Members encouraged to take stronger role in future CNU programs

A core line from the Charter of the New Urbanism states, “We are committed to reestablishing the relationship between the art of building and the making of community through citizen-based participatory planning and design.” To that end, CNU is developing a new participatory process to incorporate new initiatives into the movement. This represents a new commitment to fostering, guiding, and prioritizing the programs through which CNU and its members create a better environment for great urbanism. “Initiatives are defined as groundbreaking programs that will reform current practices and make new techniques available to the membership,” explains Ray Gindroz, CNU Board chair. Initiatives are led by member volunteers and supported by staff. The latest refinements to the initiatives process are the culmination of a five-year evolution. At the beginning of that period, CNU members cochaired task forces sorted by disciplines such as planning, transportation, environment, and design. The transition to initiatives reflects that projects are multidisciplinary with a timeframe dictated by the task. “We didn’t want a static structure that wasn’t flexible,” says John Norquist. more transparent process CNU is also aiming to create a friendlier, more transparent process, designed to attract ideas from new or younger members. Two years ago Jennifer Hurley, the planning task force chair at the time, suggested a participation-based planning mechanism called Open Space Technology, which is used regularly at meetings of the Next Generation of the New Urbanism (Next Gen). The “technology” is surprisingly low-tech, requiring only flip charts and tape where members write down their ideas and gather in small groups for discussion. CNU first employed this process at the 2005 transportation summit to generate new ideas for reform. When members responded favorably with many new ideas, CNU decided to make such meetings a regular part of the Congress program. At the 2006 Congress in Providence, Hurley led the first-ever New Initiatives Forum, which has grown into a multi-day Congress feature known as the Open Source Congress. “I appreciated the process because it gave me the opportunity to articulate my ideas more clearly and allowed immediate feedback,” reports Eliza Harris, one of the leaders of NextGen. Going forward, members will see Open Space Technology functioning throughout the Congress. Many ideas come up during the sessions and some eventually evolve into fully fleshed-out initiatives with staff support and funding. For example, at a 2007 lunch meeting of CNU’s transportation initiative, members brought up transportation networks as an important component of urbanism needing attention. Staff then made the network a central component of the 2008 transportation summit. “It’s my job to listen to members and allow their ideas to contribute to the creation of new standards in urbanism,” says Heather Smith, CNU’s Planning Director. Some initiatives have led to funded projects such as the CNU/ITE Context Sensitive Design manual or the Climate Action Plan. After two years of successful participatory idea-generating sessions, the CNU board and staff worked to outline a new process for reviewing and supporting new CNU initiatives. “We new urbanists are a community,” says Gindroz. “We share a set of principles and we work in a collegial manner to develop techniques and tools with people from many different disciplines. Our community is able to respond to crises with tangible solutions.” review of member ideas As part of these changes, there is a new committee in place consisting of Ellen Dunham-Jones, Doug Kelbaugh, Sam Sherman, and Ray Gindroz. It is dedicated to reviewing new member ideas that surface through the following process: 1) Introduce idea at Open Source Congress at the annual Congress. 2) After the Congress, member leaders will be asked to fill out proposal forms detailing their goals and work plan. 3) Proposal and work plans are sent to CNU staff. 4) Staff asks for clarification. 5) CNU Board Initiative Committee will meet to discuss initiatives. 6) Board recommendation (yes, no, or needs more information). 7) Members submit progress reports to the CNU Board. Members may also submit ideas outside of this process especially if they are not able to attend the Congress. “The process is meant to provide clarity — not bureaucracy,” explains Gindroz. Members encounter predictability and CNU gets the opportunity to size up member priorities and align them with the budget. According to Gindroz, “Some of our most groundbreaking work to reform standards came from CNU initiatives. I look forward to seeing what members will concoct next.”  For more on CNU initiatives visit www.cnu.org/initiatives.
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