Civic Capacity Index

Community-driven change and the Civic Capacity Index

Paradigm Shift in Community Development

Over the past two decades, there has been a distinct shift in thinking regarding where the impetus for adaptation and change should come from in neighborhoods, communities, and regions. Perhaps recognizing the limitations of top-down, externally driven approaches, foundations, government agencies, and other socially-oriented institutions now aspire to encourage and support community-driven responses to adaptive challenges such as public health, education, housing, policing, and other public crises that require the community to adapt or to be resilient.

Three premises inform this thinking:

1. It is more effective in making lasting progress because a broad range of stakeholders are involved, from defining the problem to taking action to address it.
2. It is more inclusive and egalitarian, therefore more democratic.
3. Communities with the capacity for community-driven change are observably more resilient and better equipped to respond collectively as complex challenges arise.

At its core, then, community-driven change might be defined in terms of shared power between decision-makers and community members, multiple perspectives on issues, strong participation from diverse people, a focus on the common good, and decision-making processes that are equitable, authentic, and transparent.

Why Assess Community-Driven Change?

The Civic Capacity Index (CCI) is a diagnostic tool that was created in partnership by a national panel of community members, practitioners and leadership experts using a concept mapping process. Experts identified what is needed in communities for community-driven change.

While community-driven change has become the preferred mechanism that decision-makers call for to guide collective innovation, there is no broadly accepted definition of what constitutes community-driven change, nor is there a standard for what it looks like in practice. This index provides communities with a diagnostic tool to:

Inform policymakers about key mechanisms of community-driven change to leverage resources for long-term progress in collective action.

• Assess their collective capacity to respond to current and future challenges
• Identify a starting place for building community’s capacity to learn, plan and act together
• Create a deeper understanding of why some communities respond more effectively to challenges than others
• Provide a common measure for assessing the impact of community development interventions
• Strengthen community’s ability to be resilient during a crisis

Civic Capacity Index Currently Being Used in Colorado

The Civic Capacity Index is currently being piloted in rural and urban communities in Colorado. The civic capacity index assesses 6 dimensions of civic capacity. These dimensions include:

• Collaboration
• Leadership
• Inclusion
• Institutions
• Civic Culture
• Coalitions