MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name:

A Civic Commons for American Communitie

One-line solution summary:

We seek to advance the civic exchanges democracy requires, through a platform for cross-cultural and diverse communities to interact.

Pitch your solution.

1. What problem are you committed to solving?

Individuals from diverse social backgrounds and social identities do not interact in contexts that allow them to get to know each other.

2.What solution are you proposing?

I am proposing an app that structures these interactions to allow for people to progressively get to know each other in the context of their community, organization or society.

3. How could your solution positively change lives if it was scaled globally?

This position would change lives in diverse societies by providing the opportunity and the format to share our lives with others thereby minimizing the "otherizing" of difference.

Film your elevator pitch.

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What specific problem are you solving?

WE ARE A DIVIDED NATION

We are either divided and merely believe that we are or we are not divided significantly but believe that we are. Either scenario is troubling for any lover of democracy. John Dewey lauded the idea of a "democratic faith," in which belief in the unbounded possibilities of each person is a precondition. Despite the harsh and brutal history that established this country, the tenets of its constitution represented hope for the enslaved, oppressed, and marginalized. That hope made the seeming impossible possible through changed laws and greater freedoms.
Threats to a "perfect union" are without and within as economic forces and political economies increasingly incentivize hardening the divide along the lines race, socioeconomic, geographic and religious identity.
Even social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter,) once touted as a unifying agent has exacerbated the otherizing of people.
We have lost the ability to relate to each other beyond our ideologies, which have become on the order of tribal in harboring our sense of belonging.
There must be a way to move us out of our protective communities to find connection with persons as person.
Any means of doing so:
- Would have to balance the feeling of safety within identifying communities with the perceived risk of getting to know "the other"
- Would have to provide the basis of conversation
- Would allow the participant to set the extent and limit of engagement.

What is your solution?

A DATING APP FOR ORGANIZATIONS

Our solution creates the technological infrastructure for social connection through curating progressive levels of engagement within peer to peer partnerships over designated periods of .It is a dating app for organizations to foster cultural literacy and civic engagement. However it is the persons within the organizations that will be interacting.

The Civic Commons App uses software that manages databases to allow members to select to participate in social activities with members of a comparable social unit (of two or more people) in a counterpart organization and to commit to a series of social engagements that are progressively more complex. They will deal with hard topics and require providing feedback each time. The goal is to foster greater civic responsibility and engagement.

These social engagements will take place at local coffee houses, restaurant, bowling alleys, museums, theaters, etc. We provide the curriculum that will be the basis of the conversation. If there is mutual agreement between the parties, they can continue to engage in increasing levels of conversation and interaction. Each organization agrees to sponsor one group event where all of participants therein can be present in one space.

We are presently planning to pilot the APP in the fall but envision scaling up to national level--but always indexed to local shops, restaurants and communities so that people can get to know their neighbors.

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

LOCAL COMMUNITIES BENEFIT

The major benefit of our full scale project will be an emerging cultural literacy that reduces the fear of the "other" and makes clear the stakes, if we do not respect other people's beliefs.

This solution will benefit community organizations who can expand their reach and influence; families will benefit from moving safely outside their comfort zones together in order to get to know a family that appears to be different than they are but with which they find ample common ground.

It can provide a context for community problem solving through identification of local "wicked problems" and brainstorming about addressing them through various means.

In the best of all possible worlds, the use of this app lowers the temperature on our social divide as there is opportunity to be heard. There are forces that intentionally want to foster an us-them opposition; but it is important to awaken the democratic faith that has been a common thread of social renewal in dark times. While few social engagements over a period of time would lead to this partnership, our beliefs is that the ones that do would make a tremendous social difference.

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Catalyze civic engagement and enable communities to plan and control their own housing and industrial land development and ownership patterns.

Explain how the problem you are addressing, the solution you have designed, and the population you are serving align with the Challenge.

This problem makes participatory democracy possible through bringing together community members who find common ground, identify common issues and seek political solutions.

At the more advanced levels of commitment, partners brainstorm challenges in their communities that they would like to address and brainstorm ways to approach them. For some communities it would be the perceptions of high crime rates, gun violence or poverty. For some, it would intergenerational poverty or substandard housing. The civic engagement that emerges is intended to highlight the benefits of democracy in social action. The idea is that through the partnership, the activist is not alone and has found a common ground through shared political engagement.

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

Indianapolis, IN, USA

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model.

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution.

The concept is well-established and we are building the application over the next two months.

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

Sheron Fraser-Burgess