Common Focus

12/13/2024

03/26/2014

Great interview with Andrea Arnold about Decatur's history with public engagement.

Enjoy.

Albert W. DzurMarch 21, 2014Albert W. DzurThis conversation is the fifth in the series, Trench Democracy: Participatory Innovation in Unlikely Places. Innovative democratic professionals are recreating some of our most fundamental institutions, shaping new democratic practices and struggling against...

03/03/2014

This article by my friend and colleague Matt Leighninger of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium for Philanthropy.com is well done. The loss of AmericaSpeaks is a serious one and calls for us to increase the search for new and expanded approaches. We can all be grateful for the legacy that will remain from AmericaSpeaks. Abie

The group, which has closed after 19 years, managed to get Americans of all stripes to debate hot topics and calmly find the kinds of compromises that Congress still lacks.

02/25/2014

Duany of course has charted a path for New Urbanism. Here is a take on an current alternative. In Atlanta I know of young people living almost completely off the energy grid. It is a healthy trend to encourage the creative types to put down at least tentative roots in urban areas.

06/15/2013

It started with a person paying attention to a hungry cat and now Piper has people talking to each other. Now that is community building.

The Beltline's Eastside Trail is the kind a place where a man can landsurf with a pair of small dogs in tow and cause nary a stir.

03/04/2013

Here is good news about the "Engage Gwinnett" stakeholder and community representative volunteers who looked for ways to save important services and to generate revenues needed. This volunteer effort emerged from their work. Very encouraging.

"Volunteer Gwinnett exceeds 2012 expectations
Volunteer Gwinnett is a countywide volunteer program designed to involve more residents in volunteer activities associated with County government with a bold goal of reaching 1 million volunteer hours by 2015! To get there, the County set a goal of 600,000 hours for 2012. With the help of more than 41,000 volunteers, we beat that goal with a total of 991,122 hours!

We couldn't have exceeded this goal without you! Gwinnett County depends on volunteers to help provide residents with the best services and programs possible. Search for your volunteer opportunity at www.volunteergwinnett.net."

Volunteer Gwinnett is a countywide volunteer program designed to involve more residents in volunteer activities associated with County government. Volunteers have been an important part of some County departments and agencies for many years. The County is expanding the volunteer program with a bold…

10/23/2012

Encouraging article about what the leadership and citizens of Decatur have done together over recent years. The work is based on policies deeply rooted in support from the residents and workers in Decatur.

By Guest Columnist MIKE MORGAN, an Atlanta-based landscape architect and urban designer Growth has been, for decades, one of the Atlanta's primary economic forces. Development, infrastructure, manufacturing, engineering, and architecture are all part of the growth ec…

10/22/2012

And I thought the best way to change public behavior was calling in consultants and holding community dialogues. Take a look at this humorous Candid Camera episode.

This is the "Understanding 9/11" psychology series. Why do people still believe all the nonsense in the corporate controlled media on 9/11?

10/08/2012

Interesting HuffPost look at how public participation is linked to higher levels of employment. The text, as opposed to the video, is about meetings that were in a partnership with Everyday Democracy. My colleague Janee and I led their facilitator training and their action training. The meetings are part of the Neighbor for Neighbor project, coordinated by Missouri State University and the Community Partnership of the Ozarks in an effort to foster what the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) calls "civic health."

During the day, classrooms at Weller Elementary School in Springfield, Mo., are filled with students, teachers and the usual abundance of youthful energy and enthusiasm. But on Tuesday and Friday nights, a different kind of energy fuels the hopeful ambiance.