A Virtual Town Hall from Feb. 10 - 21
Louisville, Ky. - 89.3 WFPL News is partnering with The American Assembly at Columbia University to conduct The Next Louisville: Civic Assembly, a community-driven virtual and in-person initiative. The goal is for us to collectively explore the issues that matter most in Louisville — and to identify potential solutions. The Next Louisville: Civic Assembly will feature a 12-day Virtual Town Hall that poses the question: “What do you believe should change in Louisville to make it a better place to live, work and spend time?” Using an easy-to-use online conversation tool that’s open to all, we will collect and make sense of community priorities — emphasizing the hopes, fears and ideas that connect us. 89.3 WFPL News will share the results and structure a series of events around the issues that arise.
Virtual Town Hall
89.3 WFPL News will host a Virtual Town Hall at wfpl.org/civicassembly from Feb. 10-21 using Polis — an online messaging tool in which participants make and vote on statements about issues of consequence to our city. Everyone who lives, works or spends time in Louisville is encouraged to participate in the conversation, whether by voting, adding statements, or both. You can come back to the conversation over time, think about it, push it in new directions if there are important topics that haven’t been addressed, and continue voting on new statements that are added. The Virtual Town Hall will give thousands of citizens an opportunity to engage in civil conversation about civic issues, articulate areas of agreement and challenge assumptions about polarization.
Community Conversations
After the Virtual Town Hall is concluded, we’ll see which issues attracted the most interest. These will become the basis for a series of Community Conversations in March. The focus and programming of the live events will be determined by the results of the online portion. In the meantime, you can mark your calendar for community conversations at the following Louisville Free Public Library locations:
- Monday, March 9 at 6 p.m. • Northeast Regional
- Wednesday, March 11 at 6 p.m. • Southwest Regional
- Monday, March 16 at 6 p.m. • Main Library, Centennial Room
- Wednesday, March 18 at 6 p.m. • South Central Regional
We hope you will consider participating in both the Virtual Town Hall and Community Conversations — and help up spread the word. Ultimately, 89.3 WFPL News will incorporate what we learn from The Next Louisville: Civic Assembly into our reporting. The findings will help guide our coverage to ensure we are representing you in the stories we tell. "Civic Assembly will give us a great way to see where there's lots of agreement on community issues--and where we're really divided," said Erica Peterson, WFPL Director of News and Programming. "We're really excited to use this data to inform our reporting on key issues over the next year." The Next Louisville is a collaboration between 89.3 WFPL News and the Community Foundation of Louisville, exploring issues of consequence to our city and its future. Additional support has been provided by the Gheens Foundation.
