EGP.Community – Ephemeral Group Process

This situation allows communities to ask basic questions about civic engagement again, as if for the first time:

• What does effective community problem solving and sense making involve?
• What is the next step in the evolution of community-level problem solving, after voting, after consensus, and after control of expertise?
• What allows a group of people to communicate, reach understandings, and create empathetic bonds, even in conditions of difference and uncertainty?
• What kind of conversations and process need to take place for people to feel they are part of a community?

New questions can be asked about the foundations of our collective lives:

• In what ways can digital technologies be used to improve in-person interactions during civic engagements?
• What is known about psychology, group dynamics, and human behavior that is relevant to community-level choice making?
• What can be drawn upon in other areas, such as design science and anthropology, to build better forms of civic practice?

Human capabilities are changing, and there are questions to ask about the kinds of skills and abilities we will need to handle future challenges:

• What are the skills and processes that enable powerful and transformative conversations?
• What are the values and commitments that enable collaborative problem solving and effective collaboration?
• What are the capabilities required for individuals to play a role in future civic practices?

Finally, there are questions about the feasibility of creating a new form of civic engagement:

• How can an organization design and implement new forms of civic process without succumbing to political dynamics as we know them?
• Who are the people that will work to answer the questions in all categories above?
• When is it possible to re-design the basic structure of community life on a large scale?