Growing expressions of distrust of Boulder’s public process led the city of Boulder to appoint a 14-member community working group to identify ways to improve public process. As part of their final recommendations in Summer 2017, the Public Participation Working Group (PPWG) recommended the co-creation of guidelines for civil and constructive conduct in meetings, dialogue, and decision-making processes. As part of Boulder’s efforts to improve public engagement practices and activate these recommendations,, Boulder’s staff first conceived Building Bridges as a large public design workshop held in Fall 2017.
