Dialogues for Change is a joint initiative with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the German Federal Ministry for Transport, Building and Urban Development, and German Federal Institute for Research on Building Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR).  Its purpose is to build and support a network of practitioners and policymakers in the US and Germany that engages in a dialogue around civic engagement best practices, challenges, and opportunities. 

Program Overview

The Urban and Regional Policy Program of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is supported by German Ministry of Transport, Building, and Urban Development (the German Ministry) through the Federal Institute for Research on Building Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) to develop an intensive program of exchanges between selected US and German cities. The Program, Addressing Common Challenges, Finding Common Solutions, grew out of the Declaration of Intent between the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the German Ministry which seeks to jointly tackle substantive topics, such as community engagement, energy retrofits/efficiency, economic development and restructuring policies in cities in transition, and regional sustainable development. The first year of activities framed as the Dialogues for Change initiative will explore innovative civic engagement strategies in sustainable development processes. GMF will convene leaders from three American and three German cities for intensive peer exchanges, as well as develop and conduct a study tour of US cities for a delegation of German leaders.

Network Cities

United States: Austin, TX, Flint, MI, Memphis, TN

Germany: Bottrop, Leipzig, Ludwigsburg

Year 1: Dialogues for Change: Innovative Civic Engagement in Sustainable Development Processes: The Educonomy Alignment

Peer Exchange Summary & Outcomes

The focus of year one is exchanging strategies and tools for integrating civic dialogue into sustainable development processes – from visioning to implementation. The term civic dialogue is used here to suggest a conversation about developing sustainable communities that occurs between individuals and groups representing a range of different sectors, including civil society, government, private sector, anchor institutions, and philanthropy. The Dialogues for Change program will also explore moving local civic dialogues beyond project (or plan) level community engagement, to a broader, continuous discussion about the future of inclusive and sustainable cities. With the US and Germany facing similar shifts in demographics, fiscal constraints, and increasing pressure to reinvigorate the urban core, there is a strong need to build local capacity to have a sustained and meaningful public dialogue around the impact of these changes and how to manage them effectively.

Programmatic Objectives

The Dialogues for Change (D4C) program will:

• Build a US/German learning network that explores the opportunities and challenges around innovative approaches to civic engagement;
• Inspire participants with information, tools, and techniques to improve civic engagement processes and outcomes in their home communities by providing a forum to give and receive expert and peer advice; and 
• Identify and widely disseminate program outcomes, as well as best/promising practices from participating cities

Workshop #1: January 2013, Washington DC

The first peer exchange workshop consisted of a series of highly interactive sessions that sought to balance the input of outside experts, provided opportunities for participants to interact with their colleagues from other cities, and time to work with colleagues from their own cities on how to apply new ideas to their unique situation.  Specific workshop goals included:

• Present and discuss important, cross-cutting themes for successful civic engagement (diversity and inclusion in the engagement process; designing successful engagement practices; the civic engagement toolkit; and growing civic engagement infrastructure for ongoing civic engagement practices)   
• Identify and discuss good/promising practices among participating cities for white paper, and;
• Inspire participants to identify or develop projects or topics for peer/expert review at the spring workshop.

The Dialogues for Change Initiative is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building, and Urban Development through the Federal Institute for Research on Building Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), Bank of America, and the Compagnia di San Paolo.