GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
CIVIC LIFE
Meadville Leaders Turn a Community's Plan into Action
Community leaders in Meadville, Pennsylvania listened to, and included, residents in planning and policymaking to drive informed change.
ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY
How Pittsburgh found a secret climate weapon in ‘the thrilling world of municipal budgeting’
Even cash-strapped cities have money for climate action. They just need to spend it better.
ECONOMIC & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
What Midwest Industrial Communities Can Teach About Managing Economic Change
With a great convergence on both sides of the Atlantic around the urgent need to diminish geographic economic disparities and opportunity gaps — particularly those between thriving global city regions and struggling communities in industrial heartlands – there are growing efforts to learn from each other.
BIG LITTLE IDEAS
'Uniting Americans through Service: How California is Leading'
California's Chief Service Officer discusses the California Volunteers' initiatives -- the impact CalVols is having in the state, and how it serves as a model nationwide at Jefferson Educational Society Global Summit event at the University of Redlands.
Big Little Ideas
How Local Governments Can Engage Residents of All Ages
When community members can't, or don't, or won't, go to town halls to attend local government meetings, some local elected officials have found a way to go to their constituents.
PODCAST
Inside Our Towns: Tighe Bullock
Evan Sanford catches up with Tighe Bullock, the accountant, lawyer, downtown developer, and construction contractor, on his latest work in Charleston, West Virginia.
EDUCATION
Now is the Time for Reflection on Public Education
How can community-level education serve as the enabler for self-government? A look at our country’s past may offer the best answers for our future.
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
“Ally-Shore” to Restore U.S. Economic Leadership and Protect Democracy
"Allyshoring" offers the United States benefits locally, nationally, and internationally. What is "allyshoring," why does it matter? Why is it important now? Elaine Dezenski and John Austin explain.
CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT
The Past, the Future, the Present: Updates from Coast to Coast
A Fellow named, college services goes big, and scenes from a Day of Enlightened Living -- here are three updates on stories we've been following on this site over the years.
CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT
Bringing a City Together: How Leaf Blowers Did It
This is the story of how citizens worked together toward a common goal in Washington, D.C. The story involves a change on the local level with significant, positive implications for other parts of the country and beyond.
CIVIC LIFE
The Coming Reckoning
Are we witnessing the beginning of the end of our democracy, or are we living through growing pains? Are we on the brink of a civil war, or will unity prevail adapted and renewed?
BIG LITTLE IDEAS
Three community leaders come together to tell the stories of American renewal in their towns.
What do Ajo, Arizona; Eastport, Maine; and Charleston, West Virginia have in common? The answer leads down a rural path.
LEADERS & GOVERNANCE
Substituting Hope for Fear in Small Town America
What is the future of power?
FLYING / AVIATION
The Quiet Competence That Makes the Country Run
Being "inside the clouds" is stressful. But when you break into the clear, you see things you might not have noticed before. A view of the "soft skills" part of America's human infrastructure, and their difference from those in China and elsewhere.
INVENTION & RENEWAL
What Could Go Right?
How do global changes affect us on the local level, and vice versa?
LEADERS & GOVERNANCE
How American Justice Today Creates Injustice
Developing a common definition of justice could go a long way towards healing our national rifts. But how do we arrive at a shared definition?