Open Civic Innovation is both a **field** and a **practice** — a way of treating civic life as something that can be consciously designed through **commons-based experimentation** rather than top-down planning. It restores and renews the spirit of collective responsibility for our commons by cultivating new mechanisms of civic stewardship rooted in participatory design. When legacy institutions fail to meet the needs of holistic well-being and shared stewardship, **civic innovators, organizers, and patrons** step forward to create the enabling conditions for participation. At its heart, Open Civic Innovation carries a simple ethos: **Start where you are. Build what you need. Share what you learn.** These three behaviours make open civic innovation accessible to all, ensure that learning flows across networks, and keep the practice grounded in lived realities. **Further Reading** - [[About Open Civic Innovation]] - [[Practice Guide]] - [[3 - Practice/Practice Framework/About Framework|About Framework]] - [[3 - Practice/Participation Ethics|Participation Ethics]]