by: Helen D. Johnson, Foundation President

I’m not claiming to have all the answers, but what feels undeniably clear is that there is a persistent urge to carry on with business as usual, treating our work as if the world isn’t radically changing every day.

There is nothing ordinary about the shifts taking place in policies, policing, economy, or how we perceive each other. If there has ever been a moment in my lifetime that demands innovation and collaboration, it is now.

But, in a way, we are lucky, because innovation happens in the absence of the ordinary.

Some of what is scary right now is that new and urgent concerns are compounding what is already widespread systems failure. We simply can’t keep pretending that all of the broken systems will fix themselves, and that emerging issues will either magically disappear or be resolved if we just ignore them.

We are relying on decades old infrastructure, education models, and political and economic systems. And in many cases, our ideas and solutions for addressing needs in these areas are equally outdated. Lack of trust and loss of genuine, trustworthy communication are compounding the challenges we are facing.

While we may not agree on why our social, cultural, and economic systems are being strained to the breaking point, we can agree on the fact that change is happening rapidly and there are significant impacts on our communities and their residents. We need to do something about it, together. We can’t thrive like this. We certainly can’t sustain democracy like this.

Action-oriented, creative, place-based work and authentic civic engagement is key to democracy. Because democracy is a verb. Like every good verb, it requires action, not simply rhetoric or legislation. Today, investing in our places may be the best hope for democracy in the United States. Together with local and state leaders, we need collaboration and partnership to drive economic, social, and cultural success in our communities.

The good news is that innovation is happening in some corners and it’s inspiring. But we need more, and we need it faster. How can we take the enthusiasm we have for tech and channel it into support and interest in innovation in government, housing, infrastructure, and the economy. We need bold, inspired and ambitious plans that are both localized and scalable; solutions that tackle the big and complicated issues we struggle with.

Let’s remember that democracy is more than voting – it is rooted in authentic civic engagement and neighborhood building. And local government can play a huge part in cultivating the space for community to come together and create local solutions and creative approaches to issues and opportunities.

Local government is often the most tangible form of government we experience, especially in our daily lives. While we see more of the federal and state political arena through social media and television, it is the local experience we have that shapes whether we have access to a public library, what our school systems look like, if we have accessible and beautiful public places, parks, and green spaces, if we feel safe, or how easy or hard it might be to start a small business.

The more participatory our local processes are, the more democratic our public spaces and institutions become. This means making space for civic participation and community engagement and using community driven decision-making tools at the local level – sometimes called participatory democracy. It also means creating places that genuinely reflect the community as a whole and that are inviting and available to everyone. One way to do this is through authentic engagement and placemaking. Placemaking offers communities a set of tools and practices that can create a framework for us as citizens to work together with local leadership to shape the spaces and resources that impact our daily lives.

The more that we can give back to our ‘place’ and participate in solutions-oriented action, the more we feel ownership of it. And the more we feel ownership, the more likely we are to act with a sense of responsibility and stewardship in our community. Placemaking fosters this reflection of community in physical space, it provides opportunities for community members to gather, connect, and feed a sense of civic stewardship. And at the end of the day, it is a powerful tool for participatory democracy in action.

Local leaders from multiple sectors working together can create space for communities to thrive. I am advocating for more support of efforts that model how healthy partnerships among local leaders from government, philanthropy, nonprofits, business, and community can create new solutions and systems that ensure we thrive on a local level, regardless of what may be happening elsewhere. We must act together, with a shared commitment to our neighbors and our community as a whole, if we intend to weather these storms and thrive.