![]() The National Civic League and the Bridge Alliance have launched the Healthy Democracy Project, aiming to strengthen civic health and governance systems in two pilot communities. Over the course of a year, local civic leaders will receive training, tools, and support to foster inclusive engagement and address significant community challenges. The project focuses on building diverse leadership cohorts, conducting civic infrastructure scans, and implementing large-scale civic engagement processes to tackle major issues and enhance equity. By empowering leaders and residents, the initiative seeks to create sustainable civic infrastructure and inspire broader community participation in governance. Read more in the blog post below! Equipping Local Leaders to Improve Civic Health & Transform Systems of Governance
The National Civic League and the Bridge Alliance are proud to announce the “The Healthy Democracy Project. This joint effort will work with two communities to build the skills of civic leaders and equip them with the tools they need to address important civic challenges. Through one year of work, these communities will have increased capacity for solving community problems through inclusive civic engagement. Background People have the capacity to work together, address their differences, make good public decisions, develop plans, and solve problems. This fact is not always apparent in the national headlines, but it is clear to many people who are active in their communities, and it is on display in the presentations every year at the All-America City Awards. Unfortunately, our systems of governance currently make it harder, not easier, for people to work together, and they typically fail to engage all populations. Civic health is based on the quality of civic opportunities and the strength of civic infrastructure. When these supports are weak, people of different backgrounds and political perspectives are less likely to communicate or work together, which exacerbates partisan polarization. When these supports are distributed inequitably, they deepen economic and social inequities. Civic health matters in other ways, too. Strong, ongoing connections between residents, robust relationships between people and public institutions, and positive attachments between citizens and the places they live are highly correlated with a range of positive outcomes, from better physical health to higher employment rates to better resilience in the face of natural disasters. In most places, there are a range of opportunities for people to engage, but they are often undervalued, overlooked, and disconnected from one another. Many kinds of democracy innovations have emerged to transform systems of governance and, improve civic health, and engage a wider range of people. But most of them are temporary, ad hoc efforts – even when they are supported by public institutions, they are seldom incorporated into the official, ongoing ways that those institutions interact with citizens. In the world of civic innovation, a thousand flowers have bloomed; now, we need to do some gardening. Project Components The Healthy Democracy Project, which builds on the infrastructure provided by the Healthy Democracy Ecosystem Map, will support this civic gardening in communities across the country. Starting in two pilot communities, the Bridge Alliance and National Civic League will:
The pilot communities will be chosen through a collaborative process, focusing on diverse mid-sized cities that offer the opportunity to engage distinct groups. Outcomes Through the Healthy Democracy Project, each community will have a stronger civic infrastructure, with a diverse cadre of community leaders who are better able to:
In these polarized times, it is more important than ever for citizens to become engaged and feel they can make a difference. The Healthy Democracy Project will not only provide the tools needed to help civic leaders affect key issues facing their communities, it will also provide the inspiration, purpose, and belief they need to energize their fellow citizens. Becvar is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and executive director of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund. Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund. Article URL: thefulcrum.us/national-civic-league-2670697209
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