How Foresight Can Support Civic Engagement

186 Pages·2016·4.64 MB·English

by  Aurelia Dalinda

Fuelling Our Civic Imagination: How Foresight
Can Support Civic Engagement

by

Aurelia Dalinda

Submitted to OCAD University
for partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

Master of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation

Toronto, Ontario, Canada,

August, 2016

© Aurelia Dalinda, 2016
I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this MRP. This is a true copy of the
MRP, including any final revisions, as accepted by my examiners.

I authorize OCAD University to lend this MRP to other institutions or individuals
for the purposes of scholarly research.

I understand that my MRP may be made electronically available to the public.

I further authorize OCAD University to reproduce this MRP by photocopying or
by other means, in total or in part, at the request of other institutions or
individuals for the purposes of scholarly research.

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Abstract

Civic engagement and foresight are connected ideas, as citizens utilize
their civic imagination to work towards a picture of a better future – their
preferred future. There are some key ingredients to enabling civic engagement –
social capital, a sense of belonging, and trust – which are building blocks of the
development of a sense of agency. Agency is the belief that one is capable of
action, critical for the world of today. New ideas and issues are always emerging
that have an impact on society, and communities, civil society organizations and
institutions need to be monitoring for potential impacts or threats to our
democratic ideals. By engaging with our civic imaginations, or our alternatives to
current social, political, economic or civic environments, society can start
describing what it is we are willing to work towards together. Through a horizon
scan and trends analysis, several drivers, strategies, opportunities and
recommendations are put forward to enable civic engagement, by invoking our
civic imaginations in order to ensure it remains part of our collective future.

Keywords: Civic Engagement, Citizen Engagement, Social Capital, Belonging,
Trust, Agency, Civic Imagination, Foresight.

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Acknowledgements

To my advisor, Jeremy Bowes, thank you so much for your ideas, insight,
advice, and for helping me bring my biggest research endeavours into fruition.
Thank you for your positivity and patience, and for being there for the better part
of two years, from independent study to MRP.

To my secondary advisor, Rosalyn Morrison, thank you for being involved in this
project, and your support of my efforts. Your energy, enthusiasm, and tireless
work in community engagement and philanthropy is inspiring.

To Anne Sutherland, Geoff Cape, and John Brodhead, if not for your advice and
encouragement, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Thank you for leading by
example and always proving it is possible to get the hard work done.

To all the experts interviewed, thank you for sharing your time, thoughts and
insights. Keep doing what you are doing and making an impact.

To everyone who has participated in 100in1Day, and made so many ideas come
to life - from the enthusiastic volunteers to the creative urban intervention
leaders. Thank you for your efforts in making your city a better, happier and
healthier place.

To the part-time 2013 cohort, for our time together in class, in groups and
beyond - thanks for being cheerleaders, colleagues and friends. Special thanks
to the MERP gang for your support in the last long stretch.

To my parents, thank you for always believing in me, supporting me, and
allowing me to grow into the person that I am. I owe it all to you.

To Josh, my beloved. Thank you for being a bedrock and a light in my life.

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Dedication

- To all the agents of change, you’ve shown what is possible when dreams
come to life.

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Table of Contents
List of Tables vii
List of Figures viii

Part I: Introduction 1
• 1.1 Overview & Rationale 2
• 1.2 Why is Civic Engagement Important? 5
• 1.3 The Future of Engagement 11
• 1.4 Methods & Methodology 15

Part II: Evaluating the Present 16
• 2.1 Key Ingredients for Civic Engagement 16
• 2.2 Social Capital 17
• 2.3 Belonging 21
• 2.4 Trust 24
• 2.5 Agency 27
• 2.6 Civic Engagement & Foresight 35
• 2.7 Civic Imagination 38
• 2.8 Internal Barriers to Civic Engagement 44
• 2.9 Stress 46
• 2.10 Sources of Stress 48
• 2.11 Commuting 49
• 2.12 Parenthood 50
• 2.13 Finances 51
• 2.14 External Barriers to Civic Engagement 53
• 2.15 Tokenistic Exercises 54
• 2.16 Professionalization 56
• 2.17 Are We all that Busy? 58
• 2.18 A New Hope 62
• 2.19 ROI of Civic Engagement 65

Part III: Trends in Civic Engagement 72
• 3.1 Horizon Scan and Trends Analysis 78
• 3.2 Drivers 80
• 3.3 Driver Identification 80

Part IV: Conclusion 87
• 4.1 Recommendations 89

Bibliography 93

Appendix A: Definitions of Civic Engagement 108
Appendix B: Timeline 109
Appendix C: Horizon Scan – Trend Descriptions 117
Appendix D: Drivers Analysis 147

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List of Tables

Table 1: Percentage of People Reporting High Stress pp 47
Table 2: Sources of Stress: Highly Stressed People pp 49
Table 3: Participation in Political Activities in Past 12 Months pp 64
Table 4: Driver, Strategy & Opportunity pp 86

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List of Figures

Figure 1: Social Capital: Bonding and Bridging pp 18
Figure 2: Core Properties of Agency pp 31
Figure 3: Conceptual Diagram of an Agent of Change pp 33
Figure 4: The Futures Cone pp 37
Figure 5: Civic Imagination and Nationhood pp 43
Figure 6: Sources of Stress: Finances pp 52
Figure 7: Daily Use of Screens by Canadians (per minute, 2014) pp 60
Figure 8: The Calculus of Engagement pp 66
Figure 9: List of Categorized Trends pp 79
Figure 10: Drivers of Change pp 82
Figure 11: What Will Your _____ Look Like? pp 88

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Part I: Introduction

“The world doesn't change one person at a time. It changes as networks
of relationships form among people who discover they share a common
cause and vision of what's possible.”
- Margaret Wheatley

Social change invokes ideas about human and societal progress as a result of
transformations in behaviour, values and norms. My curiosity has always
extended to the people part of social change, how they coalesce and take
action. Take for instance, the Sixties - this decade signified new ideas and
expressions, and massive cultural, political and social upheaval that has been
unparalleled, arguably up until now. Over the last decade, we have been
experiencing a similar uprooting of traditions, values, and norms, and
challenges to the status quo, where people have come together and expressed
a desire to move the needle and create change.

The changes that we wish to see in society cannot happen without networks of
citizens acting in concert with one another. Citizen engagement makes social
change possible.
1.1 Overview and Rationale

There are so many issues that deserve our attention; it is impossible to consider
them all. What matters to each of us naturally differs, so does why we engage.
Our motivations for our civic actions are deeply personal; whether based on the
interests we have at stake, our hopes to see our preferred future made possible,
where we have expertise or credentials to lend, or because we are in the pursuit
of emotional fulfillment. (Chapman, Krontiris, Krontiris, Webb, 2015) Whatever
this catalyst may be – I have come to the conclusion that it is the actions
involved that are important. My intention was to study this pathway to
engagement, in the hopes of tracing the similarities, to determine how the
findings may be used to engage others. However, the differences for each
individual are broad, and many of the motivations personal. For instance, a
parent wants to improve their child’s school, and joins the PTA; or an animal
lover without frequent access to pets volunteers at the local animal shelter;
someone new to the city wants to meet people joins a local running club.
Whatever the motivation, there are organizations, groups and resources out
there to match your interest. In Canada, for instance, there are over 170,000
non-profits and charities with which to get involved, you just have to go out and
find them. (Imagine Canada, 2003)

The foundation of these causes and what has given them the traction to get
established is citizen engagement. As a reinforcing lever of change, citizen
engagement is a fundamental aspect of a healthy, democratic society. French
political thinker and historian Alexis de Tocqueville noted that citizen

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