PlaceSpeak Interviews Susan Stuart Clark
Susan Stuart Clark was recently interviewed by Mary Leong for the PlaceSpeak blog. The conversation focused largely on Common Knowledge’s approach to community-driven design. Below are excerpts of the full interview; click here to visit the original. What’s the difference between user-centered design and community-driven design? User-centered design is really popular these days, and Common Knowledge is filled with people [...]
Recent Presentations
Common Knowledge facilitated a December 2016 offsite day for Code for America. The end of 2016 was full of workshops for the next generation of civic leaders. On November 3rd we presented a pre-summit workshop at the Code for America Summit in Oakland: The Next Generation of Community Engagement. There are an increasing number of new tools for public participation. How you [...]
Community Driven Design Increases Voter Turnout
A student from Berkeley Reads looks over the 2016 Easy Voter Guide. "This one is a lot better than the other one," he said. "It is simpler to understand." Busting the apathy myth: an origin story The seminal project that launched Common Knowledge over 20 years ago was the "Key to Community Voter Involvement Project." We gathered people who [...]
The New Resume Project
More and more jobs are advertised online and computers are screening the resumes. Creating a resume that gets read and noticed is hard for anyone and can be especially challenging for adult literacy students. Research by the U.S. Department of Education indicates that nearly 25 percent of adults in California struggle with basic literacy skills. For these adults, searching for [...]
We Learned it at the Library
Common Knowledge was originally founded to put a more inclusive “public” in public participation. Over the years, we’ve grown to see it’s equally important to put more “unity” in community. At Common Knowledge, we’ve designed hundreds of programs and trainings that bring people together to listen together and learn together. This cumulative experience leads us to one powerful conclusion: greater [...]
Feeling overwhelmed by a bloated ballot? Turn to the Easy Voter Guide
This is not a test. Before joining Common Knowledge, I served as a high school special education teacher. My students were caring, intelligent and incredibly hard working, but nearly all felt anxious when it came time to take tests. At Common Knowledge, we believe that voting shouldn’t feel like a test. Even so, I know that many voters feel overwhelmed [...]