Spring 2025 Urban Governance Workshop Series

1. January to February — Viewing of the State of the City Address (asynchronous) and Discussion of the State of the City (in-person)
2. February to March — Observation of a Civic Meeting of your choice (city council hearing, state-level legislative hearing, community meeting, etc.) to become familiar with the mechanics of urban governance aka politics in the real world and learn more about your area of interest.
3. March to April — Informational Meeting with Stakeholder, Expert, or Decision Maker related to an issue addressed at the civic meeting you observed. The goal is to hear more about their role in tackling an urban environmental challenge, their career pathway, and/or their perspectives on your research and where the field is heading.

Part 1: State of the City

Keep an eye out for emails with details about the day and time of the State of the City address. The State of the City Discussion will be scheduled in early February in collaboration with the BU Initiative on Cities and is required for all first-year trainees and fulfills the annual workshop requirement for post-first-year trainees.  More information about this in-person event will be shared via email and in the Trainee Tribune.

Part 2: Democracy in Action

Pre-Civic Meeting Planning Assignment: Complete the reflection prompts below and then observe – live or archived, in-person or remotely – one civic meeting (e.g., city council hearing, state-level legislative hearing, community meeting, etc.) in February or March. We recommend attending a meeting for our local region (i.e., Greater Boston if municipal, Massachusetts if state-level), though you are welcome to attend any civic meeting with relevance to your study system.

Observing a civic meeting will help you to become familiar with the mechanics of urban governance, by observing politics in real life, and learn more about your region of interest. You may wish to attend a meeting that elevates an issue you care about – although you may also use this to learn about a subject about which you know very little. Both can be useful! 

Detailed Instructions about Observing a Civic Meeting

1. Determine which upcoming civic meeting or hearing you will attend.
   • Boston Schedule – Boston City Council meetings are Wednesdays at noon. Hearings will be posted as they are scheduled.
   • Cambridge Schedule – Cambridge City Council meetings are Monday evenings at 5:30 PM. Committee hearing day/times vary and will be posted at the same link.
   • You can also check out the Somerville City Council Schedule or the Brookline Select Board Schedule.
   • In general, hearings will be more in-depth and potentially rowdier than full council meetings, but we’re too early in the year for all the schedules to be posted. Also consider whether you’d like events with public comment or not.
   • If you’re interested in state-level hearings for Massachusetts, click here.
   • Again, you are welcome to attend any type of civic meeting that interests you.
2. Before you go, read up!
   • For any meeting, learn about the individuals involved in the governing body in advance. For city council meetings, learn here: Boston or Cambridge. If of interest, you can also:
     • Learn more about how the Boston City Council enacts laws
   • Read the agenda!
     • For Boston, Click on the City Council meeting link for that day. Agenda will be posted a couple days in advance. For Cambridge, agendas are posted on their open meeting portal.
3. Attend: Observe how the meeting was conducted – you may wish to jot down some observations or questions. Here are some things to consider:

Issues: What are the issues before the City Council?

• For those of you from outside Boston, would these same issues come up at a City/Town Council/Selectboard meeting in your community?

Stakeholders: Who are the identifiable actors and what interests are they representing?

• Who does the governing body seem to represent?
• Who do the attendees/speakers seem to represent?
• What interests are not being represented?
• Who seems to be influential? Why do you think that?

Goals: What are the various parties trying to accomplish?

• What sorts of points are being raised? Who is making them and why?
• What actions are needed? Are the decision-makers: putting forward on a resolution, requesting a hearing, voting on an ordinance, putting forward a home rule petition, etc?

Post-Civic Meeting Reflection Assignment:  After you attend your civic meeting, complete the reflection prompts below to help you prepare for your stakeholder meeting.

Part 3: Stakeholder Meetings

Once you’ve been matched with a stakeholder, decision-maker, or expert of interest, please review the Discussion Guide (download here). Next, find a 45-minute window for a phone or zoom conversation and suggest a few topics you’d like to discuss, for example, to hear more about their leadership role tackling an urban environmental challenge, their career pathway, or their perspectives on your research and where the field is heading.

At the start of your conversation, we suggest taking the lead by proposing where to start (“I thought I’d start by telling you a bit about my program and my research”) and where the conversation might go (“and then I’d love to ask you some questions about your job and your field, and any advice you have for me”). It is also always a good practice to double-check their availability (“But first, are you still available until X time?”).

Here are some additional questions you might consider asking during the conversation:

• How did you get where you are?
• How have you been able to use your role to make a difference?
• What do you love most about your job?
• When you think about the future of your field, what do you think will change in the next five years?
• What advice do you have for me, as I think about [how to get the most about of my program, how to plan for diverse career paths, including in <<insert whatever sector they are in>>, how best to support decision-makers from inside a university?]
• When you think about my research skills and interests – what are some questions you wish I would help answer?
• As a final question, what recommendations do you have for other people I should speak with, or resources to look into?

After the conversation, be sure to follow-up with a thank you email. It helps to mention at least one specific thing you appreciated about the interaction and/or what you plan to do for next steps. Most importantly, have fun!

When you’ve completed your conversation, please return to this page to complete the final reflection prompts below.