Civic Engagement
The Civic Engagement Committee promotes civic education and engagement, to help citizens better understand local government.
Project Background:
The Civic Engagement Committee’s role is to promote civic education and engagement, to help citizens better understand local government, to foster a positive sense of community, and to prepare the next generation of local government managers. To that end, the committee has prepared a guide to facilitate the sharing of successful civic education practices for VLGMA members. A copy of the guide is available on this page. Information included on this site has been provided by VLGMA members.
This site is a perpetual work-in-progress, and we welcome additional information about what your locality is doing to promote the work of local government education.
For more information please contact Michael Stallings, Committee Chair at mstallings@smithfieldva.gov
The Civic Engagement Committee is pleased to provide this online civic education resource to VLGMA members and local government professionals. This guide has been developed to assist VLGMA members in learning about successful civic education programs and tools to increase citizen understanding and participation in local government. Developed as a primary information resource, this online guide will assist VLGMA members in learning what their colleagues across the state are doing in regards to civic education and provide successful program models that can be adapted to communities across the Commonwealth. In addition to the information on successful civic education models in Virginia, this site provides links to other states and organizations that provide innovative civic education programs and tools.
The guide is organized into eight areas:
Youth, Teen and Student Programs
Citizen Participation
Citizen Training
Public Information
Other Successful Civic Education Programs
Civic Education Links
Resource Guide Evaluation
On behalf of the Civic Engagement Committee, we hope you find these resources to be useful and beneficial in engaging your community in the importance and value of local government services and citizen participation.
Revised VLGMA Teacher's Resource Guide
Survey and Participating Locality Contacts (Updated)
Local Government Education Proclamation Template 2020
ICMA's Coloring Book about Local Government
Resources:
Updated Materials:
Monthly Articles
Harris Civic Engagement August 2021
Jones Virginia Resources Authority Civic Engagement October 2018
Pearisburg Vittum Cloverbuds Take Over Town Hall; November 2015
Civic Engagement Roster
The Civic Engagement Committee, per the VLGMA strategic plan, is to develop a civic engagement program and/or resources that facilitate citizen participation to enhance involvement in the civic process. To achieve this important goal the committee is active in collecting locality best practices to share with our members, creating resources materials for use by localities in partnership with our local schools, promoting the annual April Local Government Education Week, and updating the VLMGA website. The work is shared among committee members and includes two meetings a year tied to the conference, one e-newsletter articles per committee member and as needed email/conference calls in between the committee meetings. This committee also helps to plan and organize DAO meetings.