If you've followed the path of Mayor Naheed Nenshi over the last few years, you'll know that he began his run to public office by being a passionate and informed commentator on civic engagement in the city. From his work on the Better Calgary Campaign, to his talk at our 2010 event, and to his work with Mount Royal University's non-profit studies program, he has been committed to improving the way Calgarians can access the democratic process at the municipal level, and to increasing citizen engagement in the public life of the city.

It's small wonder, then, that one of the first challenges he issued as Calgary's mayor was for citizens to take up the challenge of increasing civic engagement in the city. This evolved into the Mayor's Committee on Civic Engagement, who have worked over the last year to look at ways to mobilize and engage Calgarians in the wide range of initiatives that will help to make this an even better city.

Today, we were pleased to be able to attend the launch event of 3 Things for Calgary with Mayor Nenshi and "community choreographer" Dave Meslin (whose own TEDTalk from the October 2010 TEDxToronto event has gathered quite a bit of public attention nationally and internationally).

This is an important development for Calgary, as it is both a direct invitation and challenge for Calgarians to step up to the civic process and have their voices heard. The initiative is just underway, with a new Facebook page and a soon-to-be-unveiled website at 3ThingsforCalgary.ca. In the meantime, check out the Mayor's blog post on the initiative, and take a few moments to watch the launch video...