In an era of increasing complexity, the majority of local land-use decisions in the United States are made by volunteer citizen planners. Often these elected or appointed volunteers enter their positions with a passion for their communities but without appropriate background training. The Michigan Citizen Planner Program was developed to address…

This exploratory and descriptive research intended to examine ways to engage a vulnerable young adult population in environmental and ecological education and in community planning and public participation processes. A goal was to understand how to be more inclusive in the decision-making process at the community level based on ethical principles…

The City of Saskatoon's Local Area Planning (LAP) Program is a community-based approach to developing comprehensive neighbourhood plans. In order to achieve sustainable and implementable Local Area Plans (LAPs), the City of Saskatoon has been using innovative methods of collaborative decision-making to engage citizens. The program has been…

This guide describes Community ChoiceWork, an approach to directly involving citizens in issues that affect them (in this case, HIV/AIDS). It is intended help citizens frame and deliberate on an issue of concern that has no clear solution. After explaining what Community ChoiceWork is, the guide discusses what it has to do with HIV/AIDS. Next, it…

The Sheffield (England) City Council used an advisory group approach to solicit citizen participation in community planning. Two important lessons were: ensuring that all target groups are represented and providing training and information to prepare citizen representatives for their consulting role. (SK)

Presented is material from an information program designed to help citizen advisory groups and local officials improve decision-making in water quality planning. This program is aimed at helping people focus on essential issues and questions by providing materials suitable for persons with non-technical backgrounds. The following chapters are…

Presented is material from an information program designed to help citizen advisory groups and local officials improve decision-making in water quality planning. This program is aimed at helping people focus on essential issues and questions by providing materials suitable for persons with non-technical backgrounds. The following chapters are…

This manual is intended to help citizen groups set up their own on-the-job training activities, tailored to their own individual needs, issues, learning styles, and experiences. Specifically, it discusses planning for change in the community and program development. Chapters are written chronologically, from the first step in the planning process…

Recent demands for community representation in planning raise basic questions as to the nature of the community. This article likens the community to theatrical fiction, maintained through variously-staged dramatic performances. (Author/LR)

A survey of over 200 residents of a largely Hispanic census tract in Perth Amboy, NJ found that residents preferred recreation, cultural, and other community facilities be the aim of brownfield re-development. They were less interested in industry and business, the promoted aim of such re-development. Three-quarters of respondents indicated a…

Presented is material from an information program designed to help citizen advisory groups and local officials improve decision-making in water quality planning. The program is designed to help people focus on essential issues and questions by providing materials suitable for people with non-technical backgrounds. Chapter topics include: (1)…

As part of a statewide study of public opinion, "Illinois: Today and Tomorrow," questionnaires were distributed to a sample of Illinois residents to determine their perceptions of land use, planning, and zoning. Respondents were asked whether more, the same amount, or less land should be allocated to specific uses (homes, recreation,…

A program initiated by Simpson College and assisted by a committee of representatives from Warren County, Iowa, to assist the population of the County to understand their community and its problems and set priorities in meeting these problems is reported. Two hundred key leaders, representative of the geographic, educational, economic, religious,…

This publication presents information on how neighborhood residents can be involved in collecting needed information about their community which they can use to guide reform efforts. Researchers interviewed people with experience collecting information at the neighborhood level, other researchers, leaders of community based organizations, and…