In March 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP), committing to distribute $350 billion to state and local governments. Compared to prior packages, ARP provides cities and counties with more flexibility in how they allocate these funds, igniting debates across the country as to how to best prioritize...

April 7th is World Health Day – this year it feels especially important to reflect on the ways our health affects general wellbeing. Aside from the obvious health implications, the coronavirus hit communities hard — in our everyday routines, social connections, and networks. But this type of health crisis also...

When we intentionally plan for inclusion, community engagement projects turn into more diverse, representative efforts and can lead to more equitable outcomes. Our recent webinar featured Jacqueline Broadhead, Director of the Global Exchange on Migration and Diversity at Oxford University’s Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS). Together, we discussed...

Scaling our impact while practicing transparency and equity Maybe you’ve already heard: we’re going open source!  In 2015 my co-founders and I launched CitizenLab with one goal in mind: to make decision-making more open, inclusive, and equitable. Over time, we have helped more than 275 local governments and organizations across...

What does it mean to be a girl in 2020? Depending on their respective countries, backgrounds, socioeconomic class, or personal circumstances, girls across the world have radically different day-to-day experiences. UNICEF wanted to hear directly from girls themselves as they shaped their priorities for local communities. In 1995, 189 countries...

Beveren is a municipality of 49,000 people in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It’s home to the Waaslandhaven, an essential part of the Port of Antwerp. The port attracts a lot of trade and shipping, but it also impacts traffic in the local community. Trucks, and an increasing number...

And just like that, it’s March again. Winter’s cold has thawed, but our cities aren’t quite teeming with life just yet. A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s time for reflection. This past year has been profoundly transformative for people, workplaces, organizations, communities, and governments worldwide. We’ve been forced to...

We find ourselves consistently impressed by the types of projects launched on our platform. In this monthly inspiration series, we’ll spotlight some of the innovative ways governments and organizations around the world are activating and engaging their communities virtually. Let’s dive in!  Belgian football club KV Mechelen brings their fan...

What makes a good community engagement tool? How do we prioritize new features? And what are the next big things on the horizon for community engagement? Digital tools are evolving so quickly that it’s often difficult to keep up. At CitizenLab, we’re constantly working to better understand which features will...

Participatory budgeting (PB) is a process through which community members decide how to spend part of a public budget. While PB may have started over 30 years ago, the first PB project didn’t launch in the U.S. until 2009 when Chicago became the first city in the country to try...

Many local governments struggle to include more residents in their projects and often find that some voices are much louder than others, and many people aren’t heard at all. To remedy this, cities are trying to increase their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. But before starting to meaningfully implement...

We originally published this piece on CityAM.com It’s official: the long-awaited climax of the London Mayoral race is scheduled for May 6th, when polling stations across the city will throw open their doors for the first time since the start of the pandemic. But in a world now heavily mediated...