Citizens Academies and Developing Community Capital

Community Capitals Framework <p>For decades now, Cornelia and Jan Flora of Iowa State University have been at the leading edge of community development research. They have found that sustainable communities nurture and make investments in seven types of community capital. Thus community development can be viewed as the development of these various forms of capital. This post looks at citizens academy programs as a local government practice that simultaneously develops human, social, and political (or civic) capital.</p> <p>Citizens academies are educational programs conducted by cities and counties aiming to create better informed and engaged citizens. These programs involve ordinary citizens participating in several (between six and twelve) sessions taught by local government officials on the wide range of local government services and operations. Programs are usually taught to cohorts of  20-25 residents and end with a graduation. Participants not only learn about their local government, but also learn about how they can be directly involved in it by, for example, serving on boards or committees.</p> <p>There are dozens of local governments running citizens academies here in North Carolina. Some long-standing, well-regarded programs include (in no particular order): ” Hickory’s “Neighborhood College,” Pitt County’s “Citizens Academy,” Cary’s “School of Government,” Durham City/County’s “Neighborhood College,” Greensboro’s “City Academy,”and Concord’s “Concord 101.” There are many other excellent programs in North Carolina, in communities large (e.g. Charlotte) and small (e.g. Aberdeen).</p> <p>Over the last two years my colleagues and I have studied these programs in some depth. We have learned that they are a relatively new phenomenon, with the vast majority of [...]</p>