Takeaways from the Civics Toolbox session

I’d like to thank you for participating in the most recent Civics Toolbox session with my colleagues Wendy and Guilherme. We greatly appreciate your thoughtful contributions to thinking through how to connect the Toolbox with the Navigator Program.

I’ve since met with Wendy and Gui to identify initial takeaways and next steps.

Takeaways:

• Build community’s knowledge and capacity: the City often asks community to participate without first enhancing members’ knowledge and capacity to navigator (eg. how public policy is made, who makes decisions, what jurisdictional authority it has). What can be done to help community navigate and strategize their involvement? What are the formal and informal pathways to their involvement? “Political engagement requires political savvy”
• Witness and honour participation: too often, communities are engaged without being able to follow how their input contributes to planning or policy efforts, leading to mistrust of government. Instead, staff must find ways to work in relationship, commit to updating community on their efforts. Without this,
• Make it relatable: toolbox should help community explore issues they care about through real world examples. Starting at a scale of an individual, using participatory learning exercises may be a good entry point in order to get into the discussion. Parts of the Toolbox can then help illuminate how things work from an overview perspective.
• Make it accessible: consider aspects like using simple plain (non-technical) language, providing translated materials, focusing on “real world” examples, and addressing gaps in digital literacy. Focus on engaging people who don’t normally participate by explaining why people should get involved, why it matters, and why people should care. One reason is because of the multitude of ways that local government affects people’s daily lives. Address the lack of trust in government by continuing to work closely with community partners.

Next steps:

• Jason will reintroduce you individually to Wendy and Gui, so you may have a direct line of contact if you are looking for more resources or information on activities.