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What is civic engagement?

Civic engagement is considered to be an important resource in dealing with the challenges that social, economical, political and ecological changes bring about at a national and global level.

Central to civic engagement are a variety of voluntary activities undertaken by individuals and organisations. These activities focus on democracy and public welfare.

Civic engagement at the inividual level

A wide range of voluntary activities is open to the individual beyond gainful activity or private affairs. Membership and especially voluntary commitment in clubs and associations are good examples of engagement at the individual level, as are voluntary work in charities or institutions involved with the common good such as hospitals, schools or museums, democratic forms of participation such as referendums, and participation in protests and social movements.

The term Civic Engagement seeks to bring together the hitherto separate domains of voluntary, social and political engagement of the individual.

Civic engagement at the organisational level

Civic engagement at the organisational level encompasses the social involvement of companies and public or non-profit organisations. This social involvement goes beyond the primary goals of the organisation (e.g. the core business of a company) and contributes to an ongoing resolution of social problems. What is more, this social involvement is beneficial for intra-organisational and external stakeholders (including the natural environment).

Depending on the specific competences of the organisation, different resources are employed such as financial, material or temporal means for the social and natural environment. The civic engagement of business has to date generally been discussed in terms of corporate citizenship or corporate social responsibility (CSR).