Phase Three: Common Ground Participatory Planning Process

The third phase of the Full Circle project is the Common Ground participatory planning process.  The Full Circle partner organizations will convene face-to-face participatory planning sessions, whereby local residents and neighborhood leaders will come to consensus on their goals, concerns and desires about the future of their communities.  Timeline:  January 2005 –December 2005

Planning for full potential- how can the hopes and intentions of local residents be realized?   What kind of future is possible, or desirable, for local residents? Participatory planning at the neighborhood level, informed by good data on existing and future assets (including intangible human assets) targeting development efforts towards the well-being of current local residents.

During this phase, CMAP will introduce the participatory planning model embodied in the Common Ground initiative.  This process of setting goals, evaluating priorities, building consensus, and scenario building are all part of aligning future development with the interests of local residents. Planning sessions will be held over a period of 12 months. CMAP’s role in this participatory planning process is to provide technical expertise and guidance.  While CMAP will play an integral role in assisting in the design of the planning process the workshops will be implemented by each Full Circle partner organization at their own discretion. 

Key Components of the Common Ground Participatory Process:

1. Process Design is the first step at being able to map out the planning process.   A series of meetings will convene the Full Circle partners with CMAP staff to discuss the Common Ground planning process, and its applicability to each organization’s overall mission.  These sessions will help design the optimal path that should be initiated by each organization. This process can take at least two sessions. January-April 2005

2. SWOT Analysis: Identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats should always be done with as much public involvement as possible.  This step can build on the information and findings from the neighborhood inventory and asset mapping stage.  Participants in the SWOT analysis should have the chance to review this information, discuss it with others, and provide meaningful feedback.  Depending on the situation, this might be accomplished with a series of workshops where people have the chance to review information, talk together and share ideas.  At this point in the process, all suggestions by the participants should be considered relevant.  There will be opportunities later to prioritize and focus resources. May-June 2005 

3. Developing a Vision: A vision can take many forms.  One possibility is a vision statement, which captures the desires and aspirations of the community in a manner that is brief enough to be easily communicated but rich enough to be meaningful.  The larger and more complex a community is, the more difficult this step might be.  The vision helps guide the rest of the process.  The vision might focus the process on a particular path, or it might confirm the need to make the process more comprehensive.  This step requires a mix of creative input and careful writing.  If possible, one workshop might be conducted to collect ideas for a vision from a broad range of participants.  Following this workshop, a small working group might spend time crafting a vision from the ideas gathered.  A second workshop should then take place for the public to review the vision.  It might be necessary to repeat this step until a satisfactory vision is obtained. July 2005

4. Drafting Goals and Objectives can build on a vision to create more detailed priorities for a community.  Goals are typically specific and measurable achievements that if met, suggest that significant progress is being made towards the vision.  Objectives are a series of smaller steps that need to be accomplished in order to meet each longer-term goal.  Goals should be developed with significant levels of public involvement, though the process might also call for smaller working groups that can work over a period of time on more details.  Objectives are another more detailed level that might be best accomplished in a series of session with smaller working groups or dedicated staff time.  In either case, when completed, the goals and objectives should be presented to the community in a draft form so that feedback can be gathered and changes made August-September 2005

5. Creating a plan map is a series of community mapping exercises, used as means to develop a vision and define goals.  If the plan is attempting to address land use issues or other physical aspects of the community, a plan map will be critical to translate the vision and goals into a more concrete picture of how people desire their community to look in the future.  Creating a map is a difficult design process that requires professional expertise.  The process, though, can also suggest solutions that might have been missed if the issues were not looked at so closely.  The public must be involved in this process to ensure that the plan embodies the public’s shared vision.  Information about existing conditions and future trends is also necessary to inform the map making process. September-October 2005

6. Implementation Strategies are another detailed part of the plan that should be constructed with a combination of public input and work from a core group of individuals, including representatives from the community, organizational staff, and perhaps individuals from outside the community who can provide information about efforts and experiences elsewhere.  The list of implementation strategies should be fairly exhaustive so that it includes many possible means to achieve the goals.  However, it should also provide focus so that the organizations and individuals taking responsibility for implementing the plan have clear directions. October-November 2005

7. Plan Writing: Writing the plan involves documenting all of the preceding steps in a comprehensive and concise fashion.  Writing the plan can be highly technical.  The plan will need to include a well documented vision statement, justification for the proposed courses of action, and paths to accomplishing both short and long term goals.  November-December 2005 (To be determined by the Full Circle Partner Organizations)

8. Communicating the Plan: A communications strategy should be devised to ensure both a broader level of exposure and that the plan is feasible.  November-December 2005  (ongoing)

9.  Implementing the plan involves a continuous cycle of refining strategies, collecting new data and evaluating progress.  Hopefully, many individuals and organizations within the community will take an active role in implementing the plan.  These activities will not be unusual to people involved in community work, but with assistance of a plan, they will hopefully be better informed, better organized, better coordinated, and more wide-spread.  The planning process needs to be iterative and flexible.  In doing so, it will identify new issues and a need to update either minor or significant aspects of the plan.  The public should continue to be involved and feel ownership of the plan and its outcomes. To be determined by Full Circle Partner Organizations

  * © Criterion Planners/Engineers Inc.