The Civic Infrastructure Scan relies on interviews with community and grassroots leaders, news media analysis, social media network mapping, and other methodologies to examine the civic infrastructure in a community or state.
These scans offer a multi-pronged approach to understanding factors that can help shape an effective engagement project, including assets, challenges, histories, and resources such as networks or individual leaders.
The Engagement Scans pay particular attention to the intersection of equity and engagement. They can help people to:
- learn about the engagement experiences of underrepresented communities
- identify community assets for engagement, including existing partner organizations, networks, and best practices
- identify challenges for engagement, including current barriers to participation, and dynamics that complicate participation such as histories of discrimination and inequity.