Conservation-Based Planning for SD

Strategic Planning for the Town of Dauphin Island (AL) to Attain Sustainable Economic Development & Environmental Protection (January - December 2007). Five E's Unlimited is assisting the Town of Dauphin Island in developing a long-term strategy and implementation plan for community development that creates a more hazard resistant community able to balance economic development with environmental sustainability. The consultant services include (1) reviewing existing documents and statutes applicable to future development, (2) providing stakeholder sustainability awareness and inventorying all stakeholder place-based interests, values, practices, and future vision, (3) conducting community asset identification via public consultation processes, (4) developing visual frameworks of historical and current conditions that will influence changes in environment, community development, and cultural views, (5) planning and designing management strategies through public participation, including the visualization of possible futures and related timelines for progress, and (6) promoting implementation of a management strategy and measurement processes. During the final phases of the project we plan to work collaboratively with the Planning Commission and others in identifying how this strategic planning process can be integrated into the Island’s Comprehensive Plan. In addition, we will collaborate with official entities responsible for Island governance to identify areas of future cooperation that can result in improved opportunities for gaining needed financial resources. Consultanting partners in this contract included Gene Martin of the University of Washington, Seattle WA and Mary Mullins of the Bellwether Group, Mobile, AL. Contact: Nannette Davidson, Planning Commission, Town of Dauphin Island, AL 36528. tel: (251)861-5525, ext. 25. e-mail: ndavidson@townofdauphinisland.org.

Community Sustainable Development Assistance, Lake Tahoe (CA)-Northern Nevada (September, 2006). Served as a member of a Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) for the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Communities by Design program. Conducted a week-long charrette designed to help the communities of Lake Tahoe, Truckee, Reno, and Carson City assess their strengths and weaknesses with regards to water resources, land-use, transportation, energy, and economic development. Conducted a series of workshops to develop the background on issues, seek stakeholder input on core values and important concerns for the future, and provide recommendations for the communities to proceed in a sustainable fashion. Strongly recommended to the different communities that they begin to plan on a regional basis since they are very closely linked by a common watershed, transportation corridors, commerce, and labor force. Affordable housing was also a significant issue to all communities involved in the assessment. My leadership in water quality issues provided a strategic process for the involved communities into the exploration and design of Low Impact Development (LID) policies for future development guidance in the region. Contact: Peter J. Arsenault, Stantec Architecture, Inc, 2060 Brighton-Henrietta Townline Road, 2nd Floor, Rochester, NY 14623. tel: (585)413-5305. email: parsenault@stantec.com or Richard Licata, Professor of Architecture, Truckee Meadows Community College, 5250 Neil Road, Suite 301-G, Reno, Nevada 89502. tel: (775)750-8852. e-mail: rlicata@tmcc.edu.

Community Sustainable Development Assistance, Guemes Island, WA (June, 2006). Served as a member of a Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) for the American Institute of Architects, Communities By Design program. Conducted a week-long charrette process designed to help the Guemes Island community assess their choices and issues and define a path toward formulating strategies and solutions in their commitment to planning for a sustainable future. Team research and public consultation focused upon five community objectives that included: preserve the island’s rural character; conserve water and protect the quality of the island’s sole source aquifer; resolve transportation disagreements; protect wildlife and shoreline habitat; and increase island energy independence. Community participants commented that the sessions were far more valuable in examining the bases of their prejudices, wishes, and positions than they had expected. “One of the things that really impressed me was how many different voices and people, who often disagree, were brought together in this process,” said one participant. “Having all their input has made us all aware that we do have a community with a common vision. It’s made us all energized and hopeful about our future.” Team work assisted the community who was anxious to take charge of its future, especially with regards to controlling growth that’s compromising the Island’s rural legacy. The week’s work created the blueprint that the Island will recommend as its sub-area plan to document much of the philosophy, direction and tools that will eventually be adopted as the Island’s land-use plan by Skagit County. My leadership on community water issues assisted participants with identifying alternatives for regulating water use and providing alternative water supply by imagining seven potential futures for the Island’s development. Identifying water supply and quality problems associated with each of those potential scenarios provided the community an opportunity to develop solutions to each of those problems, resulting in an action plan. Contact: Ms. Erica Gees, Kuhn Riddle Architects, 7 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01002. tel: (413)259-1621. e-mail: egees@kuhnriddle.com.

South-Sea Datcomm, Inc. and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). (March-September, 2005) Advised private sector and government on sustainable community development in the Niger River Delta region, Nigeria (West Africa). Designed and developed programming that would implement an NDDC Master Plan for the rapid, even, and sustainable development of the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. Advised the Partners for Sustainable Development Forum (PSDF) on the principles and tools to use in implementing sustainable community development actions for the 9 States of the Niger Delta Region. Designed a process which outlines the minimum human and logistics capacities required in each directorate of the NDDC in the light of anticipated responsibilities for guiding implementation of the region’s Master Plan. Developed instruments and procedure for testing all Master Plan programs and projects, including the NDDC’s defined Quick Impact Projects (QIPs) for social, economic and environmental sustainability. Facilitated Participatory Regional Assessment (PRA) activities to build human capacity in target communities for sustainable revitalization action programs, emphasizing equally economic, environmental, and social justice issues. Provided guidance on processes for the monitoring and evaluation of projects designed and implemented under the NDDC Development Master Plan. Designed and implemented communications and advocacy projects to ensure sustained stakeholder confidence and participation in the NDDC sustainable community development plan implementation. Advised public and private stakeholders on the design of a Sustainable Technology Industrial Park (STIP) that emphasized principles of industrial ecology and eco-efficiency and stressed the importance of business attention to the triple bottom line. Contact: Mr. Uzo Nduka, Director of Consultancy, South-Sea Datcomm, 11 School Road, Mgbuoba, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. tel: 0805-265-3435. e-mail: southseadatcom@yahoo.com.

Resort Municipality of Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Provided the Whistler community and government (British Columbia, Canada) with expert opinions and data on sustainability as they would apply to a resort community to inspire long range planning and enhance sound economic development in tourism and recreation. Retained to prepare a Comprehensive Sustainability Plan that was produced during 2002. The RMOW required that the consultant team, of which I was the lead consultant for the Sustainable Destination Resort Background Report development, work to examine and define sustainability criteria in the context of the Whistler community. A copy of this report can be found at Whistler It's Our Future. My responsibilities in this effort included working to develop community consensus on sustainable destination resort community characteristics and criteria for evaluating futuring scenarios for the community and government to use in evaluating and choosing their preferable alternative future. Designed methodology for developing a comprehensive plan that was not simply collaborative with the community, but that was initiated, driven and concluded by the community. Assisted the public in understanding issues surrounding sustainability and how methodology should be applied to the key economic development issues facing the community. Responsible for guaranteeing the public's considered opinion was recorded and reconciled through further consultation and that the Comprehensive Sustainability Plan was set for implementation. Contact: Mr. Mike Purcell, General Manager of Planning & Development, RMOW, 4325 Blackcomb Way, Whistler, VC V0N 1B4 - tel: (604)935-8160. e-mail: purcell_m@rmow.whistler.bc.ca.

The Town of Exmore, Exmore, VA. Contracted services as a planning consultant to the Virginia Eastern Shore Town of Exmore (USA) in their preparation of a Five Year Comprehensive Plan. Researched major economic, social, and environmental issues characterizing future Town development. Facilitated community organizing and public participation in revision of the Town's existing plan and wrote the final document. Provided information technology training and conflict resolution in support of the Town's public hearing process and implementation of plan proposals. Also advised on alternative wastewater treatment strategies. Contact: Mr. David Scanlan, Town of Exmore, Town Council, P.O. Box 647, Exmore, VA 23350 - tel: (757)442-3114.

Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, Exmore, VA. Designed and assisted in implementation of a project on sustainable rural development with a team of stakeholders in two very poor counties of the Eastern Shore of Virginia, focused upon building community capacity. The emphasis of this capacity-building initiative was to empower stakeholders toward the taking charge of their own destiny with regard to environmental and economic sustainability. The ultimate goal of the Program was to develop a long- term plan for training, citizen empowerment, obtaining informational resources, and implementing other community programming in order to assist communities in improving their economic, social, and environmental assets, while also achieving self-sufficiency. Contact: Ms. Brenda Holden, Senior Extension Agent, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Northampton County Office, 5432-A Bayside Road, Exmore, VA 23350 - tel. (757)414-0731. e-mail: bholden@vt.edu.

Pilot Centre for Education & Development (PCED), Bamenda, Cameroon, West Africa. Lead Consultant for Sustainable Development Program. Designed a country-wide Program for Republic of Cameroon to assist with implementation of their UN response for a National Environmental Management Plan (NEMP). Strategies over next 5 years include promoting public environmental information access, communication, and education; providing expert consultation on the management of coastal areas and wetlands; facilitating community participation in watershed-wide management of arid and semi-arid landscapes for desertification control, reforestation, and rangeland protection; and recommending procedures for the monitoring and evaluation of restorative and protective action projects. Contact: Mr. Nchukwi, Augustine, Director, GAMA INFOTECH (PCEP), B.P. 88 Bamenda, N.W. Province, Cameroon, West Africa - tel: (237)76 07 24. e-mail: pced_cameroon@yahoo.com.

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Washington, DC. Interdisciplinary team member for a project in the Plata River Basin of South America to evaluate ecosystem dynamics and essential human needs of the region. Team seeking stakeholder input, identifying existing scientific expertise and data, and developing community-based natural resource research and management strategies for enhancing sustainable economic growth in this five country watershed basin over the next ten years. Also provided consultation on the application of different public/private collaborative approaches to community-based adaptive management strategies, such as agro-ecosystem analysis, rapid rural appraisal, and participatory rural appraisal. Contact: Ms. Marina Ratchford, Program Director, Latin America & The Caribbean, AAAS, 1200 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005 - tel. (202)326-6490. e- mail: mratchfo@aaas.org.

Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy (IATP), Minneapolis, MN and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NCRS - U.S. Dept. of Ag.), Madison, WI. Member and consultant to Mid-West Working Landscape Task Force, that included government agency reps, NGOs, and academicians to fact-find, lead the design, and implement a full participatory conference on sustainability of "Working Landscapes in the Mid-West". Conference design digressed from traditional format to stimulate full participant contribution of collective wisdom, buy-in, and "back-home" implementation for recommended actions promoting land-based economic activity that sustains families, communities, and watershed integrity, while also providing multiple benefits to society. Contact: Dr. Dave Carvey, NRCS, Madison, WI - tel. (608)224-3009; e-mail: David.Carvey@mw.nrcs.usda.gov.

Warren County (IA) Economic Development Corporation, Indianola, IA. Contracted services included telecommunications technology training and environmental consulting on sustainable agriculture design, problem-solving for smart economic development issues, and rural land-use assessment. Guided rural sustainability by design of integrative strategies for social, economic, and ecologic concerns. Assisted in evaluation of land-use and urban sprawl related to an adjacent metropolitan region. Contact: Ms. Susan Judkin, R/CPDF Project Manager, IA Department of Economic Development, Des Moines, IA 50309 - tel: (515)242-4780. e-mail: Susan.Judkins@ided.state.ia.us.