Exploring how “community engagement” is ill-defined, this piece proposes a new definition.
Category: civic engagement
More than a decade ago, I attended a seminar where the facilitator talked about clients’ walls. They felt stonewalled by someone they were trying to reach out to. Focusing on in-person meetings, using the phone, email and even social media, this facilitator shared 5 ways to destroy client walls and overcome reluctant prospects. From the start, […]
There are a lot of things that youth could do to become involved in political campaigns. In the past, youth involvement has ranged from every traditional thing you can think of including volunteering, letter writing, attending rallies and meetings, door knocking, etc. to more current things like blasting messages out to friends on social media, […]
I don’t think we should be trying to help others until we’ve acknowledged the ways others have helped us. We should learn how to help ourselves, too, either by helping others or simply focusing on ourselves. Helping others in order to feel better about ourselves is a trap though. We have to learn to find […]
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16 Capacities to Change the World
There are a lot of people who want to change the world. However, many get frustrated because they don’t know what it takes. After more than a decade of teaching people around the world how to do it, I’ve decided to share this list of key skills, abilities, knowledge, and dispositions. They’re based off my life as […]
I have written a few cool articles and created a couple tools over this last year to address the general topic of community engagement. They’re intended to be an extension of the work I’ve done over the last few years working with adults throughout a variety of community settings, all focused on fostering sustained connections […]
Who are we as individuals if we are not changing the world? Who are we as a people if we are not changing the world? There are many animals that are caught up in the nuances of altering their environment, transforming their thoughts, and modifying their actions. However, how many creatures do we know that […]
Democratic participation relies on individuals taking collective ownership and deliberate roles in the societies where they live. From the earliest age children have the interest in their neighbors and communities to warrant actively engaging them in democracy; research, and international practice codified in the CRC, demonstrates that their evolving capacities necessitate opportunities for their active […]
An engaged world is one where everyone lives fully and wholly, everyday in every way. Since 2010, the bevy of consultants and trainers with CommonAction have been working across the U.S. and Canada to promote the concept of an engaged world. We define engagement as the sustained connections people have to the world within and […]
“No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts off from its youth severs its lifeline.” —Kofi Annan My Belief Everyone has the human right to democratic processes regardless of […]
