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Who We Are
The Civic Canopy is an inclusive network of partners working together to build stronger neighborhoods, healthier communities, and a more civil society.
What We Do
Through community dialogues, collaborative projects, and communication among network partners, the Canopy promotes a deeper understanding of civic challenges and more effective ways to solve them together. Just as the rainforest thrives beneath the protective network of trees in its canopy, civil society thrives when we connect the efforts of each to the good of all.
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| |  Three goals guide the work of The Civic Canopy:
1. To foster dialogue throughout Colorado.
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The Canopy will use dialogue as a tool for promoting more thoughtful conversations around public issues at all of its public gatherings.
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The Canopy will support and extend the work of groups who use dialogical approaches to identify and solve issues facing our community.
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By improving coordination and communication among participants, the Canopy will improve the quality of dialogue on civic issues throughout Colorado. The Canopy will further enhance this effort by acting as the convener for the Colorado Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools and by organizing a variety of public meetings and forums addressing civic engagement issues.
2. To promote communication and coordination among participants.
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The Canopy will create a website with a variety of civic engagement tools and resources available for public use.
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Through this website, the Canopy will also offer a database of organizations and individuals who are actively involved in promoting civic engagement.
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Through the website, database, meetings, and other efforts to bring participants together, the Canopy will work to build consensus through dialogue on effective strategies to increase civic engagement in Colorado communities.
- The Canopy will also help participants seek and receive support from each other in efforts to acquire funding for their work.
3. To develop common indicators of civic health
- The Canopy will identify a series of indicators (examples might include voting, volunteering, and political engagement) to gauge Colorado's civic health and will seek support for these indicators from local groups all across the state.
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The Canopy will gather data on the indicators over time, and will use these data to regularly publish a report documenting changes in Colorado's civic health.
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As part of goals two and three below, the Canopy's report will be used to help promote dialogue among both Canopy participants and the public at large. | |
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| |  In summer 2003, a group of individuals and organizations who are deeply committed to increasing the level of civic engagement in Colorado – especially among youth – came together to identify a strategy for increasing the impact of their work. It became immediately apparent to this group that there was a wide range of organizations operating in all corners of the state working to promote and create a healthy, active citizenry.
Yet these organizations and programs were, in many cases, operating in isolation. They lacked the means to coordinate their efforts and learn from each other in an organized, meaningful way. The Civic Canopy was created as a diverse, non-partisan network to help facilitate collaboration to promote a healthier civic life in Colorado. | |
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