• Civic Literacy is the knowledge of how to actively participate and initiate change in your community and the greater society. It is the foundation by which a democratic society functions: Citizen Power as a check and as a means to create avenues for peaceful change.

• Civic participation not only encompasses voting in elections but also a consciousness about the issues that are most important to an individual and his or her community. Creating an agenda is an avenue to gather support and raise awareness for both community members and elected officials about what’s happening in the community.
• Because the Urban Agenda Project emphasizes the need to generate a common Youth Urban Agenda, students develop cooperative skills of discussion and consensus as they learn to more effectively articulate their needs.

• Increased awareness in civic and community affairs.
• Communication and solidarity among students across racial, economic, regional and religious boundaries.
• Encouraged curiosity and involvement in multicultural exchanges and world affairs.

• Provides an environment for democratic participation in a multicultural environment.
• Provides a fun and interesting way of getting students involved in social studies lessons. 
• Develops a discussion of democratic Norms & Values even in a scientific/technological society.
• Develops conflict-resolution and peer mediation skills of students.

	Citizen	Structure
Thought	opinions	knowledge
Action	deliberation	participation

	Awareness	Analysis	Prioities	Advocacy
Communication	discussion	evaluation	agenda-setting	argumentation
Mobilization	reaching out	debating	tactics	call to action
Caolition-Building	dialogue	strategy	bargaining	persuasive communications
Organizing	goal-setting	activity planning	assigning tasks	implementation
Institutionalizing	stakeholder meetings	capacity assessment	long-range plan	getting sponsors