doing especially what people did when they got together about something they cared about. The thing that happens when people get together gives us some clues about the secret spice in our communitys cake. For its only when were togetherin relationship with each otherthat we have a chance to share what we know, what we can do, and what we care about so deeply that we are willing to get out of our comfort zone to act if needed. And when we share what we have, the amazing thing is that we grow what we have instead of giving it away. And we discover that in us, in our group, and in the community, there is a lot more there than we ever imagined.

mpassioned people change their communities, and community involvement changes people. Call it the hopeful cycle of public progress. - The Silicon Valley Community Foundation

We might not hear much about one other ingredient, but it would be there somewhere, often in the backgroundthe local economythe money that is moving around in the community or sometimes starting in the community but owing right out of the community to other places. Grassroots grantmaking is a resourcing approach that focuses on helping peoplepowered organizations turn possibilities into realities in the community that they call home. The distinguishing characteristics are: focusing on what people can do better together rather than what agencies or institutions can do for them; helping people move from dreaming to doing, from their couch to an active citizen role; and investing in people and associations as critical change-makers and resilience builders in communities. 24 | COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE

This is an exciting time for grassroots grantmaking. People are inventing new ways of doing this every day and in every city in the US and on every continent. Grassroots grantmakers come in all shapes and sizesfamily foundations, community foundations, city governments, United Ways, citizen-led giving circles, community organizations, citizen-led online crowd sourced funding, and more. But, what these grantmakers have in common is that they look for three or more people with an itch to act on a good idea; they use small grants as an invitation to act; and the act is around using peoples time, talents, and, treasures. While the projects are often about things like gardens, parks, youth, beautication, celebrations about history, etc., the investments in these projects are invitations to get off the couch and connect with a neighbor to move a dream into action and to discover possibilitiespossibilities in yourself as a leader, in the group of neighbors who are working together, and in your community. From one small grant, there are many possibilities. So, how can you start? You can begin with: Talking with people you know, tapping into relationships you have Identifying assets you have or can access Getting a clear sense of your if/then equation (if we engage youth, then) Looking for funders that focus their work in your community Approach conversations with funders from a sense of curiosity, not a need to sell: How do they do their work? What are they interested in? What resources do they have other than money? What networks do they operate in? What expertise do they have? What information do they have access to? Moving Forward Develop a foundation of active citizens, as a group of active citizens is an essential contributor to community well-being and sound civic capacity. When people see themselves and their neighbors as co-producers of community well-being, they create communities that are welcoming, vibrant, resilient and just. Grassroots Grantmakers Our Network The most important thing for you to know about us, Grassroots Grantmakers, is that were a network of many different types of organizations most that have grantmaking as a primary part of their business and that giving to a specic community is an important common denominator. Its also important for you to know that we have a strong ethic of peer learning and a strong practice orientation. This is a network that grew out of funders with similar interests nding each other and sharing information. It was quite informalrun without staff for 15 yearsuntil 2004 when the steering COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE | 25

committee at the time decided that the interest level and demand for information really needed staff. The other common denominator in our network is a strong commitment to the values and principles of asset-based community development and an interest in working for a we begin with residents point of viewchanging the equation that is out there, especially in the helping and investing world from everyday people in marginalized areas as clients, consumers, or customers to everyday people as contributing, active citizens. You can access many of our resources from our website www. grassrootsgrantmakers.organd by joining us face-to-face at one of our learning convenings.

26 | COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE

Key Resources
GRASSROOTS GRANTMAKING 101: Learn how to design and run a grassroots grantmaking program.
http://bit.ly/12ZHJ5X

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY GRASSROOTS GROUPS?: Read this article to learn about the characteristics of grassroots groups.
http://www.grassrootsgrantmakers.org/2010/09/what-do-we-mean-by-grassroots-groups/

GETTING READY ROADMAP: Access this document for a guide on thinking about types of grassroots grantmaking and rst steps in developing a fund.
http://bit.ly/13McMRv

FIVE FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO A VIABLE GRASSROOTS GRANTMAKING PROGRAM: Learn about starting a grassroots grantmaking program.
http://bit.ly/10nnOzfm

BIG THINKING ON SMALL GRANTS: Read this series of blog posts by Grassroots Grantmakers Executive Director Janis Foster Richardson. The selected posts are intended to provoke thought and inspire support of and action by everyday citizens.
http://janisfoster.blogspot.com Blobs: http://janisfoster.blogspot.com/2012/07/blog-post.html Innervisions and the Power of One: http://bit.ly/Z31Ctp Creating a Welcome at the Edge: http://bit.ly/16QNWqe

About Grassroots Grantmakers grassrootsgrantmakers.org

Grassroots Grantmakers is a network of funders and others who are working to strengthen and help resource the work of everyday people and the groups that they form for mutual aid and collective action. The participants in our network include funders (place-based and otherwise), organizations that resource citizen-led groups, and citizen-led groups themselves.

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Engaging Citizens in Public Decision-making and Problem-solving

By Alissa Black and Matt Leighninger
The New America Foundation and Deliberative Democracy Consortium
CIVIC INNOVATORS FREQUENTLY DISCUSS the need to depart from a vending machine model of government in which residents interactions with their cities and towns are purely transactional. In this equation, the function of citizens is to bankroll government through their tax contributions. In exchange, they receive governmental services ranging from trash pickup to public libraries. Residents have no mechanism for participating in decision-making about how their cash will be spent. If the candy bar theyve selected doesnt emerge from the vending machine window, theres little they can do to retrieve it. But if this model of local government isnt effective for engaging the public in decision-making, what models can local government use to replace it? What governmental actions can help to facilitate the realization of these models? These are the questions that we examine in Engaging Citizens in Public DecisionMaking and Problem-Solving. Drawing on ideas promoted and practiced by both the California Civic Innovation Project and the Deliberative Democracy Consortium, we will examine how digital engagement can be used to promote communication that ultimately leads to co-governance between the public and government. Understanding the full spectrum of digital engagement techniques and practices is key to assessing a communitys needs and charting a course toward more productive and effective engagement. Digital engagement is only one part of the puzzle, but it is critical for communities that want to reach, respond to and partner with the entirety of the public that they serve. Three tiers of digital engagement 1. One directional communication is something with which most residents are familiar. It includes information on general city services, council agendas and minutes, and ofce hours posted on city websites. Access to this information is critical to informing residents of city business and saves residents time and other resources. However one directional communication does not engage residents in the process of decision-making or participating in local governance. 2. Two directional communication allows for residents to have an online dialogue with local government ofcials. A great example of this form of communication is a Facebook page that allows commenting and an exchange of ideas between residents and local ofcials. 28 | COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE

Some specic examples of two directional communication include: Video conferencing for social services: Nevada County, CA began using video conferencing to process applications for certain social services because the county population is very dispersed and in-person intake was often not an option for residents. The use of video conferencing made county services more accessible. Newport City Renaissance Corporation Facebook Page: NCRC is a local non-prot organization within Newport, VT that maintains a Facebook page aimed at informing residents about local issues and resources, and allows for discussion between residents via comments and posts. The ability for residents to comment on posted information is not a feature currently allowed on the local government website. Not only are community members able to provide their input on topics discussed on NCRCs Facebook page, but they are also able to exchange ideas with each other, creating more cohesive community among residents. e-Democracy Forum: A forum used in St. Paul, MN that promotes discussion among residents and encourages two-way communication among neighbors and local government. The discussions between residents vary, but generally the participants serve as support networks for one another, and sometimes involve discussions on government services or ways in which to work with the local government. For a municipality these types of neighbor networks are important because they provide the infrastructure for residents to discuss important local topics and issues, but also because they allow communities to identify ways in which they can solve their own problems, bringing in government only when necessary. Additionally, government staffers are able to participate in the discussions and have a pulse on their community at a more grassroots level than through public meetings. Textizen: A SMS (text) based tool that prompts residents to text responses to civic questions. For example, city subscribers to Textizen have used the tool to ask residents to respond to potential planning projects or sustainability measures via their mobile phones. The simplicity of Textizen makes it easy to use for all ages, and does not require internet access, just a mobile phone. 3. Collaboration to solve problems is the deepest form of digital engagement. This level of engagement requires a commitment from both the government and residents to engage in ways that co-create policies and allow for public decisionmaking. Some cities have begun leveraging residents to support functionslike snow shoveling or storm drain clearingthat local government can no longer provide.These projects are examples of collaboration between the local government and residents to ensure a safe and healthy community. In other cases, residents COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE | 29

and government work together to establish rules, set priorities and develop a vision for the community. Collaboration can occur through projects like: iMesa: An online collaborative platform that allows residents to suggest ideas on ways to improve their communities. Local government ofcials then take those ideas and work with residents on ways to actualize them. This project, in Mesa, AZ, has resulted in a bond measure being proposed and passed to support local park improvements, and a number of other community improvement projects. Adopt-A-Hydrant: An application designed to allow residents to take stewardship over re hydrants near their homes. The goal is for the City of Boston, and other cities that have adopted and adapted the tool, such as Chicago, Honolulu, and Syracuse, to leverage citizens to support government services that cities are not able to provide or that residents can provide more effectively and efciently. Participatory Budgeting: A process through which citizens and local government collaborate to decide how to allocate a portion of a public budget. Vallejo, California established the rst city-wide participatory budgeting process in the country, drawing on approximately $3.2M of tax revenue for the project. Through participatory budgeting, residents develop proposals for city projects in collaboration with City staff. Then residents vote to allocate funding to these projects. This gives decision-making authority to residents and allows them to plan for the projects they want in their neighborhoods. Digital engagement tools like online forums for project proposals and online or phone voting can be used to engage diverse sections of the community in this process. Moving Forward As your community seeks to move beyond the vending machine model of government, it is important that local government leaders support existing and develop new models for two directional communication with residents. But engaging citizens in public decision-making and problem-solving requires moving beyond simple two directional communication to embrace collaborative strategies that establish local government and residents as partners in governing. Digital engagement tools and techniques can be powerful, but only if governmental leaders prioritize public participation and governance, establishing this as a fundamental tenet of the citys mission.

30 | COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE

Key Resources
HEAR US NOW? A CALIFORNIA SURVEY OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGYS ROLE IN CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT: Focusing on California, this report provides a starting point for moving toward technology-driven service and engagement by documenting innovations already underway.
http://newamerica.net/sites/newamerica.net/les/policydocs/100511CA_hear_us_now.pdf

PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING PROJECT: Visit the website of the Participatory Budgeting Project, a non-prot that helps communities decide how to spend public money.
http://www.participatorybudgeting.org/

PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING IN VALLEJO, CA: Learn about the efforts of Vallejo, California, the rst U.S. city to establish a city-wide participatory budgeting process.
http://www.pbvallejo.org/

PLANNING FOR STRONGER LOCAL DEMOCRACY: Access this guide to assessing and strengthening civic infrastructure.
http://bit.ly/M1pvMq

USING ONLINE TOOLS TO ENGAGEAND BE ENGAGED BYTHE PUBLIC: Learn about ten tactics for engaging the public online and 40+ different technologies in use today to support digital engagement.
http://www.businessofgovernment.org/report/using-online-tools-engage-public

MODEL ORDINANCE FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: Update and strengthen the legal framework for public participation with this new model ordinance and accompanying state amendment.
http://bit.ly/VNggDv

About The Deliberative Democracy Consortium deliberative-democracy.net

The Deliberative Democracy Consortium is an alliance of the major organizations and leading scholars working in the eld of deliberation and public engagement. The DDC represents more than 50 foundations, nonprot organizations, and universities, collaborating to support research activities and advance democratic practice, in North America and around the world.

COMMUNITYMATTERS: CONNECTING COMMUNITY, ACTIVATING CHANGE | 31

About The New America Foundation newamerica.net

The New America Foundation is a nonprot, nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States. In April 2012, the Foundation launched the California Civic Innovation Project (CCIP) that aims to diffuse innovation in California local governments through researching and recommending organizational and emerging practices that enable the creation and adoption of innovative policies, technology, and programs that deepen community engagement and accelerate civic innovation.

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