The Citizen Circles Method

Citizen Circles are small groups of thoughtful, committed citizens who are transforming themselves and the world around them through collective learning and action.

We created Citizen Circles because:

• Teaching each other in small groups of our peers is one of the most powerful ways to learn.
• Access to "experts"- and the belief that only some people are experts and the rest of us aren't- limits who currently has access to "education."
• We all have valuable knowledge, experience, resources, and networks to contribute to each other's learning.
• Citizen Circles are a great way to meet other smart people who share your values and interests, do something purposeful to achieve your goals together, advance your personal or professional projects, and build new relationships in the process.

Citizen Circles can take many different shapes, sizes and directions, but there are some common characteristics of each:

• Citizen Circles are three or more people who meet about six times, at least, to learn something together.
• There is not one "teacher" responsible for organizing everything about a Citizen Circle. Everyone takes on a role in a Citizen Circle, whether that means facilitating, hosting, planning activities or discussions, taking notes, etc.
• Every Citizen Circle topic has been originally proposed by their own members and then developed by themselves, with lots of support from the broader community. Topics can take many different directions, from skill-building (Creative Writing), personal development (Drive and Motivation), to domain exploration (Privilege and Social Justice). We do not "offer" these courses to the community. You offer them to each other.
• Citizen Circles usually aim to run for about 6 meetings initially. We believe this is a good length of time to get in-depth in a given topic, to form a bond with a group of people, and to check in on how goals and projects are developing. But many Citizen Circles have ended up running longer than that or decided to change directions mid-course (which is perfectly normal, and even encouraged).
• Citizen Circles are free.