[MCEP Consultants] List,
What have people found that works about the current community engagement opportunities in Minneapolis? For residents? For organizations? For neighborhood groups? For the different commissions or boards? What are the strengths of the current system? [Me]: I know I've mentioned this before, but there was a Community Summit more than a year ago that brought together a wide range of individuals and groups around the issue of community engagement. Those participating were from neighborhood groups, organizations, businesses, cultural groups, and the like. We spent four sessions going over all sorts of things and ultimately making recommendations and issuing a final report. To begin our work, we talked about what was good about the current system. The notes from that session (i.e., what is good about the current system) are pasted below. Not that I mind d�j� vu all over again, but I thought it would help to include these comments to build off work that has already been completed, though with logistically less people involved. Here are those notes: + There has been a fair amount of leadership development. + An end result is that the city council has started being reflective of the community + There were creative projects and leveraging of funds. + At the start there were real efforts at organizing and engaging citizens. One indicator of this was that were lots of community meetings going on. + Process created genuine engagement, creation of and approval of neighborhoods plans. + Gave collective permission for neighborhoods to determine what was appropriate in their setting and permission to talk about things that had not been talked about before. + Process itself created some equity in the engagement. + Created framework for stimulating citizen to act. + Tapped peoples' assets and individual capacity + Allowed for identification of indigenous or natural assets that may not have been obvious. + City council became more responsive. + It�s about the money � Money was delivered back to the community. Money =power. Therefore people had power. + In some instances, NRP brought government agencies together. + NRP was an educational tool to teach about how the city works. It was an educational forum and the outcome was that more people understood City government. + There was business engagement. + Citizens and private businesses were enhanced and relationships were found to be win-win. + One was able to negotiate value conflicts. + Neighborhoods had names and people identify with their neighborhood. + In the beginning people were engaged in a meaningful way � organizing around a positive outcome. The final report is still available online at: www.center4neighborhoods.org/Community_Summit%20report%20PDF.pdf Gregory Luce St. Paul REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
