Advancing citizenship: a study of social planning

Based on a study of five social planning organizations in the province of Ontario, the authors argue that the concept of social planning needs to be expanded. The definition of social planning as rational service planning and initiatives based on social scientific research is not adequate to understand the range of functions of the organizations. Instead, an enriched model for social planning is proposed that includes practices that are focused on advancing citizenship. In response to the changing political, social and economic context, two key activities of the social planning organizations are defined: social witnessing and the advancement of local democracy. The practice of citizenship within social planning organizations is a value based enterprise based on interpretive knowledge creation and a broad concept of democracy.