At the start of the year, we launched our Attunement Framework, a community-engaged approach to a strategic plan. Seeking a planning process that would be rooted in community-engaged values and methods from start to finish, we 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 Year in Review centers stories that reflect work across the four action arenas of our plan: empower civic learning and action networks; create accessible pathways to equitable civic engagement; practice democracy; and advance institutional community engagement priorities that enact the University’s vision and mission. These are the themes we heard clearly from the 150+ students, faculty, staff, community partners, and alumni who engaged with us in our planning process. They are both our areas of strength and areas in which our community is calling for even more intention and depth.
Underlying our work in these action arenas is the understanding that civic engagement is not a collection of activities in or about “the community.” Instead, civic engagement — as we aim to practice it — is deeply attentive to process and purpose. In this way, it is democratic. As field leaders John Saltmarsh, Matthew Hartley, and Patti Clayton wrote in an influential white paper about this distinction, “Democratic engagement seeks the public good with the public and not merely for the public as a means to facilitating a more active and engaged democracy.”
As you read this collection of stories about our shared work last year, you will see this emphasis on collaboration and co-creation, on acting “with and not for” our communities.
Sylvia Gale
Executive Director
Bonner Center for Civic Engagement