EngagingCities

What is an innovation district? Understanding innovation districts and placemaking An emerging trend in urban areas, innovation districts are targeted areas that have potential for innovation and entre...

Civic engagement can mean a lot of different things – from the casual forwarding of a friend’s email to deep involvement on a board of directors. The most effective social change organizations understand how to wield their portfolio of engagement tactics in Zen-like fashion; knowing just what kind of touch is called for to influence the outcomes of a particular decision.

"Not just pretty pictures and visions."

Participatory Budgeting — or PB — is democracy in action, though many of us (cough — including myself one month ago — cough) didn’t know how it works. PB gives us the opportunity to prioritize issues…

Facing History's Tanya Huelett shares four guiding principles to help you navigate difficult conversations.

This guest reflection is by ELGL member and NRC Marketing Manager Angelica Wedell. “OPEN” is a four-letter-word, but one that local governments today need no longer avoid. Making the profession mor…

Five tips for young people and adults to practice positive civic dialogue in a digital landscape.

Newsletters are booming. It seems like just about every news organization has one -- or several -- and VCs are lining up to invest in businesses like The Skimm, Axios, and The Hustle. Email is not new. It was the first widespread mode of communication online.

It's evident that there's a growing desire among people, especially here in the U.S., to get involved in civic affairs. While online organizing can be an effective means of bringing about change, there's something powerful about showing up in person to talk with public officials and connect with others who are fighting for the same causes. We've pulled together a list of 12 ways to boost civic engagement.

Advance planning can help any program run smoothy. This is a review of some things to keep in mind when organizing your dialogues.

Participatory budgeting first came about almost three decades ago, when the Worker’s Party of Porto Alegre made an interesting political move: to look to the citizens who elected them in order to help determine their spending priorities.

Today, participatory budgeting amplified and supported ...

And how to learn from the experience and try again. In the 2015 election campaign, the Liberal party of Canada led

Creating a green roof is like "putting together an intricate jigsaw." Here, a New York architect and green roof pro walks through the process of designing and installing a lush living rooftop.

These art projects could help explain to your neighbors that their decisions are blocking out people and projects that could make their streets more vibrant and their housing more affordable.

A new study by William Eggers finds cities that tap the wisdom of the masses can maximize the impact of smart technology investments.

A detailed guide from Harvard helps governments protect residents’ personal information in open-data initiatives.

Learn how to sequence discussions and write discussion materials in the latest entry in our series on better public participation and engagement.

A Roadmap for Local Government
Toolkit Builder

New resources available for cities that aim to develop and kick-start a robust public engagement strategy.

This February, in St. Louis, MO, the New Partners for Smart Growth (NPSG) conference hosted a unique set of spaces that have become a tradition of the conference. Parklets 5.0 was the fifth annual initiative to bring the urban green space movement indoors. Parklets are parking space-sized areas used for recreational, community gathering, or beautification…