Community Catalyst™ (“ComCat™”) Case Study
Waterville Area, Maine
Waterville and surrounding central Maine towns constitute an urban-rural community seeking to regain economic vitality after the loss of manufacturing and natural resource jobs. Convened by the City of Waterville Sustainability Committee, a group of 64 volunteers came together on the stage of the historic Waterville Opera House to create a “20/20 Vision” for Energy Conservation and Sustainability for the region. The group then developed a detailed action plan to achieve their vision by the year 2020. Participants included a broad range of local citizens, business leaders, students, and municipal officials, as well as academic, nonprofit and governmental experts in various aspects of energy conservation and sustainability.
The action plan developed during the Catalyst included eight strategic objectives. The highest-priority objective, “Generate Renewable Energy and Promote Conservation,” will receive first call on area resources as the plan moves into its implementation phase this spring. Other objectives include “Improve Transportation Efficiency and Choices,” “Build Organizational Capacity and Monitor Results,” “Rethink, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle,” and “Grow and Support Local Food.” Near the end of the workshop, participants volunteered to help lead the implementation of the objectives, and to invite other central Maine residents to work with them.
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Campbell County, Kentucky
Campbell County is predominantly rural, located in northern Kentucky bordering the Ohio River and lying south of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is anticipating major growth. Under Kentucky law, counties are required to update their comprehensive plans every five years. This is the responsibility of the Planning & Zoning Commission which is appointed by the county’s elected governing body, the Fiscal Court, headed by a Judge Executive.
The Director of Planning seized the opportunity for transformation, rather than settling for a routine update. He convened a working group of around 30 representing diverse interests, including members of the Planning & Zoning Commission, elected and appointed officials, road and water treatment experts, developers, home builders, the university, the school district, the chamber of commerce, advocates both of economic development and land preservation, and various concerned citizens and interest groups.
They met for a three day “Community Catalyst™” with expert facilitators to hammer out a shared vision, define and prioritize strategic objectives and an action agenda. This became the basis for the comprehensive plan. The working group focused on laying out a detailed Project Charter for their prime objective, and for the other objectives simply outlining an action agenda during this workshop.
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