Project for Public Spaces » Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design

Community Wisdom + Expert Knowledge = Good Community Design

Ariana McBride, Orton Family Foundation — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:53:27 +0000

Residents in Exeter, RI used a “Places of the Heart” map to identify parts of town that they value most as well as areas of concern. / Photo: Orton Family Foundation

Have you ever been at a meeting about a community issue and heard the statement, “We don’t need some outsider coming in and telling us what to do”? I know I have. This phrase points to a common challenge I see when working in rural communities—balancing the value of community input with expert knowledge in community design.

Too often community projects favor one of these approaches over the other; the design team who drops in for a week with the solution to a town’s traffic woes (i.e. roundabout) or the community workshop that recycles the same, old idea for its downtown’s redevelopment (i.e. more parking). So, how do we move off of this dynamic towards a more effective model? By recognizing the best of what both sides bring to the equation and designing a process that leverages both strengths.

Let’s talk about what community members offer to the design process. Local people know their town best. Their insights will inform a project in many ways from identifying community values to brainstorming and prioritizing possible actions. Research shows us that many minds lead to better results. So, the greater the diversity of people contributing to solving a problem, the more creative and effective are the solutions. This is particularly true for more complex issues that community design addresses like downtown revitalization or growth management. In addition, community members need to own the outcomes of a design process if those outcomes are going to be effectively implemented. There is no better way to ensure ownership than to be part of shaping the solutions.

When citizens are effectively engaged in a design process then designers and planners can be their most effective too; facilitating a process that synthesizes local experience and wisdom with design principles and technical expertise. Designers can help people uncover their common interests and work towards practical, creative solutions that build on local character and assets.

At the Orton Family Foundation we use an approach called Heart & Soul Community Planning, which strives to put community wisdom first in projects and uses design and planning professionals to help make the most of this valuable asset. This balance is also at the heart of CIRD’s approach to rural design, which is why Orton is excited to partner with Project for Public Spaces and the other CommunityMatters organizations on this program.

So, what can you do to help find this balance in your own community’s rural design project? Here are three easy ways to make it happen:

1.) Listen first. Community design projects need to begin with listening to what people value about their town and what concerns they have. This input will help frame the design issue with greater specificity, lead to new insights and ground it in the experience of a particular place.

For instance, if you are looking at how to make a town more walkable, first ask people what they love about their town and how they experience it. This information will provide you with information about walkability and it also may point to some other underlying issues that design could address. We’ve found the use of personal story particularly effective for uncovering what people really care about in their towns.

2.) Ask powerful questions. Spend time crafting the questions you ask of the community so that people can give you thoughtful answers. A powerful question will foster reflective discussion, surface people’s assumptions and prompt creative thinking. As an example, consider the difference between the following two questions:

What improvements would you like to see downtown to make it more walkable?
Generates a personal laundry list of ideas

How might we make downtown more walkable for people of all ages?
Prompts people to generate ideas that respond to the different needs of community members

3.) Create feedback loops. Make sure to have multiple opportunities for people to review your progress and provide feedback along the way. These loops will inform people of possible solutions to the design challenge, help refine ideas to fit the local context, and ensure a transparent community process.

Feedback loops can be created through in-person meetings like a large community forum or a pop-up open house, online portals such as MindMixer or Engaging Plans, or targeted conversations with key stakeholders or groups in town.

These three strategies bring the best of both sides to the table by allowing the community to define the design issue and the designer to respond to that challenge based on the specifics of a particular place. We look forward to the selection of this year’s CIRD workshop hosts (to be announced in early June) where we’ll work to achieve this balance in four rural communities across the US.

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This update was cross-posted from the CIRD blog at rural-design.org. Click here to see the original post.

What is Good Rural Design?

Project for Public Spaces — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:39:46 +0000

Well-designed communities are places where people want to live and invest in the future. / Photo: CIRD

This question and many others were the focus of the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design’s (CIRD) capacity building call series that kicked off this past January. The calls are part of CIRD’s approach to providing communities access to the resources they need to convert their own good ideas into reality. The program offers annual competitive funding to as many as four small towns or rural communities to host a two-and-a-half day community design workshop.

Prior to the recent application deadline for 2013, CIRD hosted a series of three application assistance calls for prospective applicants. We were delighted by the response to these calls. More than 230 callers representing 43 states as well as the Virgin Islands joined us on the line to ask questions about the CIRD RFP, application process and rural design.

Among the many great questions asked, participants raised three key ones about rural design. Here is a synopsis of those exchanges that occurred during the second call with speaker Shelley Mastran.

What is good rural design?

Rural design involves the planning and manipulation of the environment for the betterment of the community. Design is a process that involves brainstorming ideas, developing plans and proposed designs, and implementation of a project.

Good rural design can take many different forms and appear on many different scales. From small-scale projects like murals or pocket parks to large-scale initiatives like creating a downtown revitalization district, the community dictates the notion of good design.

Why is rural design important?

Well-designed communities are places where people want to live and invest in the future. As the character of many rural communities is threatened by out-migration, loss of an economic base, and urbanization, designing vibrant rural places is increasingly important.

Good rural design goes beyond aesthetics; it fosters economic development, and contributes to livability. Community cohesion and pride in place is often manifested in design.

How can I find additional resources on rural design?

Although our application deadline has passed, there are many other ways to stay connected with CIRD and access resource on rural design.

CIRD is compiling rural news and networks, best practices and research studies, funding opportunities, and other technical assistance related to rural design and planning. Visit the CIRD website at rural-design.org/resources to access these resources. And check out our FAQs to learn more about the program.

You can also stay connected to CIRD by following @rural-design on Twitter, checking us out on Facebook or signing up for CIRD email updates at rural-design.org. Look for our summer call series on workshop preparation starting in June.

On behalf of all of us at CIRD, thank you to those that participated in our application assistance call series over the past couple of months. We are grateful for your interest and enthusiasm for the CIRD program.

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This update was cross-posted from the CIRD blog at rural-design.org. Click here to see the original post.

Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design Issues RFP for Rural Communities Facing Design Challenges

Project for Public Spaces — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 21:23:02 +0000

Partnership of federal agencies and national organizations offers workshop funding, technical assistance, and additional resources

Washington, DC—Today, the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design (CIRD) is issuing a request for proposals to rural communities facing design challenges to host local workshops in 2013.

Successful applicants will receive a $7,000 grant and in-kind design expertise and technical assistance valued at $35,000. The Request for Proposals is on the new CIRD website: www.rural-design.org.

The deadline for submitting a proposal is Tuesday March 5, 2013 at 5:00 pm EST.

CIRD (formerly known as “Your Town”) works to help rural communities with populations of 50,000 or fewer enhance their quality of life and economic vitality through facilitated design workshops. The program brings together local leaders, non-profits, and community organizations with a team of specialists in design, planning, and creative placemaking to address challenges like strengthening economies, enhancing rural character, leveraging cultural assets, and designing efficient housing and transportation systems.

Since the program’s inception in 1991, CIRD has convened more than 60 workshops in all regions of the country with results that range from the development of public art plans and business improvement districts, to funding for the design of waterfront parks and pedestrian-friendly streetscape improvements.

Each community selected to participate in the Institute will receive $7,000 to support planning and hosting a two-day workshop. Communities will be required to provide approximately $7,000 in matching funds (cash or in-kind). CIRD will work with the communities to assemble teams of specialists based on the communities’ individual needs. The workshops will be augmented with conference calls and webinar presentations led by experts who will cover topics related to rural design. The calls will also be open to the general public through CommunityMatters.

The new website at www.rural-design.org is a portal for resources on rural design gathered from diverse organizations across the country. It will be a place for interested citizens to connect with one another and get information about improving design in their own communities.

Find the RFP and application guidelines at www.rural-design.org/apply. Selected communities will be announced in May 2013, and the workshops will be held during the summer and fall of 2013.

CIRD will offer three free application-assistance calls to answer questions and guide interested applicants in assembling their proposals. The first of these calls will take place on Wednesday, January 23, the second will take place on Thursday, February 7, and the third call with take place on Thursday, February 28, 2013. Participation in each call is free but registration is required. To register, visit www.rural-design.org/application-assistance.

The Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design is a National Endowment for the Arts leadership initiative in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Project for Public Spaces, Inc., along with the Orton Family Foundation and the CommunityMatters^® Partnership. A task force of national experts in rural design and planning is also being assembled to help shape the CIRD program.

Click here to download a PDF of this press release with additional contact information.

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About the National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts, established by Congress in 1965, is an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. Join the discussion on how art works. Visit the NEA at arts.gov.

About Project for Public Spaces
Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is a nonprofit planning, design, and educational organization dedicated to helping people create and sustain public spaces that build stronger communities. Founded in 1975, PPS has completed projects in over 2,500 communities and all 50 US states. PPS has become an internationally recognized center for resources, tools, and inspiration about Placemaking. pps.org

About the Orton Family Foundation
The Orton Family Foundation, founded in 1995, helps small cities and towns harness the inherent ability of citizens to imagine and achieve a culturally and economically vibrant future for their community. The Foundation’s Heart & Soul approach supports citizens in steering their town’s future by discovering the characteristics and attributes valued most in their community and, then, by placing those shared values at the center of local decision making. orton.org

About CommunityMatters
CommunityMatters is a national partnership of seven organizations with the common goal of building strong communities through the improvement of local civic infrastructure. The partners are: Deliberative Democracy Consortium; Grassroots Grantmakers; National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation; New America Foundation; Orton Family Foundation; Project for Public Spaces; and Strong Towns. communitymatters.org

Looking Back on 2012…and On to 2013, the Year of the Zealous Nut!

Fred Kent — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 16:00:28 +0000

Click to view a larger version of our 2012 Holiday Card, featuring a stunning image of Detroit’s Campus Martius (courtsey of the Downtown Detroit Partnership)

Dear Placemakers;

Almost four decades ago, we created the Project for Public Spaces to expand the work of the great urbanologist and observer of public spaces, Holly Whyte. The way that public spaces were being conceived and designed then was disconnected from the reality of how people used them, yet there was surprisingly little resistance. Today, in contrast, we are witnessing a convergence of advocates, activists, fathers, mothers, citizens, neighbors, friends — those we call the “zealous nuts” — all coming together around the idea of place.

I have seen this happening in so many ways in 2012. In my conversations with attendees at Pro Walk/Pro Bike: Pro Place and at the 8^th International Public Markets Conference, I heard advocates for local food, public health, and active transportation speak repeatedly of the desire to work with more broad-based, multi-faceted coalitions. They realized during their respective conferences that deeper, transformative change can be brought about across movements through a renewed focus on the idea of place.

This is not just a trend in the United States, but a global movement for our rapidly urbanizing world. We are honored to be joining with UN-Habitat and the Ax:son Johnson Foundation in Sweden to launch a series of international forums to plan how public spaces can be a core agenda for Habitat III in 2016. There is ever more evidence of a growing consciousness around the process of Placemaking. Grassroots advocates have been demanding a larger role in shaping their cities, with increasing success. This resulted in a number of exciting new developments in 2012:

We’ve had the opportunity to work on the reclamation of iconic public spaces like the New Haven Green, the campus of Harvard University, the Alamo Plaza in San Antonio, and the Woodward Avenue corridor in Detroit.

We partnered with the Orton Family Foundation, Deliberative Democracy Consortium, Grassroots Grantmakers, National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation, New America Foundation, and Strong Towns to launch the CommunityMatters partnership.

We’ve worked with major cultural and civic organizations to bring culture and art out into the streets, in places like the Houston Public Library’s central downtown plaza and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

And speaking of art, we were selected to lead the National Endowment for the Arts’ Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design.

Our focus on public markets has continued to expand through work on the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market, ByWard Market in Ottawa, and San Antonio’s Pearl Brewery district. Meanwhile, the NewBo City Market, a brand new indoor market we helped plan, opened in Cedar Rapids this October, helping to revitalize this Iowan city after a devastating flood.

The PPS Transportation department has continued with its stewardship of the Context Sensitive Solutions program, and launched a series of wildly popular webinars in partnership with the Federal Highway Association.

While we used to fight for each small win, the importance of re-focusing our communities on place is being realized at higher and higher levels every day. It is at this critical point in the growth of the Placemaking movement that we are preparing for a shift into more proactive advocacy and network-building work. We know that our network of extraordinary people is our greatest asset, and we have spent the past several months preparing for the launch of a Placemaking Leadership Council.

This Council will accelerate the gathering of many voices and, through a series of convocations over the next several years, define a series of actions related to 1) re-centering transportation so that it helps to builds communities, 2) strengthening local economies through dynamic public markets, 3) building neighborhoods with centers that are true multi-use destinations, and 4) advocating for a new architecture of place. Our first meeting will take place in Detroit this coming April. The “transformative agendas” shaped by the Council will play a key role in the discussion that will take place at the forums we’re organizing with Ax:son Johnson and UN-Habitat.

Please email Lauren Masseria if you are interested in participating, or click here if you would like to make a year-end donation in support of this new stage in our evolution.

In the middle of the 20^th century, the power to shape our public spaces—a power that I consider a fundamental human right—was taken away from us. I have watched for years as people have fought to take it back. The Placemaking Leadership Council is a critical next step, filling the need for a central forum for debate and discussion of strategies and tactics for re-establishing a focus on creating better places at a global scale. On behalf of everyone at PPS, I thank you for all that you do to make the places and spaces in your community stronger. 2013 is going to be the year of the Zealous Nut! We’ll see you there!

Sincerely,

PPS to Lead National Endowment for the Arts’ Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design

Project for Public Spaces — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 15:03:43 +0000

Hot on the heels of last week’s announcement of our participation in the Orton Family Foundation’s new CommunityMatters Partnership, we are thrilled to share with you the first projects that PPS will be taking on as part of that initiative. Beginning July 1, 2012, PPS will be partnering with CommunityMatters, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the US Departmen t of Agriculture to help rural communities across the United States to rediscover their identity and reshape their cultural landscape through the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design.

As the collaborating organization with the NEA, we see this exciting partnership as an opportunity to pull together innovative rural planning and design practitioners with communities that are looking to apply new models of Placemaking. We are also excited to help build on the emerging “Creative Placemaking” models that have been lead by the NEA and help apply them to rural areas, integrating them with broader Placemaking processes.

The common sense principles and tools of our Placemaking approach have long thrived in rural communities. Currently, through the Livability Solutions program, we are working in several small towns, including a Placemaking workshop in the towns of Colfax and Owen, Wisconsin, which will take place next week. We look forward to drawing on experiences from our work in communities across all 50 states, and to disseminating this information more broadly through an online resource site and capacity-building workshops on the ground.

We are especially excited to be partnering with our colleagues at Orton, who have long been national leaders in helping rural communities shape their futures. The foundation has regularly convened local and national leaders and drawn out the best in a wide range of practices and contexts for rural planning. They have pioneered a Heart and Soul Planning approach that has proven complementary to our Placemaking process and tools through joint workshops. The CommunityMatters partnership will serve as strong resource and network to support the CIRD.

As caretakers of the CIRD program, we are inspired to help it grow to serve rural communities to its fullest capacity, and to collaborate with new local and national partners. Please feel free to get in touch with us to share ideas as we work to evolve and shape this program.

Click here to read the full press release on the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design.