Penn Project for Civic Engagement: Past Projects

Great Expectations is the most recent initiative of the Philadelphia Inquirer's Citizen Voices initiative. It is an invitation for Philadelphia to dream and to help make those dreams a reality. As a partnership of the Inquirer Editorial Board and the Project for Civic Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania, Great Expectations creates a blend of civic dialogue, journalistic exploration and academic research. In the process, it provides a way for citizens to track and influence city elections and regional issues.

The City Budget: Tight Times, Tough Choices forums are designed to be work sessions where Philadelphians will meet in small groups to work through some of the actual budget choices facing the city. Our goal is for participants to identify priorities and the trade-the offs they are willing to make to reach those priorities. Mayor Nutter and city officials have agreed to consider input from the forums in developing the City's proposed budget for 2010.

2008: Civic Vision for the Central Delaware Waterfront 

PPCE used a series of citizen forums to develop values-based principles to inform the development of a civic vision for the central Delaware riverfront between Allegheny and Oregon Avenues, a seven mile stretch. The forums were part of a process initiated on Oct. 12, 2006 when Mayor Street signed an executive order that invited Penn Praxis to lead a citizen-driven planning process for the Delaware Waterfront that would be open and transparent and would produce a civic vision for development along the river from Allegheny to Oregon Ave.

2008: Redistricting in the Lower Merion School District

A project with the Lower Merion School District to develop community-based principles to help guide the redistricting process they have started.

Participants more than 250 to date.

2008: Re-Envisioning the Kimmel Center through Civic Engagement and Design

A joint project with PennPraxis in Penn's School of Design, conduct a citizen-driven design process on ways to energize and activate public spaces in and around the Kimmel.

Participants: more than 200

2006 to present: Great Expectations: Citizen Voices on Philadelphia's Future

Citizen forums, journalism and research to identify issues of concern to Philadelphians and identify possible solutions and innovations that have worked, in Philadelphia or elsewhere

Note: The project concluded it's first year in December 2007 with a Citizen Convention and the publication in January 2008 of the Citizens Agenda - a civic "to do list" for the new mayor and city council. In 2008, we are monitoring the administration's progress on the Agenda, as well as focusing on citizen forums around the city budget and a strategy to support Arts and Culture in the Region.

Partners: University of Pennsylvania/Graduate School of Education, Philadelphia Inquirer, Economy League of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Cultural Alliance

Participants: more than 2500 to date

2006/2007: Community forums on the Development of the Central Waterfront

Citizen forums as part of the Mayor's Executive Order to develop a unified plan for the central waterfront - from Allegheny Avenue to Oregon Avenue in Philadelphia

Partners: Penn School of Design; PennGSE/Center for School Study Councils

Participants: more than 4000 to date

2006: Camp Hill School District

Community forums to develop the visioning process to identify the educational and cultural mission of the Grace Millman Pollock Center for the Performing Arts

Partners: PennGSE/Center for School Study Councils, The Grace Millman Pollock Center for the Performing Arts Board and the Camp Hill School District

Participants: 150

2006: National Summit on School Design

Design deliberative process and lead national gathering of stakeholders in school design issues

Co-wrote book-length report of the National Summit on School Design.

Partners: American Architectural Foundation; KnowledgeWorks Foundation

Participants: 300

2005: Engaging Urban Students through Issue-based Deliberation:

A project to teach high school students the concepts and practices of public deliberation and study the impact of that curriculum on students' sense of themselves as citizens and public leaders

Partners: Lancaster School District, Public Leadership and Service Small Learning Community, PennGSE/Center for School Study Councils.

Participants: 75 students and 6 teachers

2003-2005: Project 540

PennGSE is one of 10 sites in the first year of the national Project 540 and one of 5 sites in the second year of the project. Funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts through Providence College, the project involves high school students in the region in identifying issues of concern to them, developing action plans to address one of those projects and implementing those projects.

Partners: 10 area high schools, PennGSE/Center for School Study Councils

Participants: over 17,000 high school students over the two years (over 100, 000 nationally)

2004-current: Community Forums on 40th St

Design and implementation of ongoing citizen engagement forums to develop principles for the development of the 40th Street Corridor. Creation of The Friends of 40th Street, which meets monthly.

Partners: University of Pennsylvania - Penn Praxis and Penn GSE, with the President's Office.

Participants 250 (of which 40-50 continue to participate in Friends monthly meetings)

2005/6: The Franklin Conference on School Design

Public process to develop principles and visions for school design in conjunction with the Philadelphia School District's capital improvement program

Partners: Penn Praxis, Philadelphia Education Fund, William Penn Foundation, Concordia, Philadelphia School District

Participants: 400

2005: The Inquirer/Visioning Process

Provide leadership of internal newsroom process to develop strategy to deal with major buyouts and auction sale of newspaper

Participants: 200

2005: Citizen Voices on the Governor's Election

Citizen dialogues on the N.J. governor's race; broadcast debate

Partner: NJN

Participants: 80

2004: By the People Forum on Immigration and Philadelphia

Day-long event with panel discussion and citizen dialogue

Partner: WHYY

Participants: 150

2003/4: School Reform Journal

Ongoing project of forums and on-line diaries by teachers, students, parents and other observers on the Philadelphia school reforms

2004: Citizen Voices on the National Election

Citizen dialogues on the presidential/congressional elections

Participants: 120

2003: The Bensalem Waterfront Development Project

Bensalem High School students participate in an after-school activity that parallels Penn School of Design landscape architecture studio developing possible designs for the Bensalem Township waterfront along the Delaware. High School students also conducted community forums that yielded principals to guide their work and that of the and Penn student

Partners: Penn Center for School Study Councils and PennPraxis

2003: Citizen Voices on the Mayor's Race

Citizen dialogues identifying issues in mayoral race

Participants: 100

2003: The Penn's Landing Forums

Public process, including forums and charrettes, to develop principles and visions for the development of Philadelphia's central waterfront

Partners: Penn School of Design/Penn Praxis; PennGSE/Center for School Study Councils; Design Advocacy Group

Participants: 500

2002: Strategic Visioning Process for The Inquirer

Companywide dialogue process to create newspaper's new suburban strategy

Participants: 60

2002: Citizen Voices on the Pennsylvania Governor's Race

Citizen dialogues identifying issues in gubernatorial race

Partner: Pennsylvania Economy League

2002: Citizen Voices on Health Care: The Soul of Medicine

Citizen dialogues identifying issues in local health care scene

Partner: Physicians for Social Responsibility, Philadelphia chapter

Participants: 180

2001 - Citizen Voices on the New Jersey Governor's Race

Citizen dialogues, broadcast debate and online town hall debate

Partners: E-thepeople.org; NJN

Note: Project postponed and reduced due to 9/11 attacks

Participants: 70

2000/2001: Mechanicsburg School District

Community forums to address issues related to the closing of a middle school and what to do with the closed building, including implications for reconfiguring the elementary schools in the district.

Partners: PennGSE/Center for School Study Councils and the Mechanicsburg School District (supporting funding from the District and the Kettering Foundation)

Participants: 200

2000: Citizen Voices on Senate Elections

Citizen in-person and online dialogues on N.J. and Pa. U.S. Senate races

Online "town hall debates" in which candidates answered citizen questions in continuous, week-long forum

Partner: E-the-people.org

Participants: 150

1999: Citizen Voices

Year-long project of naming, framing and deliberating issues in the mayor's race

Two day-long issues conventions at Annenberg Theatre

Two TV debate, one TV town hall, radio debate and town hall, and broadcast issues forums

Partners: Annenberg School for Communication, WHYY, ABC-6

Participants: 800

1999: Radnor School District

Community forums on the family, the environment and youth policy to assess the impact of community forums on relationships among different stakeholder groups in the district. Funding through the Kettering Foundation, with support from the Radnor School District.

Partners: PennGSE/Center for School Study Councils and the Radnor Township School District

Participants: 100

1998: West York District

Community forums on issues facing the West York School District, including youth policy and school funding issues.

Partners: PennGSE/Center for School Study Councils and the West York School District Board of Education

Participants: 300

1997: Citizen Voices on the New Jersey Governor's Race

Year-long project of naming, framing and deliberating state issues

Broadcast gubernatorial debate with NJN and ABC-6

Participants: 300

1996: Citizen Voices invented

National Issues Forums and congressional debates in the 13th and 3rd districts.

Partner: WHYY-91FM - which broadcast three forums and both debates.

Participants: 150

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For more information, contact:
Dr. Harris Sokoloff, Executive Director
Center for School Study Councils
University of Pennsylvania
215-898-7371