Design for Life: Restoring Democracy From the Ground Up
Community-powered conversations on rebuilding trust, participation, and shared governance.
Participatory Budgeting: Communities Take the Wheel
How residents are directing public spending and reshaping local priorities with transparency and co-decision-making.
Citizens’ Assemblies: Everyday People, Extraordinary Governance
Deliberative councils chosen by lottery are helping cities make fairer, more informed decisions on climate, housing, justice, and beyond.
Neighborhood Democracy Hubs: Democracy as a Public Service
Libraries, community centers, and maker spaces becoming local civic labs for debate, voting access, and community problem-solving.
Digital Democracy Platforms: From Frustration to Collaboration
Open-source tools like Decidim, Loomio, and Pol.is enabling collective choice, participatory lawmaking, and transparent public dialogue.
Community-Owned Media: Information as a Commons
Local media cooperatives, youth creators, and fact-checking networks providing trusted, context-rich reporting to counter disinformation.
Indigenous Governance Models: Leading With Reciprocity
Indigenous nations demonstrating consensus-based governance, guardianship councils, and sovereign decision-making grounded in relational ethics.
Youth-Led Civic Innovation Labs: Democracy for the Next Generation
Teens and young adults co-creating civic apps, climate councils, and storytelling collectives that modernize how democracy works.
Data Dignity & Community Tech Stewardship
Communities reclaiming agency over their data, digital identities, and infrastructure through local clouds, mesh networks, and data trusts.
Transparency by Design: Opening the Black Box of Power
Cities adopting open budgets, open contracting, real-time dashboards, and public algorithm audits to rebuild trust through visibility.
Rights of Nature & Ecological Democracy
Communities granting legal rights to rivers, forests, and ecosystems—reshaping public governance around interdependence and stewardship.
Cooperative Economics as Democratic Practice
Worker co-ops, credit unions, and mutual aid networks embedding democratic decision-making directly into the economic system.
Restorative Justice Councils: Healing Democracy at the Community Level
Local restorative practices replacing punitive models with dialogue, accountability, and community-centered conflict resolution.
