Community Building Basics
Study Circles
The Study Circles Resource Center (soon to be called Everyday
Democracy) has invested significantly in finding ways for
people to have productive conversations that lead to change.
These conversations and the tools that support them are described
below. Follow the links for more specific information.
Who Study Circles Resource Center Is
 The
Study Circles Resource Center is a national organization that helps
local communities develop their own ability to organize large-scale
and diverse participation in dialogue structured to support and
strengthen measurable community change. They work with neighborhoods,
cities and towns, regions, and states, paying particular attention
to the racial and ethnic dimensions of the problems they address.
They have a proven track record of learning from communities to
create innovative tools and processes. They provide advice and
training, using what they learn to benefit other communities.
SCRC was created in 1989 by The Paul J. Aicher Foundation, a national,
nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. Since 1989, they have worked
with more than 550 communities across the United States on many
different public issues.
How Their Work Has Grown
In the early years, they focused on developing a better kind of
public dialogue, drawing on the ways people talk in their everyday
lives. Then, they championed the idea that public talk is for everyone,
and helped communities organize to bring all kinds of people into
the conversation. Now they are helping people connect public
dialogue to real solutions.”
How They Can Help
When communities call them, they
help  them
assess the local situation and determine an approach to problem
solving that will work for them.
If a community decides to use study circles, they provide general
advice by phone and email. They invest additional staff time and
field assistance in a small number of communities with innovative
approaches to problem solving, strong, diverse, leadership and
a commitment to institutional and policy change. Step-by-step
organizing advice is available on the web
site.
What can study circles do for my community?
When people talk productively with each other and find ways to
work together to solve public problems, the results can be powerful.
 Direct
change happens when people gain new understanding of an issue,
and form new relationships – across the barriers of race,
background, political ideology, income, and geography. Individuals
or small-groups commit to action. Some people take their new ideas
and approaches back to their organizations, and sow the seeds of
institutional change.
Read about Round Table Democracy in
Decatur, Georgia.
Sometimes, people launch new community projects or collaborations.
Or, they decide to join efforts already under way in the community.
When government is part of the organizing, and elected officials
take part in the study circles, this paves the way for more effective
policy making and collaborative work.
Some ideas for change that are generated in study circles are
more complex and take longer to develop. These include changes
such as new policies, new decisions, changes in the allocation
of resources, and new processes for involving the public in solving
problems. Read
stories of study circles helping communities achieve real change.
Need Help Getting Study Circles Off the Ground?
They can provide training in how to organize the process, design
your program and discussion guide, train your facilitators and
move to action and change. For more information. For
the ways we can help click here.
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