Community Engagement Menu

History of Engagement in Cincinnati

 

Community Engagement has always been central to our mission of uniting and empowering the voices of Cincinnatians and those who interact with and are impacted by City services. It is the cornerstone of how the City of Cincinnati intends to make informed decisions based on the needs of our community members. With this policy, we aim to establish a framework that unifies and empowers the voices of Cincinnatians and all regular City interactors.  

Over the past several years, the City of Cincinnati has carefully considered how, where, and with whom we engage. On September 1, 2021, City Council approved Ordinance no. 0358-2021, which directed the City Manager to create a policy consistent with Council’s recommendations and goals. Those recommendations included: 

  • Policy suggestions 

  • Definitions 

  • Mission and vision for community engagement 

  • Guiding principles 

  • Guidelines for implementation and reporting.  

These elements laid out by Council sparked an extensive research and engagement process with input from community members, city staff, and organizational partners. The feedback received over this multi-year collaboration was instrumental in defining the parameters of future City-led community engagement and citizen participation efforts.

Research & Engagement

Visual timeline of community engagement innovation and improvement process.

The following strategies were implemented to discover our current community engagement strengths and areas of opportunity: 

  • The Department of City Planning and Engagement organized a series of in-person and virtual events, internal meetings, and surveys to gather input on how community members perceive community engagement.  

  • The City of Cincinnati was granted support from the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation. The Bloomberg Innovation Training Program was utilized to enhance our community engagement capabilities. It was a no-cost, year-long program that provided valuable assistance to a dedicated City team tasked with addressing the City Manager and Mayor's priority of community engagement. This assistance included instruction in the Human-Centered Design & Innovation Curriculum, specialized design coaching, and training in equity and inclusion. 

  • The team of 12 staff members from various City departments focused on creating a framework to help the Administration engage with historically excluded community members and better understand and address their needs. Representatives came from the Office of Performance & Data Analytics, Community & Economic Development, City Planning & Engagement, Transportation & Engineering, Health, Recreation, Police, and the Offices of Environment & Sustainability and Constituent Affairs. Throughout the process, City staff worked directly with community members and advocacy organizations to develop ideas for improving and innovating community engagement in Cincinnati.  

  • As a result of information gathered from community conversations and research conducted by the Bloomberg team, the Department of City Planning and Engagement hired two Community Engagement Specialists to strengthen community engagement efforts and collaborate with the Communications team in the City Manager's office, to spearhead a dedicated action team whose primary focus is to address challenges and envision a fresh approach to community engagement in the City of Cincinnati.  

After investing considerable amounts of time and resources, we’re thrilled to share the final draft of a city-wide Community Engagement Policy. As part of our commitment to transparency, we will monitor, track, and share engagement updates each fiscal year. 

READ THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT POLICY HERE