About Positive Action Through Civic Engagement (PACE)
The Positive Action through Civic Engagement, or PACE, is an initiative to enhance public participation within the communities in Arizona to help government officials make collaborative and informed decisions.
In 2009 the city of Peoria and International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) began discussions around the true meaning of authentic public participation, specifically how we can all “hear” the voices of community members and engage them in the decision making processes that impact them. Those talks and brainstorming sessions began moving in the direction of educating citizens, businesses, government staff, and elected officials in how to enhance genuine participation from all members of the community. As momentum picked up, the identification of an annual workshop centered around Civic Engagement became the focus. Thus, PACE was born.
The first annual PACE conference was held in November 2010 and provided attendees with specific techniques and tools that can be used to generate ideas and obtain true participation from the community or other stakeholders in identifying issues and, more importantly, solutions for a better community. However, the goal of PACE goes beyond a single conference. The goal is for attendees to go back to their community, share the tools and techniques, and begin using them in order for authentic public participation to happen throughout the entire year. Additionally, we at the city of Peoria have a goal of being a model city and leader in the area of Civic Engagement.
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