Citizens who have a way of communicating with those in charge of their city or town are more inclined to invest in their community. Crowd-sourcing and social media give communities opportunities to collaborate than ever before on the issues they think are most important. Just because you aren't an elected official doesn't mean your voice shouldn't be heard in the conversation steering change.

#GetTheMayor is a collaborative pro-bono project for the City of Heidelberg. It helps re-think how city governments are run and explores innovative ways on how to put citizens into the centre of a city’s decision-making process. The website leverages crowdsourcing, social media and technology to offer citizens a platform to get involved and engage with their local government in a way they never have before. With the help of this platform they can bring projects and issues that they are passionate about, or think should be focused on, in front of their mayor – so together they can create and collaborate for a better city.

Every Voice Engaged is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that helps citizens, governments, and nonprofit organizations solve problems that benefit from effective civic engagement. Our deliberation and strategy platform delivers actionable insights by engaging participants in an informed and active discussion. We address complex, multi-dimensional issues where there is no easy answer. Participants work together to discover their common ground. Through this process, participants are more than informed, they are engaged.

https://www.socialtech.org.uk/projects/getthemayor/

Emily Nelson

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-nelson-bbaba7183/