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Citizens Make the Future: A Map for Civic Participation
On June 1-2, the inaugural National Day of Civic Hacking will take place in cities across the United States, bringing together governments, organizations, and citizens to create new solutions for 21st century governance challenges. Participants will have access to experts, government datasets, and open-source code to take on a curated challenge or pursue their own projects. The Institute for the Future believes this type of self-organized, collaborative initiative can lead to the most creative and innovative forms of civic participation. But how can we ensure that the outcomes of the over 95 civic hacking events are impactful today and robust enough to make the future?
We created Citizens Make the Future, a map to help frame the national conversation around the next decade’s most significant opportunities and challenges in civic governance. The map poses questions to stimulate discussion and align hackday projects with five futures—better governance, more resilient communities, a stronger economy, a more creative society, and healthier neighborhoods—that also address today’s needs. The map is based on our future of governance and future of civic engagement research and our experience helping others visualize the future. All five futures presented in the map begin with what civic hackers can imagine, invent, and make on the National Day of Civic Hacking and beyond.
Interested in Participating?
- Download the Citizens Make the Future map and use it at any National Day of Civic Hacking event! The map is printer and tablet-ready, so be sure to share it with others as you hack together. A full list of participating National Day of Civic Hacking locations is available on hackforchange.org.
- Discuss the Citizens Make the Future questions and hacking projects at #hackforchange and follow @civichackingday. Follow IFTF’s Governance Futures Lab on Facebook and Twitter (@GovFuturesLab) for more information about the future of social invention.
In the Palo Alto Area?
On Saturday, June 1, downtown Palo Alto will be transformed into a family-friendly celebration of ideas and civic innovation, including robotics, a maker space, a design-thinking learning lab, a technology farmers market, local food, and live music. View the schedule of activities and speakers on hackpaloalto.org, follow @HackPaloAlto, and remember to use the map to engage with fellow Palo Alto civic hackers.
Join us as we Make the Future together!