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The Noble County Sustainable Development Program has finished their planning process. The Futures Council will share the final report with community leaders at a session in February. A copy of the Sustainable Noble Report is available in Adobe pdf format or you can access the Sustainable Noble Report in msword format. Thirty-two community organizations and governmental jurisdictions came together to sponsor and coordinate a community visioning process. Nearly 800 residents, ranging in age from high school students through senior citizens, shared their goals and desires for their community of tomorrow. Noble County held over thirty-four community visioning sessions in various locations around the community. Residents thoughts were captured around seven various themes believed to be important to a sustainable Noble County. These themes were: 1. Environment/natural resources
At each visioning session residents expressed their thoughts regarding the treasures (existing characteristics ) and rainbows (future desired characteristics) that will encourage the development of a sustainable Noble County community. Facilitation of these community sessions was provided by alumni of the Noble County Leadership Program combined with assistance from Extension Faculty as needed. For further information regarding the Sustainable Noble Project please contact: Mike Lloyd, Extension Agent City of Kent Project The City of Kent, Ohio decided to update their Comprehensive Plan. It was the desire of the elected officials in cooperation with the City Manager to create a plan that incorporated sustainable development concepts. The task of completing this plan was assigned to the Director, Charlie Bowman and Sustainability Planner, Mary Gilbert from the City of Kent's Community Development Office. The non-profit Kent Environmental Council was also involved through their Vice-Chair Gene Wenninger, Professor Emeritus at Kent State University. Known as the City of Kent Bicentennial Plan in honor of Ohio's Bicentennial, the City of Kent Bicentennial, and Kent State University Centennial, the process of gathering public input was begun in the Fall of 2002. Centered around eight defined neighborhoods, public input was solicited using volunteer facilitators from a number of Kent organizations. Round One gathered resident's ideas and thoughts regarding their image of the Kent of tomorrow. Round Two provided an opportunity to prioritize these ideas and thoughts, and make connections between their social, economic and environmental aspects.
Throughout the first two rounds three special planning districts were also evaluated. Facilitated by the Kent State University Urban Design Center, residents were asked to share their ideas regarding: 1. The area between KSU and the downtown, 2. A 55 acre open space site, and 3. the western most entry into the city. Round Three was totally devoted to residents reviewing the potential designs created as a result of citizen input in the previous three rounds. Round Four provided an opportunity for residents to review and comment on the first draft of the final comprehensive plan. The Kent Community Development Office was particularly interested in resident's thoughts regarding the strategies selected to reach the community vision. All community sessions with residents were held in community facilities located in each of the eight neighborhoods. Resident comments were facilitated by citizens who volunteered their time. We used asset based methods that focused on solutions looking out to future generations. Connections were made between the environmental, social and economic elements of the community. For further information, with copies of planning materials, please visit the City of Kent Bicentennial Plan website at:
http://www.kentohio.org/citydep/comdev/comp-plan.shtml
Mary Gilbert, Sustainability Planner Carroll County Project In 2002 the Carroll County Commissioners recognized the need to update their county's comprehensive plan. They sponsored a the planning process and authorized local organizations and agencies to participate, creating a Steering Committee empowered to implement the process and provide overall guidance. The services of the Ohio State University Extension Sustainable Communities Team were secured to facilitate the planning process, draft the plan and prepare a final version for community review and adoption. Carroll County leaders desired to create this plan from a sustainable perspective, seeking to balance environmental, economic and social needs and considerations of their community residents. Community sessions were conducted during which residents, public officials and local agency representatives established planning goals for each of the sections of the comprehensive plan. These sections included:
1. Economic Development Once the goals were established, social, environmental and economic multidimensional indicators were formulated to spell out the linkages between the various sections of the plan. Carroll County plan is being written by the workgroups and OSU Extension Team, and is anticipated to be completed for public review and input by the spring of 2004. Once the plan is completed, it will be posted to this website.
For further information, please contact:
Bill Grunkemeyer Ohio State University Extension Community Development Last Updated (February 2004). URL: http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~esco/ All educational programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability or Vietnam-era veteran status. Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Admin. and Director, OSU Extension TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868 |
