Program Information: Civic health is the manner in which communities come together to define and address public problems. Whether the issue is affordable housing, decreased funding for schools, an aging population, failing infrastructure, or racial inequities, the problems are big, complicated and not easily solved. Further, individuals within communities may have different views on, and be affected differently, by the issues. Is the civic health where we live strong enough to help our community do the hard work that needs to be done?
Asking and considering this question has never been more important as it is in 2025, when we see record levels of public distrust in key institutions, polarization among our community members, decline in local media, and serious questions about the strength of democracy worldwide.
The UW-Madison Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies, along with a coalition of nonpartisan organizations, partnered with the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) to publish the inaugural report on civic health in Wisconsin in 2020, which provided basic information about the state of Wisconsin’s civic health, and served as a launch for the Civic Health of Wisconsin Initiative, a nonpartisan, coalition-based effort to connect and promote civic health efforts, and gain a better understanding of civic health opportunities and challenges, across Wisconsin communities and the state as a whole.
Four years later, the Initiative continues to collect data to better understand Wisconsin’s civic health, and serves as a supportive hub for civic engagement efforts in Wisconsin communities and innovative new approaches to civic health.
The Initiative’s Second Civic Health of Wisconsin report is due for publication in early 2025. With the publication of the Second Report, the Initiative will invite Wisconsin community members to come together to review the findings of the Report and consider what they can do to strengthen civic health.
This program will discuss key indicators of civic health, findings of the Second Civic Health of Wisconsin Report, and the most pressing challenges and most hopeful opportunities at hand for Wisconsin’s civic health. Participants will explore strategies for improvement of civic health locally and across Wisconsin and share about their own civic health experiences and insights.