Common Ground is one of the most ambitious community-based regional planning processes today. The central organizing and philosophical principal of Common Ground is public participation. While the promotion of civic engagement has achieved a high degree of attention in policymaking and community advocacy circles, Common Ground takes this process one step further: the hundreds of citizens of the region who are participating in Common Ground are actually creating the vision for the region's 40-year future through the creation of a set of goals meant to leverage the region's strengths, capitalize on opportunities, and avoid pitfalls. These goals provide the foundation for NIPC's 2040 Regional Framework Plan.

The benefits of this type of greater community involvement are many. Participation can create feelings of community pride, build leadership and involve people who are often underrepresented in the planning process such as high-school youth, minorities, and persons with disabilities. Participatory planning can also create feelings of hope and promise through community empowerment. By participating in civic life, residents can gain ownership of the issues that affect them and their community, and can reach greater consensus about the region's future.

Common Ground is committed to strong and effective public participation in regional planning. The use of neutral, skilled facilitators to guide the dialogue is essential to the success of Common Ground meetings. Dialogue makes it possible for a group of people to learn how to share information that builds a multi-faceted picture of a problem, considers solutions, and makes informed judgments. Facilitators function as a channel for introducing groups to the dialogue process, often playing the role of teacher and coach, but always remaining neutral. The use of decision-support technology at Common Ground meetings is also an important tool in ensuring that every voice is heard and recorded.

NIPC is committed to a consistent, high level of public participation through the multi-year Common Ground process. Participants used on-line technology to vote for the goals they see as the most important for the region, as well as those that are the most challenging. Above all, the voices of the citizens who participated in Common Ground will be reflected in a shared vision for the Chicago region, making Common Ground a national model for excellence in participatory regional planning.