This regular feature of ILG’s Public Engagement E-News offers useful information and resources about public engagement practices, innovations and ideas from sources in California and elsewhere.

Deadline Approaching for Public Engagement Grants

Pepperdine University’s Davenport Institute is accepting applications only until this coming September 12th for its Public Engagement Grants Program for cities, counties, special districts and  civic organizations. These up to $10,000 “service grants” will fund qualified consultants, selected jointly by the grantee and the Davenport Institute, who then work with grantees on the delivery of facilitated public forums. For more information: visit their website or call Ashley Trim at 310.506.6878.

ILG Releases Paper on “Passive, Active and Sustaining” Orientations to Public Engagement by Local Governments

A revised and updated short paper on “Three Orientations of Local Government to Public Engagement: Passive-Active-Sustaining” has been published by the Institute for Local Government. The paper is intended to draw the attention of local officials to these differences, to name some of the characteristics of each orientation, and to allow local officials and their communities to better reflect on where they are and where they may want to be in terms of the public engagement capacities and practices in their own city or county. Download the current paper here.

Special Journal Issue on Deliberation “State of Our Field”

We reported on this current and special issue of the Journal of Public Deliberation in a previous issue of our E-News but it’s so good we’re presenting it again. Volume 10, Issue 1 is a special issue that assesses the state of the deliberation field (a field that encompasses much of public engagement practice) with articles celebrating successes, addressing challenges and calling for further innovative work. Get free online access to the Journal issue here..

High Tech, High Touch: Using Technology for Effective Engagement Online and Offline

With all the technology available on the market it’s hard to know what to use to support community engagement and what to expect when you do. This month IAP2 is hosting an event in San Francisco on September 3rd to highlight this topic. The event will feature Amelia Loye, who is visiting from Australia, and Darin Dinsmore from Crowdbrite. They will share their lessons learned and discuss how engagement technology can be used to make engagement effective, not just online but while engaging face-to-face with community. Click here for more information or to register for the event.