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Excerpts from Civic Engagement Task Force Report (October 2012), pages 4-5 What Is Civic Engagement and Why Address It? Civic engagement or civic participation has been defined as "Individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern. Civic engagement can take many forms— individual volunteerism, volunteering on city commissions and committees, involvement with neighborhood groups or other non-profit civic organizations, and/or organizational involvement for electoral participation. It can include efforts to directly address an issue, work with others in a community to solve a problem or interact with the institutions of representative democracy." (American Psychological Association) http://www.apa, orq/education/underqrad/civic-enpapement.aspx). The engagement of citizens creates more effective government and more sound decisions. Civica/ly-engaged citizens have a stronger sense of community and knowledge of established community networks and resources; they can help the city get information out quickly, efficiently and economically; and they have a valuable role informing the City of relevant issues. As a recent article published in the League of Minnesota Cities magazine stated, "Cities across Minnesota are taking a new look at roles for volunteers and engaged citizens. As budgets get tighter, and new revenue opportunities are few and far between, the effective engagement of volunteers can be a great way to bring in new resources." (Tapping Volunteers for Results, Minnesota Cities, November- December 2011, see Appendix A.) Civic engagement is especially relevant in an inner-ring suburb such as Roseville, which has the best of urban life and suburban living. Like many other inner-ring suburbs, Roseville faces the challenges of rapid change, urban sprawl, and the growing anonymity of urban culture. These challenges can be met with a strong civic engagement infrastructure. Our Core Values Early in our process we adopted the recommended International Association for Public Participation's (IAP2) core values to guide our work (see Appendix 8). These core values were made available to the Task Force by the League of Minnesota Cities, and are as follows: Public participation... Is based on the belief that those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process. 2. Includes the promise that the public's contribution will influence the decision. 3. Promotes sustainable decisions by recognizing and communicating the needs and interests of all participants, including decision-makers. 4. Seeks out and facilitates the involvement of those potentially affected by or interested in a decision. Seeks input from participants in designing how they participate. 6. Provides participants with the information they need to participate in a meaningful way. 7. Communicates to participants how their input affected the decision. Excerpt from Task Force Report on What is Civic Engagement and Core Values pg. 1