Direct Democracy: Community-Scale Governance
April 29 @ 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM CDT
Direct Democracy: Community-Scale Governance
Tuesday April 29, 2025
- Pacific time: 8am-9am
- Mountain time: 9am-10pm
- Central time: 10am-11am
- Eastern time: 11am-12pm
View your local time here.
Whether we are protesting, speaking up at a city council meeting or participating in a consensus decision in our home community, most of us know the value of our voice – and also what it feels like when our voices and needs don’t seem to matter. Let’s unpack what works and doesn’t work in good, community-scale governance and genuinely democratic processes in the Direct Democracy webinar.
About the event
Now is the time to go back to the basics: What does it mean to have governance that cares about the people it serves? This webinar will give us an opportunity to explore questions that are relevant not only for the big picture moment we find ourselves in, but for the scale of direct democracy that intentional communities operate at.
Join longtime communard Yana Ludwig in this special session where we will look with fresh eyes at what democracy means and how communities have a role in skills building, debate, and framing important discussions. Bring your own thoughts and examples from your communities to contribute to the conversation!
In this session, you’ll learn about:
- What are some key aspects of direct democracy, and how do they apply at the community scale?
- How do we build skills for discernment, listening and collective alignment?
- How can practices of direct democracy improve community resilience?
About your presenter
Yana Ludwig
Yana served on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Intentional Community for over a decade. She lived in community for 26 years and has been both a founder and a joiner: all of her work is grounded in deep community experience. Her writing includes The Cooperative Culture Handbook (co-authored with Karen Gimnig) focuses on articulating a vision and practical pathway for intentional culture building; and many articles in Communities magazine. Her new book, Building Belonging: Your Guide to Starting a Residential Intentional Community, was released in May 2023.
Yana is the former Executive Director of the Center for Sustainable and Cooperative Culture at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage and North Coast Food Web. Taking the lessons of community into the nonprofit and worker co-op sectors is one of her passions. Yana is a dynamic, compassionate and thoughtful speaker, writer and teacher, committed to creating a more just and resilient world.
Learn more about Yana here.
Location
You’ll get the Zoom link after you register in your confirmation email. Please check the spam folder of the inbox you use to register for an email from orders@ic.org.
The Online Event Experience
Live StreamYard Sessions
Nothing pre-recorded here! When you sign-up for an event with FIC, you’ll have the opportunity to view a live session on StreamYard with the panelists.
Affordable and Accessible
All our events are run on a sliding scale basis. Generous donations cover the costs for low-income attendees. FIC is committed to making our programs accessible to people of all walks of life.
Watch the Recording
You’ll receive the recording of your event to view for 60 days. So don’t worry if you can’t attend a live session. Watch or listen whenever it is convenient for you. Transcripts available upon request.
Registration
You might also be interested in
- Governance for Healthy Communities course with Yana Ludwig (Starts May 6th!)
- The Cooperative Culture Handbook by Yana Ludwig and Karen Gimnig
