Village Square Partnership
Is your community impacted by a contentious decision? Has your community been split along ideological lines? Are there factions in your community that have had problems finding common ground?
The Village Square is a nationally-recognized organization that has worked in such environments, and the Davenport Institute is excited to announce a Village Square Grant Program that will bring their consulting services to your city.
The Opportunity
The Davenport Institute has teamed up with The Village Square to bring customized Village Square programs to cities in California. The Village Square offers a variety of programs from their Dinner at the Square series to Speed Date Your Local Leaders events, and their staff will help you determine what is best for your community. For a limited number of interested and qualified cities, the Davenport Institute will help cover incidental program expenses.
Unlike other public engagement programs offered through the Davenport Institute, The Village Square opportunity isn't focused on producing a recommendation or result on a particular local issue, rather it is a capacity-building grant to improve the local civic dialogue and support an ongoing constructive relationship between government and citizens around various issues for years to come.
Participating municipalities will receive training and ongoing support from The Village Square to launch their program, including development of a local Village Square website and the organizational infrastructure to build community support for future programming. You will also receive training and consultation from the Davenport Institute to build understanding and support for public engagement. Davenport and Village Square staff will work with you to design this unique public engagement series tailored to your community.