Engage

WHYY holds civic dialogues around the region, working with its partner, the Penn Project for Civic Engagement.

These structured, moderated discussions aim to clarify public issues. They are stimulating, informative and fun. You’re invited to take part.

Recent Events: NewCORE: NewsWorks is part of the regional New Conversation on Race and Ethnicity, an interfaith group seeking to meet Barack Obama’s call to “form a more perfect union” through a more candid, healing dialogue on race and class. View the video above and also here.

Young Involved Philadelphia participated in a government forum in September inside City Hall as part of its “State of Young Philly” series.

 

Here’s a summary of recent or ongoing WHYY/NewsWorks civic dialogues, done in cooperation with the University of Pennsylvania’s Project for Civic Engagement:

 

Asian-American Town Hall

In 2009, more than 80 members of the local Asian-American community came to WHYY for a town meeting co-sponsored with the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian-American Affairs.

 

Common Ground

In winter 2010, WHYY and PPCE worked with the Philadelphia City Zoning Commission to hold a citywide series of workshops to gather input from civic groups and developers on how a new city zoning code should work. More.

 

Decision Delaware

Working with a grant from the C.E. Bennett Foundation, WHYY held a series of voter forums around Delaware to find out what issues and questions were most on the minds of First State voters as they elected a new U.S. senator and congressman. Questions generated at the forums were asked of the candidates on WHYY televised debates. View the U.S. Senate and the House debates.

 

Minds on the Edge

In 2009, WHYY held a series of forums to explore problems in the region’s behavioral health system, responding to the PBS’ special “Minds on the Edge: A Fred Friendly Seminar.” Forums were underwritten by the Scattergood Foundation. More.

 

NewCORE

The New Conversation on Race and Ethnicity is an effort, housed at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, to respond to a challenge Barack Obama issued in his April 2008 speech on race at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Obama challenged Americans to move their nation to “towards a more perfect union” by having more honest, healing conversations about race and class. In the last two years, NewCORE has held series of events, including two citywide dialogues at City Hall, to explore ways to nurture such conversations around the region. Watch the video below to learn more.

 

NewsWorks community forums

In spring 2010, the NewsWorks team held four community forums in northwest Philadelphia – in Manayunk, West Oak Lane, Germantown and Chestnut Hill – to hear from residents what issues they most wanted to see NewsWorks cover. More than 120 people attended.

 

State of Young Philly

In fall 2010, WHYY and NewsWorks helped the Young Involved Philadelphia group plan and hold this series of forums on this demographic’s ideas and dreams for the city around the topics of government, arts and culture, entrepreneurship and volunteerism.  A concluding event was held Oct. 1 at WHYY’s Hamilton Public Media Commons, attended by more than 200 people.  Among those who spoke were Mayor Nutter and state Treasurer Rob McCord.  The video above captures the scene at the government forum in September inside City Hall.

 

Tight Times, Tough Choices

In early 2009, WHYY and PPCE convened four community workshops to help Philadelphia citizens understand the issues behind the city’s budget crisis, and to give structured, useful input to the Mayor and City Council as they debated the next city fiscal plan. More than 1,700 people attended, and Mayor Nutter incorporated numerous suggestions from the forums into his proposed budget. Learn more.

 

The New Conversation on Race and Ethnicity is an effort, housed at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, to respond to a challenge Barack Obama issued in his April 2008 speech on race at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.