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The MSU Center for Community and Economic Development is hosting their annual Contemporary Issues Institute on the topic of civility: Cultivating a Civil Society in an Era of Incivility.

Event participants will have the opportunity to learn from and discuss with innovative thinkers and doers from across the state on how to promote more civil behavior in personal, public, private, and online realms.

The event will take place Friday, March 6 from 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM in the Michigan State Capitol Building. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Complete the short registration form here.

In order to get a great conversation going in each session, the planning team hopes to attract a wide range of attendees. People in local government, community leaders, business owners, planners, academics, students, and others are all encouraged to attend! Be prepared for interactive sessions with a chance to share experiences, challenges, expertise, and lessons learned.

State Representative Andy Schor is offering opening remarks and the Flint Youth Theatre will bookend the event with short, theatrical interpretations of civility.

Session topics include:

• Our Individual Character
• Putting Civility in Place: How Placemaking & Interior Design can Promote Civility
• Theories of Civility
• Media, Technology & Incivility

Putting Civility in Place

With the League’s emphasis on placemaking, I am excited to moderate the session Putting Civility in Place. Research tells us that place has a huge impact on how people feel and act. For example, people who live in high-rise apartments are less trusting of their neighbors than single-family home residents, being in nature boosts altruistic behavior, and students’ grades improve when their school is designed to increase human connection. To explore this topic further, we have the following speakers lined up to discuss how place impacts people, communities, and workplaces:

• David Bulkowski, Disability Advocates of Kent County
• Holy Madill, MSU Land Policy Institute and the MSU Planning & Zoning Center
• Dr. Tracy Brower, Herman Miller

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