The Center for Democracy Innovation is helping communities implement better engagement practices in public meetings and hearings, measure the progress of these efforts through a Civility Index, and scale the emerging tools, practices, and lessons through a national network of local leaders.

We are working with three pilot communities across the US to advance collaborative, best practices in official public meetings. We plan to do this by building upon standard best practices in the democratic innovation field and by drawing upon local democratic assets and actors such as, city officials (elected/appointed), non-profit organizations and networks, government departments and their staff, anchor institutions (libraries, universities etc.), neighborhood groups and engaged residents. By creating a localized strategy catered to context specific situations, those convening official public meetings will work with us to design an inclusive and collaborative formal process with the public.

To learn more about the pilot communities and recommendations, please read the 2024 pilot community reports:
2024 Civic Infrastructure Scan and Recommendations Boulder, Colorado
2024 Civic Infrastructure Scan and Recommendations Mesa, Arizona
2024 Civic Infrastructure Scan and Recommendations Fayetteville, North Carolina