According to the Participatory Budgeting Project, a nonprofit aimed to introduce participatory budgeting into more communities; participatory budgeting (PB) is “a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget.” In other words, PB enables those who live in the community to identify the issues that matter the most to them and work in tandem with the government to make lasting decisions on how their tax dollars will be spent to make valuable improvements.

As cities around the world move towards a more sustainable way of life, it’s important to have an understanding of the different terminology that is used and its implications on environmental issues. Each citizen can make an impact on their community and their environment, by simply being more informed on the issues. We have access to so much information, but it can be overwhelming. This resource breaks down a list of environmental words and phrases you may hear in the news or read in an article. Under each word is a brief definition along with websites that have more information.

When you approach community problems, mindfulness can broaden your perspective. You can gain awareness of the context surrounding a problem, and the layered and diverse perspectives of those affected by the problem, whatever the problem may be.

The National Issues Forum issue advisory states that one in five Americans will have mental health problems in any given year. But, many individuals feel that mental health is not being treated appropriately, and that dangerous mental illnesses are going undetected and untreated. Therefore, the driving question in this resource is: How can we reduce the impact of mental health problems in America?

The authors of “Equality and Equity in Deliberation: Introduction to the Special Issue” state that inclusion is a foundation of deliberative democracy. But should programs focus on equity or equality in their process of dialogue and deliberation?

“Repairing the Breach: The Power of Dialogue to Heal Relationships and Communities” is a resource written by Robert R. Strains Jr. as a part of the Public Conversations Project. This project, now called Essential Partners, focuses on dialogue about difficult topics, such as gender, race, and sexuality. The resource was published in the Journal of Public Deliberation in 2014. The Journal of Public Deliberation collects research and projects with a focus on deliberative democracy.

How Should We Prevent Mass Shootings in Our Communities? Mass shootings have devastating effects on communities. Much of the discussion surrounding this topic is often polarized and charged with emotion, making it difficult to come to a solution.

While many individuals are coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender at an earlier age, schools are not adapting to meet these student’s needs and prevent discrimination. In addition, many states do not have anti-discrimination laws to protect LGBT youth from violence and harassment. 

What does it take to not just listen to youth, but to involve this in the planning and visioning stages of a project? Involving young people in a coalition, and getting youth to come to events and have their voice be heard, requires reflection on a wide range of issues. This resource is helpfully organized as a series of challenges that are all paired with specific strategies to employ. Below are five of those challenges with one sample strategy. Notice that engaging youth often requires you to rethink your own vision, priorities, and assumptions.