Outstanding Examples of Public Process?

[Lee Nellis]

I am seeking outstanding examples of the public process in rural counties and towns. If you have, or know of, a visioning or policy development process that was successful in involving a lot of people with diverse points of view in a reasonably civil and constructive discussion of local land use issues, I would like to hear about it.

 

[Mary]

Lee,

I've had success in small er towns with "Drop in centers" for generating some interest and gettinf "some" feedback. Town hall meetings can work but you'll need to get the paper or someone involved to get enough press to get your turn out. Once you get them there I've had really good luck with a general presentation followed by dividing people into groups so that people with agenda's don't run the meeting. Just make sure you have planning commission members or others to volunteer to man tables and get ideas on topics so the conversation is more focused.

If you can't get attendance and want some participation Don Dillman's "Telephone and Mail Survey's: the Total Design Method" gives good ideas on how to get good responces to a survey.

If you know the private consultant Abby Byrne in Spokane she may be able to help you as well as she does a lot of this type of activity.

Hope this helps,
Mary

 

[Lee Nellis]

Clarification

Thanks Mary. I am familiar with these techniques. What I'm looking for is a case study of one or more specific successful public involvement processes/campaigns that we could write up (including a time line, interviews with participants, etc.) as an example for people to learn from.

 

[Cardinal]

You may want to contact Steve Grabow with the University of Wisconsin - Extension. He has done a good deal of work in this area. I don't have a number for you, but he should be listed in a directory at www.uwex.edu.

 

[willipaul]

Minnesota Design Team

Hi!

I have worked with the MN Design Team for many years and we helped the Univ. of West Virginia set up their Design Team.

http://www.minnesotadesignteam.org/mdt.asp?a=spf&pfk=1

-- wm paul

 

[bradbeaubien]

The Community Based Projects program at Ball State University's College of Architecture and Planning has worked in dozens of small towns across the midwest, and Dr. Jim Segedy has specialized in community-oriented planning in smaller towns.

Jim can be a wealth of information if you haven't talked with him. CBP is on the web at www.bsu.edu/cbp and you can contact him from there.

Brad Beaubien,
Former CBP student/employee