Program targets decline of civic organizations
A community’s “social capital” is defined as the value of all social networks within a geographic area. Unfortunately since the 1960s, social capital has steadily declined in cities and neighborhoods. This is well documented in Robert Putnam’s ground breaking thesis “Bowling Alone,” focusing on society’s decreasing participation in its neighborhoods, civic associations and service organizations.
The Cincinnati area and Montgomery are no exception. Traditional civic groups have found it difficult to attract new and younger members and foster growing and successful projects. Nationally, many groups are just a shell of what they were 25 years ago. Putman argues the following reasons.
- Urban Sprawl (10%)
- Two career families (10%)
- Generational trends (30%)
- Television/electronic entertainment (30%)
- Other factors (10%)
Why are social capital and citizen engagement so important? Studies show that communities with higher levels of social capital are likely to have higher educational achievement, better performing governmental institutions, improved economic growth, less teen crime and violence, and the residents are generally happier, healthier and live longer.
In a conversation with Montgomery’s civic groups and institutions over the last several months, a variety of common themes, challenges and goals have come to light:
- Club or Organizational sustainability
- Relevancy of efforts
- Visibility
- Attraction of new members
- Effective communication across groups
To help foster a community conversation about these topics and form strategic collaborations and projects among groups, a series of sessions are being professionally facilitated.
If you are a member of a local civic group that is experiencing some, or all, of the symptoms above and would like to join in consolidated efforts, call Ray Kingsbury, Director of Citizen Engagement, at 792-8359.