Browse Content: public participation & outreach

Photography or video contests invite members of a community to submit photos on a certain topic, generally community character or special places, to collect different perspectives on how residents see the community's heart and soul.

The HeartSpots project, an interactive storytelling project created for the Heart & Soul project of Biddeford, Maine, allows citizens to record stories and memories through cell phones at many of their favorite locations on Main St.

Inspired by a combination of underutilized sites and unmet community needs in the city of New Orleans, this low-cost initiative allows people to voice ideas for vacant buildings using fill-in-the-blank stickers.

MindMixer is a “virtual town hall,” providing a forum for communities to share ideas, discuss, and create plans for the future. Without the time and place constraints, citizens can share ideas online, and leaders can gain input from their communities

Modeled after traditional storytelling gatherings, Story Circles allow people to come together to share experiences and stories. This process can help communities explore and identify unifying values, which can inform the planning process.

The Dunn Foundation is concerned with the quality of the visual environment with a major emphasis on educational programs to increase public awareness of and appreciation for community appearance and community identity.

Urban Resources Initiative is a not-for-profit partnership with Yale University whose mission is to foster community-based land stewardship, promote environmental education and advance the practice of urban forestry.

Participants in a Crayon Your Community event draw maps of their neighborhoods or towns, including all natural and built elements that they identify as important to their vision of the community.

Spurred by a tragic fire in which much of the Island’s recorded history burned to the ground, the Swan’s Island Memory Project aims to revive recollections of the small Maine Island through recorded histories and historical photographs.

A start-up project in Vermont, FPF creates online communities for each city neighborhood, where residents can get to know each other, post requests for help or information, discuss neighborhood issues, and make announcements.