Governance through Community means a diverse group of people connected in some common manner, be it geographically or through some cause, coming together to talk and together create solutions to challenges in their community. Sometimes it is simply a matter of having the conversation without any connection to a government body or institution. Sometimes it is a matter of putting deliberative democracy into action and ensuring greater public participation in local politics. The goal is inclusion providing an opportunity for all voices to be heard and developing insights for creating systemic solutions.
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Sociocracy is about one-ness. One-ness as in: we are all one, not in an esoteric way, as interdependence. One cannot do anything without others’ contribution. And one cannot do anything without affecting others.
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A SmartCitizenry co-operative is for you and your neighbours, Everyone is local and what you do together is local. Together you work out what needs you have that together as a co-op you can solve. It could be energy needs, home help and support, waste management, recycling – whatever is important to you that you can’t do alone to get the impact and make the difference that is needed. Everything you do is building community one action at a time.
Democratise (formerly FutureDigital) was founded in New Zealand in 1997 as Wairua Consulting. Our new name reflects our relaunch in 2012, our new based in Europe and our broader approach. Away from digital democracy towards a more strategic and systemic approach to democratic strengthening, open government, and effective engagement. It reflects our mission to operate as a collaborative social business, where we partner for good and put people and communities ahead of profit.
We find that a powerful approach to understanding your stakeholders is to view them as parts of a wider ecosystem. To do this, we start with a group mapping exercise. The power of the group process means you're more likely to uncover the best information and the learning goes much deeper. Once you've defined the audience, you can go on to identify relationships, who influencers who and then to develop appropriate messages and channels to connect with them.
In Slow Democracy, community leader Susan Clark and democracy scholar Woden Teachout describe how citizens around the country are breathing new life into their communities. Large institutions, centralized governments, and top-down thinking are no longer society’s drivers. New decision-making techniques are ensuring that local communities—and the citizens who live there—are uniquely suited to meet today’s challenges. In Slow Democracy, readers learn the stories of residents who gain community control of water systems and local forests, parents who find creative solutions to divisive and seemingly irreconcilable school-redistricting issues, and a host of other citizen-led actions that are reinvigorating local democracy and decision making.
ABOUT THE KETTERING FOUNDATION The Kettering Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan research organization rooted in the American tradition of cooperative research. Everything Kettering researches relates to one central question: what does it take for democracy to work as it should? Or put another way: What does it take for citizens to shape their collective future?
The foundation explores ways that key political practices can be strengthened through innovations that emphasize active roles for citizens. Kettering’s research is distinctive because it is conducted from the perspective of citizens and focuses on what people collectively can do to address problems affecting their lives, their community, and their nation.
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deliberative-democracy.net is the online home of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium. The mission of the Consortium is to bring together practitioners and researchers to support and foster the nascent, broad-based movement to promote and institutionalize deliberative democracy at all levels of governance in the United States and around the world.
Involve are experts in public engagement, participation and dialogue. We carry out research and deliver training to inspire citizens, communities and institutions to run and take part in high-quality public participation processes, consultations and community engagement. We believe passionately in a democracy where citizens are empowered to take and influence the decisions that affect their lives.
IAP2 has a wealth of resources available assist organizations, decision makers, policy makers and practitioners to improve the quality of the public participation work. The following resources are protected by copyright by the International Association for Public Participation and may be used for information purposes.
IAP2 USA advances public participation in the United States by providing its affiliate members with tools and information to conduct high-quality public participation processes, by providing government, industry, nonprofit organizations and participants with educational resources to increase the quality and value of their participation in such processes, and by advocating for quality public participation programs based on our Core Values and Code of Ethics.
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