# Vision We envision a vital, resilient, and participatory civilization #### Current Reality Misaligned incentives and the concentration of wealth and power often leads to corrupt and ineffective institutions that neglect the real needs of people and the planet. #### Possible Future Empowered citizens guide our shared futures through direct democracies and local economies, creating collective agency, transparency, and accountability ## / Our audacious vision We believe in a future in which humanity has successfully moved through our current evolutionary eye of the needle without destroying the substrate of living systems upon which we depend. In such a civilization, our open civic culture orients our open civic systems towards life-affirming ways of being. #### Vitality The embodied state of _thriving_ that emerges from the interconnected levels of well-being and quality of life for individuals, communities, and ecologies. #### Resilience The state and the _capacity_ for adaptive self-organization sufficient to provide core life support function across changing world circumstances. #### Choice The state of respect for the sovereign _agency_ of all beings and the capacity of individual agents to participate and influence their circumstances. ### Vitality **Vitality** is Life’s capacity to create more Life, the embodied state of thriving that emerges from the interconnected levels of well-being and quality of life for individuals, communities, and ecologies. Open civic systems foster a thriving state of well-being, derived from interconnected social, cultural, and ecological health. Rooted in indigenous principles like Sumak kawsay ("I am well because you are well"), vitality requires balancing quality of life for individuals and communities with ecological stewardship. **Indicators**: Cultural diversity, community vitality, ecological resilience, and holistic well-being. ### Resilience **Resilience** is the state of and the capacity for adaptive self-organization sufficient to provide core life-support function across changing world circumstances. Designed to withstand and adapt to evolving challenges, resilient open civic systems exhibit decentralized structures that are modular and redundant. They can evolve without compromising the essential needs of participants. **Indicators**: Diversity, redundancy, adaptive capacity, and interconnectivity. ### Choice **Choice** is the state of fundamental respect for the sovereign agency of all beings and the capacity of individual agents to express their agency and influence their circumstances. Upholding the agency and sovereignty of participants, choice empowers individuals to meaningfully engage, contribute, and adapt their involvement. Open civic systems respect autonomy, enabling participants to express their will and shape outcomes. **Indicators**: Opt-in/out mechanisms, flexible participation, participatory decision-making, and conflict resolution. # Network Mission **We connect civic innovators, organizers and patrons committed to the practice of open civic innovation.** The network provides scaffolding to support _alignment_, _coordination_, _resourcing_, _collaboration_, _convening_, and _learning_ of civic stewards devoted to the realization of a vital, resilient, and participatory civilization.