(Series Summary Report Coming Soon!)

Planning for a GNARly Future Online Learning Series:

REFOCUS: Values as Vision

Can you communicate what is important to your community in two sentences? If so, do those ideas affect the daily decisions, priorities, planning efforts, and the ultimate direction of your community?

Often the mere mention of a “visioning effort” conjures up images of long meetings and endless wordsmithing, resulting in a generic statement that looks good on a website, but lacks the unifying power it was supposed to have. This session will discuss how a community can undertake a new kind of vision/values creation process when planning – one that leads to a functional vision and actionable values to rally the community around a shared identity that guides the future.

Participants will learn about the unique planning approaches Springdale, UT and Crested Butte, CO undertook when creating their general and comprehensive plans, how they rallied the community during the process, and how how these plans have impacted (or will impact) their communities' future development.

• Tom Dansie, Director of Community Development, Springdale, UT
• Troy Russ, Community Development Director, Crested Butte, CO

REFRAME: Focus On Assets, Not Deficits

It’s been a rough two years, and it’s hard not to be discouraged by the mounting challenges facing GNAR communities these days. What if you could find more solutions, instead of adding to the problem list?

Dr. Danya Rumore, an expert in facilitating and teaching about collaborative processes and Director of the Wallace Stegner Center's Environmental Dispute Resolution Program will teach participants how to "reframe" community  challenges into “probletunities”. Attendees will then learn how to leverage the principles of Asset-Based Community Development to work in their communities and tap into their existing resources.

Featuring:
Danya Rumore, PhD, Director of the Environmental Dispute Resolution Program and Professor at the University of Utah, GNAR Initiative Founder

NOTE: This is a two-part session. It will begin with a webinar featuring Dr. Rumore at 2:00PM MDT, and will be followed by peer-to-peer community learning and conversation with the GNAR Network at 2:45PM MDT, professionally facilitated by GNAR Initiative staff. You must register for each part individually.

REENGAGE: Mobilizing Your Community Through Proactive Engagement

The eternal question: How do we get community members to show up and engage before a decision is made, instead of the angry mob showing up afterward? This session will start by examining recent approaches communities have used to shake up their public outreach efforts, get richer, more engaged feedback, and use community engagement as a way to heal their community, not just check a box. 

This will be followed by a highly engaging peer-to-peer conversation between communities and the GNAR Network that discusses what we want out of community engagement and how we can do community engagement differently as a whole.

Featuring: 

• Jordan Katcher, Initiatives Facilitator for the Environmental Dispute Resolution Program and Adjunct Professor, University of Utah

REDEFINE: Solutions Beyond Boundaries

Sometimes local challenges are a result of a “problem-shed” that extends beyond the borders of the community. Does your “solution-shed” also extend beyond your community borders?

This session will share examples of regional planning efforts that have successfully linked communities, federal land agencies, and other stakeholders together to build regional solutions for local problems. It will also discuss the steps a region can start taking to work together and establish mutually beneficial collaborations to tackle local challenges.

NOTE: This is a two-part session. It will begin with a webinar featuring the panelists at 2:00PM MDT, and will be followed by peer-to-peer community learning and conversation with the GNAR Network at 3:00PM MDT, professionally facilitated by GNAR Initiative staff. You must register for each part individually.

Featuring:

• Devin Middlebrook, Sustainability Program Manager, Tahoe Regional Planning Authority; Mayor, South Lake Tahoe, CA
  
• Emily Friedman, Coordinator, Zion Regional Collaborative, Washington County, UT
• Mikey Goralnik, Senior Community Design and Development Planner, Mariposa County, CA
• Elizabeth Sodja, GNAR Initiative Coordinator

REIMAGINE: Planning, Not Plans

In the summer of 2019, a global pandemic wasn’t on anyone’s radar. With increasing risks from natural disasters like drought, fire, floods, it can be challenging for gateway communities to know how to plan (or if they can plan) for potential challenges. On top of that, many communities struggle with affordable housing, community viability, and visitation impacts.

This session will explain how new planning approaches, like exploratory scenario planning, can assist communities navigate an uncertain future, address risk, and increase resiliency. It will also link these approaches with the tools learned in prior sessions and show how communities can empower themselves in a gnarly world.

Featuring: 

• Dr. Robert Goodspeed, PhD, Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at University of Michigan