Cast your vote for 2025's Crowdsourced Conversations topics

Crowdsourced Conversations explored the future potential of Severance Town Center. [photo: Sarah Wolf]

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The Crowdsourced Conversations community forum series explored four community-selected topics in 2024, and is looking ahead to 2025.

A program of FutureHeights, co-sponsored by community partners, the series puts the spotlight on residents’ voices by emphasizing action-oriented small-group discussions on topics voted on by residents. It is intended to inspire and empower residents to find ways to become more directly involved in their community in ways that feel meaningful, and meet other residents who hope to accomplish the same.

Voting to determine the 2025 topics is underway and will conclude on Wednesday, Jan. 15. Past-participants in Crowdsourced Conversations nominated 28 potential topics to be the subject of 2025 forums. The top three or four topics will comprise the 2025 Crowdsourced Conversations series, and will be announced later this month.

The popular forum series takes a multi-faceted approach, beginning with a communitywide survey on the selected topic. The survey results are compiled in a comprehensive data report and are key in determining the small-group discussion questions at the forum that explores that topic. After the event has concluded, participants are given the opportunity to stay connected with other group members and encouraged to return to the next forum in the series. A resource page highlighting event takeaways and more is created to enable even those who might have missed the event to understand its takeaways

Crowdsourced Conversations launched in 2022, with the topics of Sustainability; Housing and Neighborhood Preservation; Community Safety; and Civic Engagement. Over the course of those four events, a total of 768 survey responses were collected, with approximately 150 participants attending forums.

In 2023, Crowdsourced Conversations explored Our Public Schools, Traveling Around Town, Building Community with Renters and Landlords, and Planning and Development in the Heights. Participation increased, with 1,130 survey responses and 219 forum attendees.

In 2024, the topics were Living Less Car-Centric in the Heights, Turning the Noble Neighborhood and Business District Into a Destination, Our Public Parks, and Severance Town Center. With yet another increase in participation—1,630 survey responses and 265 forum attendees for the year—Crowdsourced Conversations has had a 112% increase in survey responses and an 80% increase in forum attendance since the program began three years ago.

To cast a ballot for 2025’s topics, Heights residents should visit www.futureheights.org/vote-for-the-2025-crowdsourced-conversations-topics/.

FutureHeights is grateful to have partnered with Heights Libraries, Home Repair Resource Center, Cleveland Heights Green Team, Heights Bicycle Coalition, and a team of dedicated volunteers to bring Crowdsourced Conversations to life over these past three years.

For more information about Crowdsourced Conversations, send an e-mail to swolf@futureheights.org.