We approach better urban planning and civic engagement from three directions:
We help city governments use the web for effective online planning engagement. We understand the dynamics of projects and public consultations, and we work hard to make software that strengthens and supports existing public outreach processes. Built on open source, our tools are flexible and extensible to suit local needs without requiring complex custom development.
- DOT Transportation Feedback Portals
- PlanningPress
Capacity building and support for open planning processes
Community groups know their patch better than anyone. But the best tools for the job might not be in their hands. In line with our mission as a non-profit, we provide capacity building and guidance on online tools, outreach, and data analysis for non-profits and community planning processes. We work with groups in NYC and nationally, on a funded and voluntary basis.
Community building and events
Sometimes, ideas and people just need a catalyst to get them going. We’ve brought civic-minded software developers together with city staff, transportation experts, community planners, and more. From a long track record of community building around open source and cities, we know the right ways to get people talking, in person and online, and ways to sustain involvement and support for groups of interest in the civic hacking, open gov, transportation and related fields.
Sample projects:
- TransportationCampMTA
- Open Data
Let’s work together
Partnerships are important to Civic Works. As well as recognizing the knowledge of citizens and local groups, we’re students of the past experience and institutional memories of neighbors, planners, activists, engineers, elected officials and others who define our communities.
We provide our software tools to progressive cities and government agencies. We partner with community groups and individuals, to equip them with new tools and skills, and in turn to learn from them. Through our work on open source software, we adopt working practices that demonstrate these principles.