At the CCE, we define "community engagement" as Collaborative efforts to invest in the common good, contributing to the quality of life and shared democratic futures of communities within and beyond campus. Community engagement can include direct service, but it can also include other forms of engagement. We encourage you to think expansively and intentionally about the types of work that you consider community engagement, and what strategies of collective action you'd like to use to affect social change. Below, we articulate some of the core forms of community engagement that we honor.

If you have questions about whether or not work you are interested in "counts" as community engagement for the CCE program you are involved in (CES, 厘米/秒, 或邦纳), please set up a conversation with CCE staff and we can decide together if it's a good fit for your commitments.

If you are looking for ways to engage but are not sure where to begin, check out our "Pathways to Engagement" section on the CCE学生中心 网页!

Supporting Community-Identified Social, Environmental Needs

• 直接及间接服务: Working to address the needs of individuals, communities, organizations, or ecosystems. Direct service involves contact with the people or places being served, and indirect service is the behind-the-scenes work of supporting the organizations or structures that serve populations.
• • 基于项目的参与: Skilled work with a clear beginning, end, and outcome that contributes to more ongoing efforts (e.g. creative works such as a video or brochure, collaborating on an event, etc.).

Organizing 人 to Mobilize Change

• 社区组织: Building power toward collective action by organizing individuals affected by an issue into collectives (organizations, 协会, collectives) with a shared vision and shared work. Process of establishing groups is both a means and an end; the agenda of the group is co-created inductively.
• • 身份组织: Political activity and organizing grounded in the shared experiences of 不公正 of members of social groups that aim to secure the political freedom, 民族自决, and value of a marginalized constituency (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Changing Culture (Ideas, Perspectives, Knowledge)

• 讲故事的活动: Efforts to witness and share 叙述 and lived experiences of the impacts of 不公正, 社会问题, or grassroots solutions; often aims to center marginalized voices, 叙述, 知识的形式(e.g. blog, historical re搜索, contribution to news outlets, storytelling events, etc.)
• 促进“公共领域”: Contribute to public dialogue or discourse on important issues through communication or creative efforts (e.g op-ed, radio show, artistic expression, theater)
• 对话与教育: Efforts to learn together and from one another, and educate others and ourselves about shared issues, 不公正, collective solutions and individual changes to work toward change.
• Community-Engaged研究:解决公共问题, producing applied knowledge that is relevant to social change and disseminated directly to those who can act on the information.

不断变化的政治制度

• 政策及管治: Participating in political processes, policymaking, and public governance. (E.g. political re搜索 to inform policymaking, 争取投票, or participation in political decision-making)
• Activism, Protest, and Social Movements: Working to mobilize collective action to promote or resist change in society. Often involves efforts to raise awareness or consciousness of a shared grievance, or express dissent against a decision or change. Often has a political goal, but can also seek to change culture.

变化的市场

• 社会企业家精神: Seeking to use innovative market-based business models (nonprofit and for profit) to solve pressing social and environmental problems

Community engagement may be provided directly or indirectly, meaning the work can be done directly with other people or can be project-based. These projects should be designed to assist an organization with other activities, like writing a press release or preparing a curriculum, and these activities may be facilitated through a student-initiated project or CC student organization. We strongly encourage students to engage with a 高影响力合作伙伴网站!