Engaged Cities Award
We know that cities around the world are collaborating with their citizens to meet a wide array of challenges. Together, city leaders and residents are reducing community violence, building better budgets, creating safer streets, and much more.
That’s why Cities of Service created the Engaged Cities Award. We aim to find and elevate the diverse ways that city leaders are actively engaging their citizens to solve critical public problems.
Is your city engaged in this kind of problem-solving, world-changing work with citizens? Perhaps you are tapping into the power of citizen science initiatives to collect and analyze data. Or using community expertise to design better public services. Or crowdsourcing resident ideas to find new fixes for old problems.
The Engaged Cities Award celebrates the most effective solutions – ultimately enabling peer cities around the world to learn from, adopt, and improve upon them.
Our Philosophy
Citizen collaboration is a force for good
Local government works better when it is open to the ideas and talents of citizens and starts with an assumption that citizen collaboration is a force for good.
Citizen contributions can take many forms
Citizen contributions can take many forms, from defining and prioritizing problems to generating ideas and volunteering their time, creativity, and expertise.
Citizen expertise can help solve public problems
Citizens have deep expertise in their own lives and in what’s best for their families and communities – and this expertise can be leveraged to deliver better services and solve public problems.
What does "citizen" mean to us?
Citizens are residents who actively participate in their community and who see themselves as an integral part of their city. As citizens, we can all take part in creating better places to live, work, and play.
Learn moreThe Latest
04/23/2019
Unleash Your Geek
Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, San José, California, turned to citizens to harness the city’s world-class tech talent in tackling its problems.
Read more04/12/2019
Q&A with Sara Mogulescu
Sara Mogulescu is Executive Vice President of The Volcker Alliance and a member of the Engaged Cities Award review committee.
Read more04/05/2019
Q&A with Matt Leighninger
Matt Leigninger, Vice President of Public Engagement & Director of the Yankelovich Center at Public Agenda, has extensive experience in the area of citizen engagement. He is serving on the Engaged Cities Award review committee for the second year.
Read more04/01/2019
Q&A with Cecilia Muñoz
Cecilia Muñoz, Vice President of Public Interest Technology and Local Initiatives for New America, is a member of the Engaged Cities Award review committee.
Read more