SCS is about effectively organizing citizens & institutions to shape civic practices for local & global well-being

1 1 world design, world design, world design

Civic Stewardship/Boston will launch action-learning labs that apply the SCS approach to get results, build civic capacity & scale the work

1 1 © 2012 William M. Snyder / wsnyder@socialcapital.com / civicstewardship.com

world design, world design, world design

¹Parag Khanna, Director Global Governance Initiative, Foreign Policy, 2010 ²John Lehrer, Imagine: How Creativity Works, 2012

“Cities rather than states are becoming the islands of governance on which the future world order will be built.”¹

“You can't understand modern life without understanding cities. They are the force behind everything interesting. They are where everything new is coming from.”²

•More than half the world now lives in cities; 70% by 2050

•Top 100 U.S. cities account for 75% of its GDP; top 100 cities in the world generate nearly 40% of global GDP

•80% of global carbon emissions are produced by cities with over 50,000 people

•Cultural product of the world is created primarily by artists, thought-leaders, and entrepreneurs who thrive in cities

…get cities right, and you

get the world right.

“The age of nations is over: The

new urban age has begun.”

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Meta-Community •Civic Shift participants build capacity and civic infrastructure (skills, methods, measures, etc.) to engage a growing number of neighborhoods & stakeholders for greater societal well-being, in Boston and beyond

Health Stewardship

Team

Neighborhood Stewardship Team •Residents and other stakeholders come together to find ways to shift community & workplace practices (e.g., self-care norms, campaigns, health-care plans, etc.) to increase screening and early treatment rates

City-wide Community of Practice •Members of multiple stewardship teams and other key players (including communities, institutions, and stakeholder coalitions) share ideas, innovate, and collaborate on city-wide projects and policy efforts

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Illustrative²

¹For example, screening rates for highly preventable cervical and colon cancers are ~65% & 20% (respectively) in low-income neighborhoods, versus 85% and 40% in the general population. Overall, screening rates are far below optimal: U.S. 2020 goals for cervical and colectoral are 93% and 70%.

SCS Solution: Civic stewardship participants lead shifts in practices, programs, and policies; beginning in several neighborhoods and expanding from there

Civic Problem: Cancer screening and early treatment rates are far below targets, incurring significant human and financial costs, especially in low-income neighborhoods¹

Results: • Screening and early-treatment rates in participating

neighborhoods targeted to improve by 10% in 2 years • Considerable reduction in human and financial costs • New civic capacity for addressing other health issues

²This case illustration draws on an NCI-led effort in 4 cities across 3 states

Civic Shift Model

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Collective efforts to shift

community practices

Community Outcomes

Wellbeing

Efficacy

Assets

Stewardship Capability

Leadership Development

Environment Design

Measures Monetization

Civic Media Methods

Community Structures

Shared Purpose

Issue Expertise

Nationally, pioneering community-based initiatives are applying many of the approaches outlined here.¹ Now the challenge is to help communities accelerate development of leading-edge stewardship capabilities.

¹See examples highlighted in Voices from the Field III (Kubisch et al., 2010) and What Works for America’s Communities (Anderson et al., 2012). Research on “collective efficacy,” defined as “social cohesion combined with shared expectations of social control,” shows that urban neighborhoods with greater stewardship capacity perform better in areas such as health and safety than comparable communities (Sampson, 2012, p. 27). Finally, a growing number of “collective impact” initiatives show the power of systematic methods, measures, and multi-stakeholder structures for improving education and other outcomes.

Scale

Influence

People

Infrastructure

Ideas

Place

Virtual

Blended

Physical Communities

Institutions Critical Mass

Proximity

All sectors

Faith

Culture

Practice & Interest Local nexus

Inter-city mesh promotes global dissemination of ideas and innovations and builds collective capacity for change worldwide

National and international entities play support roles as cities take the lead to ensure policies, methods, and resources are applied effectively at the local level

Cities foster intensive interactions among people and institutions with diverse perspectives, associations, and capabilities. This “creative abrasion” generates new ideas, relationships, and enterprises; and positions urban citizens to connect with peers locally & globally.

Global node

City with stewardship communities

Nation

National or transnational government or NGO

City Mesh Legend

Friends & Family

Functions

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Resources

“By making communities of our cities we take a giant stride toward world community, and in the end lasting peace will come when…world community has been achieved.” -- Lawrence Hayworth, The Good City

Facebook interactions across cities worldwide (source)

6 William M. Snyder / CivicStewardship.com