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Technology is everywhere, but often not being used where it could most benefit people. In cities and towns, counties and universities - where resources are stretched and day-today operations are all-consuming - it can be difficult to learn what is available that would make the biggest difference. We scour the marketplace for new ways to solve the biggest challenges and we provide that information so that it can profoundly improve the quality of life for citizens and the efficiency of local government.

The University of Illinois at Chicago's Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement (IPCE) is committed to transforming democracy by creating a more fully engaged community with more effective leaders. We create opportunities for scholars, concerned citizens, students, community leaders, elected officials, and the public to actively participate in social discourse, research and educational programs on policy issues and social trends.

Fiscal policy can be a matter of life and death David Stuckler and Sanjay Basu "Then the president of Iceland took a radical step: asking the people what they wanted to do. In March 2010, 93% of the Icelandic people voted against financing a bailout for foreign savers of Icesave Bank through draconian budget cuts. Instead, Iceland stabilized healthcare spending. Thanks to this boost to the nation's universal healthcare system, no one lost access to healthcare even as the cost of imported medicines rose as an effect of the devaluation of the Icelandic Krona. There was no significant rise in suicides or depression. Nor were there any significant infectious disease outbreaks. Indeed, last year GDP growth was 2.7%, and unemployment rates have fallen below 5%. Having seen the results, the IMF turned tail, praising Iceland's successful approach."

E APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY PRINCIPLES The Core Principles of Appreciative Inquiry, which describe the basic tenets of the underlying Ai philosophy, were developed in the early 1990's by David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva (Cooperrider's advisor at Case Western Reserve University). The five original principles are: Constructionist, Simultaneity, Anticipatory, Poetic, and Positive.

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank. We are dedicated to informing and improving public policy in California through independent, objective, nonpartisan research. PPIC is independent, with no government, university, or charitable affiliations.

The Center for Communication and Civic Engagement is dedicated to understanding communication processes and media technologies that facilitate positive citizen involvement in politics and social life. CCCE is located in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington, and co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science. Students and faculty at the center work together on original research, new educational programs, policy recommendations, and Web-based citizen resources. 

The following is a collection of tools from ABCD faculty members as well as individuals and organizations that embody the principles of ABCD in their work. The addition of the toolkit was made possible by a generous grant from the Alumnae of Northwestern University, the institute's former home.

The rise of the state is a key marker in the evolution of human society. States typically emerged when one chiefdom (amid a competing set of chiefdoms) achieved a greater and more effective level of organization.
Despite the presence of similar conditions, some states rose and flourished while some advanced chiefdoms never passed the threshold into statehood. Why states emerged in some places and not others, why they arose independently in six places around the world starting about 5,000 years ago, and why their rise was usually associated with the growth of cities, are fascinating questions for anthropologists. Answers to these questions could offer insights into today's urban systems.

For over 200 years we have been helping people and organizations develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed. We develop digital education, learning, assessment, and certification solutions to help universities, businesses, and individuals move between education and employment and achieve their ambitions. By partnering with learned societies, we support researchers to communicate discoveries that make a difference. Our online scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, books, and other digital content build on a 200-year heritage of quality publishing.

This eTextbook contains the system-scientific contents taught at the Institute of Systems Sciences, Innovation and Sustainability Research (SIS) at the University of Graz

The CCI is an award-winning University Center that informs and supports evidence-based climate action.

Despite its remarkable achievements during the 20th century, the economic system of the past cannot continue into the future without a fundamental transformation. The science is irrefutable. The exponential growth of compound investment returns and, by extension, the exponential growth of the economy's material throughput demanded by the financial system, has positioned our global economy on a collision course with the finite physical boundaries of the biosphere. At the same time, this relentless and narrow pursuit of exponential growth of returns on invested capital, without reference to universally acknowledged moral and ethical values, is contributing to an ever-widening and destabilizing wealth gap, and security crises around the globe.

The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, the print disabled, and the general public. Our mission is to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge.

Placekey is a free, universal standard identifier for any physical place, so that the data pertaining to those places can be shared across organizations easily. However, Placekey goes beyond just an identifier. It's a movement of organizations and individuals that prize access to data. Placekey members want geospatial data that is easily joined and combined...because real answers come from combining data from many different sources. It is a philosophy that data should be easy to access, and data should not be hoarded. These members believe that data, when combined, can do massive good.

Directors: This website is run by Jonathan Haidt at NYU-Stern, Matt Motyl at the University of Virginia, and Ravi Iyer at the University of Southern California. We exercise some light editorial oversight, but the content here is provided by a network of contributors who, we can assume, do not all agree with everything that the other contributors have written. We selected the initial contributors for the excellence of their research and the diversity of their perspectives. The content on each page can be assumed to reflect the views of the editor listed at the bottom of that page, unless the content is specifically signed by another contributor. In 2012 we will gradually develop a set of policy recommendations that are supported by the large majority of the contributors.

Large-scale, long-term restoration Since 2013, we have worked tirelessly to build a universal proof of concept that brings farmers, landowners, entrepreneurs, communities, nature organisations and legislators together to create real returns on investment per hectare. Called 4 Returns, this framework is capable of initiating, organising and following through on large-scale and long-term restoration initiatives that integrate ecology, land use and business.

National Issues Forums (NIF) is a network of civic, educational, and other organizations, and individuals, whose common interest is to promote public deliberation in America. It includes civic clubs, religious organizations, libraries, schools, and many other groups that meet to discuss critical public issues. Forum participants range from teenagers to retirees, prison inmates to community leaders, and literacy students to university students.

"Economics in universities is narrow, uncritical and detached from the real world. It is dogmatically taught from one perspective as if it is the only legitimate way to study the economy. There is no room for the critical discussion and debate that is essential for any student to engage with real world economic problems. Seminars are focused on memorising and regurgitating academic theory, whilst exams test how well students can solve abstract equations.

Andrew Millison has obeen designing, building, and teaching about Permaculture since he took his first course in 1996. He began teaching Permaculture at the college level in 2001 and has been an instructor at Oregon State University in the Horticulture Department since 2009. Andrew currently teaches the Permaculture Design Course at OSU both on campus and online.

Matt Powers is an author, educator, seed saver, gardener, and entrepreneur focused on radically transforming the entire K-12 education system through the collegiate system as well as the economy such that it aligns with regenerative science, natural principles, and permaculture ethics: Earth Care, People Care, & Future Care. Matt, a former public high school teacher with a Masters degree in Education, is the author of the first government accredited permaculture curriculum in North America (fully cited, peer-reviewed, & aligned to national standards), and his work continues to spread in schools, colleges, and universities globally with over a dozen books in 6 languages and 9 online courses.