Community members understand better than anyone the reality of the issues that face their communities, and they are best positioned to identify and advance solutions to them. These people understand that tough choices need to be made. And they are willing to act courageously to make them.

In our efforts to help communities remain vital even with the arrival of challenging economic and demographic shifts, we have undertaken several efforts to engage communities in identifying together their toughest problems:

• Citizen Solutions Forums - More than 40 sessions between April and July 2012 on the topic of fixing Minnesota's health care system and three sessions in July 2011 focused on the Minnesota state budget.
• Redesigning Minnesota - A series of eight hour-long television programs over two years examining the ways that systems in Minnesota must change to cope with the new normal, as well as ongoing discussions on InCommons to engage citizens in planning for and making those changes.
• Local Government Innovation Forums - Six meetings across Minnesota in fall 2011 that brought together local government officials and leaders to discuss opportunities to improve services while cutting costs.
  
• Common Cents - Thirty-six meetings in late 2010 and early 2011 to engage Minnesotans in conceiving solutions for the state's budget crisis.
• Prospects & Possibilities - More than 70 community conversations in North Dakota and South Dakota in fall/winter 2010 to get people talking about their shared community problems.

Solutions arise when people work together, that's why the Bush Foundation works to engage communities in solving their toughest problems, builds leadership capacity and provides access to tools for innovation.