Active Citizenship
Creating a culture of civic engagement
Active citizenship is about personal and community empowerment. It's more than simply casting a ballot in elections, performing service, organizing, or even social action. But together, behaviors, attitudes, and actions define active citizens and help them address community needs and effect positive change.
Well-trained members can be a significant influence and resource in spreading an expanded awareness of active citizenship and civic engagement.
To help you in such training, this section contains two well-developed resources designed by the Northwest Service Academy (NWSA), Washington Service Corps (WSC), and Service-Learning Northwest (SLN):
Roadmap to Civic Engagement–This extensive publication by WSC and SLN offers seven units that "cultivate an understanding of the behaviors, attitudes, and actions that reflect concerned and active membership in a community." The Roadmap provided the structure for 800 AmeriCorps members to civically engage up to 1,000 young people in service-learning projects.
Download individual units that contain meaningful lessons, activities, and reflections. Read an independent evaluation of the Roadmap.
Community Action Project–NWSA requires all members who serve 900 hours or more to lead a Community Action Project (CAP) that speaks to their vision of society. The CAP can be linked to direct service, education and outreach, or policy analysis. It provides an experiential understanding of how an individual can create positive change. Download the CAP Project Proposal Guide and Reporting Form that helps members identify and research projects. The Policy Analysis Projects guides members through planning their projects, building public support, and conducting and concluding the project.
Other Resources:
Another way to fold a continuous civic engagement strand into your yearly training schedule is to regularly bring members together to read and discuss selected readings on civic engagement. See how one program uses their Meaning of Service training in just such a way.
- Does Service Increase Civic Skills? is a research study about the impact of service on civic skills.
- Just Cause is a research study about how to motivate young people to volunteer.
- Oral History Projects includes two trainings designed to create a culture of civic engagement while helping members learn about the communities they serve.
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