Community Resources from the Co-Intelligence Institute

See also: Community Co-Intelligence

Deep Democracy and Community Wisdom describes a simple theory about why a community can be wiser than an individual: an individual is limited by their single perspective, whereas a community contains many perspectives, diverse capacities, wide-rangling knowledge. An important task of government and leadership is helping communities translate their diversity into usable wisdom.

Functions that Make Up Community Intelligence (html or downloadable Word document) lists the functions and the processes that support those functions. Approaches to Communjity Engagement and the Generation of Community Wisdom (html or downloadable Word document) gives a one-paragraph description of each of those (almost 50) processes and a link to further information. A map of Community Intelligence and some of its important constituents (pdf) shows the way the CII thinks about the processes and functions of community intelligence. The CII often uses the Functions writeup and the Map together as a two-sided briefing sheet, augmented by the Approaches document.

Designing Multi-Process Programs for Public Participation - Explores how to weave together multiple processes to serve various purposes. Communities that want to build local community intelligence capacity will be particularly interested in the sections on Designing for Community Intelligence and Some Functions that Serve Community Intelligence and Some Processes that Support those Functions. And this is only the tip of the iceberg of Multiple-Approach Studies and Compilations.

Other articles and compilations

Ways to make a Community Stronger, Wiser, More Resilient and Engaged - an outline for a course offering 26 approaches to making a better community.

Co-Intelligence and the Holistic Politics of Community Self-Organization describes, from a permaculture perspective, some design principles for self-organizing communities. Includes notes on leadership, co-intelligence, a couple of dozen tools for self-organization and dialogue, the spectrum of politics and the powerful formula REPRESENTATIVE DIVERSITY + CONSENSUS PROCESS = POLITICAL WISDOM.

A toolbox of co-intelligent processes for community work

Principles of Public Participation - Lists of guidelines from The International Association for Public Participation, The Community Development Society and the Co-Intelligence Institute.

Here are some of the stories on this site that relate to community

Measuring Community Health
Sustainable Racine
Ordinary Folks Recommend Good Policy
Chattanooga's Adventure in Revitalization
Curitiba, Brazil - "The Best City in the World"
Circles and Dress Codes
Canadian Adversaries Dream Together
Citizen Study Circles
Future Search in Kansas City
Chattanooga's Adventure in Revitalization
Curitiba, Brazil - "The Best City in the World"
It all began in a Fertilizer Factory
Life Song
Measuring Community Health
Sustainable Racine
Ordinary Folks Recommend Good Policy

These are "imagineering" visionary stories that could happen

Imagining Collectively Intelligent Communities
Pat & Pat, a view from 2020

See also

Community Co-Intelligence

Deliberation

Democracy and Politics