Durham, North Carolina: Equitable Community Engagement Blueprint

By Alanna Margulies, Democracy Cities

The Equitable Community Engagement Blueprint, drafted in collaboration with community members and implemented by the City of Durham, North Carolina, is a model to authentically engage and involve community members in every step of the City’s decision-making processes. Durham is a city with a proud history of diversity, but has faced segregation and racial tensions that plague cities across this country. The crafters of the Blueprint have not come up with a plan that will magically fix the ills of its city overnight. However, the Blueprint’s holistic decision-making process and approach for “in-community engagement” ensure that the City’s administration will have direct access to people who truly know their communities and have the experience and creativity to create policy solutions. With a focus on equity for the city’s historically under-represented populations, Durham has put the communities and people who live and work in Durham at the center of every part of the policy, development, and program-crafting processes; a philosophy from which cities across the country can benefit and learn.

You can read the case study here.