Online Resources for Community Building and Public Participation

We’ve been keeping our eye on "Community Engagement", a LinkedIn group that encompasses discussion on community building, education, public participation, participative democracy and working in partnership. One of the most popular ongoing discussions has revealed some of the group members’ go-to websites for community engagement in terms of urban planning, support for citizen dialogue, and innovation. Here’s a list of the highlights:

Everyday Democracy

http://www.everyday-democracy.org/en/index.aspx
Using participatory approaches, Everyday Democracy works with neighborhoods, cities and towns, regions, and states to talk and work together to solve problems and create communities that work for everyone.

The National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation

http://ncdd.org/
The NCDD promotes the use of dialogue, deliberation, and other innovative group processes to help people come together across differences to tackle challenging problems. They serve as a gathering place, a resource clearinghouse, a news source, and a facilitative leader for the dialogue and deliberation community and beyond.

Harwood Institute for Public Innovation

http://www.theharwoodinstitute.org
Harwood Institute for Public Innovation works to spark fundamental change and authentic hope in American public life by cultivating, coaching, connecting, and supporting public innovators.

The Kettering Foundation

http://www.kettering.org/
The Kettering Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan research organization rooted in cooperative research. 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.

Consensus Building Institute

http://cbuilding.org/
The Consensus Building Institute is directing practitioners and theory builders in the fields of negotiation and dispute resolution by working with leaders, advocates, experts, and communities to promote effective negotiations, build consensus, and resolve conflicts.

Public Agenda

http://www.publicagenda.org/
Public Agenda, a public opinion research and public engagement organization, works to strengthen society’s capacity to tackle tough public policy issues with its issue guides, social networks and academic arm, the Center for Advances in Public Engagement.

Civic Change, Inc.

http://www.pew-partnership.org/
Civic Change launched a new area of research and practice in 2010 to help communities of all sizes respond to the challenges and opportunities of globalization in positive, sustainable ways.

Project on Civic Reflection

http://civicreflection.org/
The Project on Civic Reflection helps civic groups build capacity, commitment and community through reading and discussion as a means of reflecting on basic questions at the heart of their giving, service and leadership.

AmericaSpeaks

http://americaspeaks.org/
Since its founding in 1995 by Dr. Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, AmericaSpeaks has given citizens an authentic voice in local, regional and national decision-making on the most challenging public issues of the day.

Heartland Center

http://www.heartlandcenter.info/
Based in Nebraska, the Heartland Center focuses on practical resources and public policies for rural community survival, including leadership training, citizen participation, community planning, facilitation, evaluation and curriculum development.

The International Institute for Sustained Diagloue

http://www.sustaineddialogue.org/
Formed in collaboration with the Kettering Foundation, the Institute helps citizens around the world to transform their conflictual or destructive relationships and to design and implement sustainable change processes.

Community Planning

http://www.communityplanning.net/
A growing numbers of residents are getting involved with professionals in shaping their local environment. This website is a starting point that provides how-to-do-it best practice information of international scope and relevance.

The World Café

http://www.theworldcafe.com
World Café is a social technology for engaging people in conversations that matter, offering an effective antidote to the fast-paced fragmentation and lack of connection in today’s world. The World Café is a way of thinking and being together sourced in a philosophy of conversational leadership.

The Canadian Community for Dialogue and Deliberation

http://c2d2.ca/
C2D2 is a network of individuals and organizations sharing the belief that dialogue and deliberation can help build better communities, better organizations and stronger democracies.

Tamarack

http://tamarackcommunity.ca/g3s1.html
This Canadian institute hosts a learning community of practitioners who are working together to change the world one community at a time.

Toronto’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Human Rights

http://www.toronto.ca/diversity/index.htm
The Toronto city office aligns and implements key corporate, divisional and community equity, diversity and human rights initiatives to achieve service excellence.

IAP2

http://www.iap2.org/
IAP2 is an international association of members who seek to promote and improve the practice of public participation in relation to individuals, governments, institutions, and other entities that affect the public interest in nations throughout the world.

Please add some comments on resources that were not mentioned in this discussion thread. Looking forward to your additions!