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Nicole Davis
Communications Manager

Nicole is a Communications Manager at Urban Interactive Studio and editor of EngagingCities.com, specializing in communication outreach in various forms ranging from speaker relations, social media strategy, project management and online engagement

  • Hands-On Resources to Address Opportunities & Possibilities in Location Technology (Guides)

    Can you imagine today’s world without location-based technology? It’s everywhere—in augmented reality apps for smartphones, GPS systems in our cars, urban transportation systems, and with public participation (ie. Gov 2.0) and visualisation web portals. In the past year, EngagingCities alone has dedicated over twenty posts to the subject of GIS in planning, with a 2012 location-based article series in the works as we speak. This being said, getting a handle on the multitude of planning related geospacial platforms and tools out there isn't easy, especially considering the rapid rate at which this technology is evolving.

    By: Nicole Davis
  • Hester Street Collaborative: Empowering Young Residents to Shape Their Own Environment (Showcases)

    If you’re walking through New York City’s Chinatown and spot an out-of-the-ordinary cart, you’ll be looking at one of Hester Street Collaborative’s latest projects devoted to using design as a tool for social change.

    By: Nicole Davis
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  • Shifting Roles for Public Libraries: From Supporting Player to Community Engagement Leader (Trends)

    When you think of the most democratic place in your neighborhood where resources are universally available, does one government entity immediately come to mind?

    By: Nicole Davis
  • ECOSProject: A Sustainable Future for Chittenden County (Showcases)

    Last year, the community of Chittenden County, Vermont embarked on an important project: ECOS Project is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to engage citizens, organizations and municipalities in a conversation about the future of each one of the communities within this Chittenden County region.

    By: Nicole Davis
  • Increasing Public Participation in Rural Planning & Community Development (Guides)

    A community planner from the “Back 40”, working on a multi-jurisdictional planning process for a small, rural community recently posed this question on Cyburbia. Planner.tk, a local design firm associate and community planner with a passion for 'saving the environment', inquires about how to drum up successful public participation in their county of less than 30,000 people. Insights and ideas came in from fellow Cyburbia members regarding useful techniques in community development as well as unique challenges faced by planners focused on rural areas.

    By: Nicole Davis
  • Top 5 Most Popular EngagingCities Posts of 2011 (Trends)

    We hope all of you have had a joyous holiday season, and from all of us here at EngagingCities, we wish you a prosperous and happy New Year! In conclusion to a great 2011, here’s a quick look back at our most popular posts, according to our web analytics data, from this past year. Cheers - more to come in 2012! 

    By: Nicole Davis
  • Creating More Efficient Social Media Processes (Guides)

    There are many ways to leverage your project’s web and mobile presence in our ever innovative world of outreach and communications technologies. In our day to day dealings with clients, we teach businesses, including real estate companies, non-profits, local authorities, and government institutions how to reap the most benefit from today’s most popular social media services, including blogs, online communities, Facebook, Twitter, and more.

    By: Nicole Davis
  • Resources Help Municipalities Better Implement Open Gov Policies (Guides)

    Open Government Initiative is a collaborative project which was established by a familiar group of passionate advocates of open government, including CityCamp, Colorado Smart Communities, Code for America, the Sunlight Foundation, OpenPlans, in late 2010. Guided by their commitment to transparency, participation and accessibility in government, the group has made significant progress in the movement to build the public’s trust and satisfaction by creating new opportunities for innovation. Recently, Open Government Initiative published their Candidate Open Government Pledge and Declaration of Open Government Principles, in an effort to make it easier for local governments to better implement open government policies. The sample templates, highlighted below, echo President Obama’s collective call for open government, in his address to the United Nations in September 2010. 

    By: Nicole Davis
  • 24 Hour City Project Showcases Four Custom Built Projects at DCWEEK (Showcases)

    Inspired by the National Building Museum’s Intelligent Cities initiative, the 24 Hour City Project encourages participants to explore the intersection of the built environment, data, the arts, and information technology. Criteria for projects submitted to the 24 Hour City Project were that they must have a physical and digital component.  DCWEEK is approaching fast (Nov 4-11), and we recently discovered this project will be highlighted during the week-long technology festival. 24 Hour City Project five main goals begin with leveraging technology and data to reveal hidden relationships between our physical and digital worlds, and impact the way we interact with our environments and each other.

    By: Nicole Davis
  • Celebrating National Community Planning Month (Guides)

    Communities across the country are celebrating National Community Planning Month this October. The month long “event”, sponsored by the American Planning Association (APA), its members, chapters, divisions, and professional institute, was developed to recognize the vital role of planners and planning in communities throughout the U.S. At EngagingCities, we have been encouraged historically by the amount of participation we’ve seen with this celebration at a local level here in Colorado. We are excited to see what is in store for 2011’s celebrations around the nation.

    By: Nicole Davis