In many places, official public meetings no longer work. By “official public meeting,” we mean meetings that are open to the public, where elected or appointed officials are present, and where policy decisions are being made (Model City Charter, 9th edition). Most of the official interactions between citizens and local governments, school systems, planning boards, and police departments are full of frustration, conflict, and mistrust.
Bad public meetings are damaging because they:
Better public meetings are possible, sustainable, and measurable.
We are working with three pilot communities across the US to advance collaborative, best practices in official public meetings. We plan to do this by building upon standard best practices in the democratic innovation field and by drawing upon local democratic assets and actors such as, city officials (elected/appointed), non-profit organizations and networks, government departments and their staff, anchor institutions (libraries, universities etc.), neighbourhood groups and engaged residents. By creating a localized strategy catered to context specific situations, those convening official public meetings will work with us to design an inclusive and collaborative formal process with the public.
Two forms of research will support this project:
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Pilot Community Reports
Partners
International City/County Management Association, National League of Cities, Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation, Participedia, Kettering Foundation, Cities Fortifying Democracy, Democracy Cities.
Funding Organization
Featured Success Stories and Resources