What's New!

Welcome to What's New on CPN! Here we list recent postings of case studies, reports, practical tools, and other resources that you will also find in the various sections of CPN.

Learning in Deed: The Power of Service Learning for America’s Schools (2002: 1.6 MB pdf), by the National Commission on Service Learning. Chaired by Senator John Glenn and funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the commission summarizes the research and key practices of service learning in K-12 schools, and offers an important policy agenda for advancing it further.

Every Student A Citizen: Creating the Democratic Self (2000: 472 KB pdf), by the National Study Group on Citizenship in K-12 Schools for the National Center for Learning and Citizenship at the Education Commission of the States. This executive summary outlines key recommendations for revitalizing schools as sites for nurturing democratic citizens, especially by engaging them in real public work in their schools and communities and through first-rate service learning.

Citizenship: A Challenge for All Generations (2003: 1.4 MB pdf), by Karl T. Kurtz, Alan Rosenthal and Cliff Zukin for the National Conference of State Legislatures provides national public opinion data on the falloff in key indicators of an engaged citizenry among younger people.

National Evaluation of Learn and Serve America (1999: 300 KB pdf), by Alan Melchior of the Center for Youth and Communities at Brandeis University, in collaboration with ABT Associates, provides an overview of service learning successes and limits for Learn and Serve, a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service.

New Student Politics The Wingspread Statement on Student Civic Engagement (2002: 176 KB pdf), by Sarah Long. Based on the national student summit convened by Campus Compact, this declaration analyzes why many students are alienated from traditional politics, yet also find many forms of community service inadequate. Building upon their experiences in service learning and university-community partnerships, the students call for more robust forms of relational politics and co-production (which they call “service politics”) to help create new bridges to productive civic and political engagement.

Returning to Our Roots: The Engaged Institution (1999: 480 KB pdf), by the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities, in collaboration with National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. Composed of some two dozen presidents, the Kellogg Commission has placed emphasis on the engaged campus as one of the core elements of renewing the covenant of land-grant universities.

We Grow People: Profiles of Extension Educators (2003: 840 KB pdf), by Scott Peters and Margo Hittleman (eds.), Cornell University Cooperative Extension. These rich profiles explore how university extension educators are reinventing the public dimensions of their work and engaging with communities as civic professionals.

Lessons from the Community Outreach Partnership Center Program (2002: 1.3 MB pdf), by Avis Vidal, Nancy Nye, and Christopher Walker of the Urban Institute. This evaluation of the COPC program at the Office of University Partnerships, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, examines the largely successful experiences of 25 university grantees and their community partners, especially nonprofit community-based organizations and neighborhood associations, and offers important lessons for improving such partnerships and engaging in strategic community revitalization.

The Citizen Therapist and the Civic Renewal Movement (2002: 160 KB pdf). William Doherty, founder of the Families and Democracy Project at the University of Minnesota, examines the ways in which family therapists can expand their imagination of how to do civic work with families and communities. Civic professionalism at its best.

Families and Democracy Project (2002: 68 KB pdf). Based upon a critique of the traditional provider/consumer models of family services, William Doherty offers case studies of families and communities engaged to reclaim control over their daily lives, such as the overscheduling of kids (Putting Family First) and caring for ill family members (Partners in Daibetes).

The New Girls Movement (2001: 236 KB pdf), by P. Catlin.Fullwood for the Collaborative Fund for Healthy Girls, Healthy Women and the Ms. Foundation for Women.. This report develops some of the core principles underlying the increasing number of projects aimed at empowering girls and young women, both in their general efforts to make real contributions to their communities and in their specific attempts to address issues such as sexual harassment, violence, and media-mediated body images that can disable girls and young women from being effective citizens and “authors of their own lives.”

New Girls Movement: New Assessment Tools for Youth Programming (2000: 1.5 MB pdf), by P. Catlin Fullwood for the Ms. Foundation for Women, presents a hands-on guide to participatory evaluation research in the new girls programming.

Empowerment Zones: A Missed Opportunity (2001: 368 KB pdf), by Marilyn Gittell and colleagues at the Howard Samuels State Management and Policy Center, examines six cities through three years of field research and turns an especially critical eye on how party politics and city bureaucracies impeded community engagement.

Environmental Justice Collaborative Model (2002: 4.3 MB pdf), developed by the Federal Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice for the U.S. EPA. Composed of representatives of 11 federal agencies, this working group explores the collaborative model that has recently gained much ground in the EJ movement and in agency practice. The report includes case studies from a broad range of agencies and types of community partners.

Advancing Environmental Justice through Pollution Prevention (2003: 1.3 MB pdf), by the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, an advisory committee to the U.S. EPA. This report examines various ways to achieve environmental justice through pollution prevention, and urges the adoption of multi-stakeholder collaborative models and increased participation and capacity building at the community and tribal levels.

Community Visioning and Strategic Planning Handbook (2000: 1 MB pdf) by Derek Okubo, is provided by the National Civic League. Based on extensive experience, this is the most comprehensive, step-by-step guide to the community visioning process, and includes how to assemble champions, broaden the stakeholder group, convene town meetings and other outreach events, assess the civic infrastructure, work with the media, and implement recommendations.

The Civic Mission of Schools, (2003, 653K pdf) by Cynthia Gibson and Peter Levine. This joint publication of the Carnegie Corporation and CIRCLE sets the agenda for a movement to renew the link between K-12 schools and democracy.It represents the consensus of some sixty leading practitioners, organizations, and researchers in the field of civic education about the need and potential of reinvigorating the civic mission of schools. It also contains a detailed policy agenda for educational institutions and administrators, state and federal policymakers, colleges and universities engaged in teacher training, researchers, and funders.

Evaluation of Community-Based Environmental Protection Projects: Accomplishments and Lessons Learned (2003: 864K), by US EPA examines the general community-based strategy, its successes and persistent challenges, and provides 5 detailed case studies: San Miguel Watershed Initiative, North Charleston/Charleston Community-Based Environmental Protection Project, Eastward Ho! in South Florida, York (Pennsylvania) Community-Based Strategic Planning and Green Development, and St. Louis Abandoned Buildings Project.

National Conversation on Youth Development in the 21st Century, (2002), by National 4-H Council. Based on 1,640 local and state conversations among some 50,000 youth and adults throughout the 4-H system marking its recent centennial, this report articulates a vision of “empowering youth as equal partners” and “equal citizens.” It includes bold recommendations on how to do this in government, schools, community organizations, and private-sector initiatives.

Community Watershed Forums: A Planner’s Guide (2002: 1.3MB), by Karen Firehock, Fran Flanigan, and Pat Devlin for the Alliance for Chesapeake Bay. Based on years of experience working with watershed groups in the Chesapeake Bay, this hands-on guide provides steps for convening citizens and multiple organizational stakeholders to develop a shared vision and collaborative restoration strategy.

Changing the Face of Giving: An Assessment of Youth Philanthropy (2001. 722K pdf). This study of best practices in youth philanthropy by Matt Rosen and Maureen Sedonaen of the Youth Leadership Institute was funded by the James Irvine Foundation.

Youth in Decision-Making: A Study on the Impacts of Youth on Adults and Organizations (2000: 672K pdf), by Shepherd Zeldin et al. for The Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development, examines the principles and practices of youth/adult partnerships and how organizations can change to provide youth a significant role in governance. Case studies drawn from 15 innovative organizations.

Principles of Estuarine Habitat Restoration: Working Together to Restore America’s Estuaries. (1999: 216K pdf), by Restore America's Estuaries and Estuarine Research Foundation. These principles combine sound science, adaptive management, multistakeholder partnerships, and citizen engagement in all aspects of the restoration process, including design, implementation, and monitoring. Includes short case studies.