ANACOSTIA COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS

ANACOSTIA COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS
Glenn Eugster, NPS-NCR March 15, 2000


GOAL:


MAJOR ISSUES:


QUESTIONS:

1. What is the basis/ rationale for the time schedule?

2. How will information be used? What is the process for making
final decisions?

3. How will this effort relate to the other decision-making
processes?

4. What do we want to get from the community discussions?

Anacostia Community Principles (principles for the economic and
ecological regeneration of the Anacostia River Watershed)
a. Example: The Cape Charles, VA. Principles, April 6, 1995.
Over 120 community leaders worked with a team of private sector
and government experts to develop "Principles" for the
development of the Port of Cape Charles Sustainable technologies
Industrial Park. The principles communicated the community
needs, concerns and visions to help shape the design of the
Industrial Park and the City. See attachment.

5. What do we call it?

a. Example: Anacostia Community Dialogue
Dialogue: A process of successful relationship building. A
practical tool accessible to all, that if done right can dissolve
long-standing stereotypes, overcome mistruct, enable people at
odds to share common visions and create bonds of community.
Commitment to new productive ways of interacting requires a prior
shift in values and thinking that allows the possibility of
something new to be seen. Process involves three levels:
Community leaders sharing stories; helping improve people's
skills to enhance listening; and drawing from people's
experience. See attachment.

b. Example: The Annacostia Summit
Summitt: The City, County, State and Federal governments worked
with the private sector to hold a series of Annapolis Summits to
help develop a citizen vision for the area. Part of the agenda
included "Breakout groups" to ask community leaders "What Do You
Think?" The groups were asked to identify the values that they
felt are most important to them. They were also asked to
identify actions to be taken to conserve, protect, restore,
revitalize or regenerate those values. Groups reported on their
ideas to the full audience and response were provided to the City
and County for incorporation into revisions to their
Comprehensive Land Use Plans. See attachment.

6. What will the workshops focus on?

ALTERNATIVES

Value-based: Sacred places; assets, community and resource values

a. Example: Annapolis, MD Summit-- Sacred Places Workshop
People are asked to name the places that connect them to the land
and waters and describe the feelings and memories that give those
places meaning. People worked together to identify their sacred
places and map them. The information was provided to local
governments for use in Comprehensive Planning and land use
decisions. See attachment.

Sacred Place: "What are the sweet spots in our historical memory
that evoke our passion, that we need to map, to secure and
protect as we grab the masses to plan for the future....We need
to take back who we are before our leaders can lead us...We need
to redefine what it means to be human, celebrate the connections
between ourselves and the Earth that created us".

b. Example: Northampton County, VA Sustainable Development
Action Strategy
Asset identification (natural, cultural, economic resources,
strengths, qualities, etc. Assets feed into development of
goals, objectives and actions. See attachments.


Issue-based: Matters of concern, problems to be addressed

a. Example: "Baltimore Envirofest" planning with neighborhood
leaders, the Baltimore Times, the Baltimore Urban League and
Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Neighborhood leaders were asked to
identify their most important environmental issues; needs; and
resources they were already using to accomplish their objectives.
See attachment.

b. Example: Brandywine Village, Wilmington,DE Workshop
Community leaders worked with a team of government and private
sector experts to develop a specific plan of action for
Brandywine Villagers, in Wilmington, DE. The plan is intended to
conserve important environmental, social and economic values;
respond to priority problems; and support community-based
initiatives. Leaders were asked to identify what assets, values
or qualities of Brandywine Village they thought are special;
describe their vision of success; identify alternative actions
which could be taken to conserve assets, solve problems and
achieve goals. See attachment.


Project-based: Tangible ideas about what needs to be done to
protect assets, solve problems and accomplish a vision.
Long-term and short-term actions with an emphaisis on
"connectivity".

a. Example: Lackawanna Heritage Valley Plan. A four hundred
member Task Force, with support from the City, County,
Commonwealth of PA and the NPS, prepared a strategy for the
future of the Lackawanna River valley. Alternatives were
developed based on community workshops to identify resources,
issues, goals, and key elements or directions. Alternatives were
developed and community-leaders were asked to provide comments
and recommendations. The final plan was used to leverage federal
and private sector funding. See attached.

Vision-based: Use community input to develop principles to guide
agencies, experts and decision-makers

Example: Cape Charles, VA Principles. See earlier Example.

Example: Lackawanna Heriage Valley Plan. See earlier example.


7. Who will organize and conduct the workshops?