Attunement Framework

Seeking a strategic planning process that would be community-engaged from start to finish, the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement settled on the language of attunement: tuning into who we are, how we support the University of Richmond campus and the Richmond region, and what we can do boldly and better.

This Attunement Framework emerges from the experiences and vision of our extended community and will guide our collective work in the years to come.

Four Action Arenas

Empower civic learning and action networks. 

We believe in the capacity of every individual to learn, grow, create knowledge, and lead change.

These changemakers see the strengths in communities as well as the challenges and invite others to learn, imagine, problem-solve, and act together. The CCE supports individuals and their networks in connecting with one another and equips them for constructive collaboration.

Create accessible pathways to equitable civic engagement.

We believe that everyone can make a difference in the civic life of our communities.

Equitable civic engagement cultivates intentional relationships and attends to power dynamics so that people with different experiences and perspectives can develop creative solutions together. In the CCE, we work to remove barriers and build structures that make civic engagement visible, welcoming, and
impactful. Students, faculty, staff, and community partners should see clearly how to take the next step.

Practice democracy.

We believe that how we learn and work with one another matters.*

Institutions of higher education are important spaces for practicing habits of participation and community-building and for reinforcing norms of mutual obligation and interconnection which are central to democracy. As a center for civic engagement, it is our responsibility to support and model transparent and inclusive decision-making, so that people can advocate for what is meaningful to them, know that their voices matter, and exercise shared responsibility. This means that we care as much about process and relationships as we do about results.

*We share this belief with the national consortium Imagining America. In addition, some of the language in this action arena is drawn from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences report Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century (2020).

Advance institutional community engagement priorities that enact the University’s mission and vision.

We believe that universities and educational institutions are necessary partners in meeting the most pressing challenges of our time.

We recognize the role civic engagement plays in enabling our institution to carry out its mission to "[prepare] students for lives of purpose, thoughtful inquiry, and responsible leadership in a diverse world." Through civic engagement, the University and its members can live out this responsibility with purpose, collaboration, and leadership.