Free technical assistance webinar materials now online

Smart Growth America recently hosted an informational webinar about this year’s round of free technical assistance workshops. Potential applicants will find in this webinar a summary of the application process, including important deadlines, eligibility requirements and where to direct further inquiries. First, Roger Millar, the Director of Smart Growth America’s Leadership Institute, provides an explanation of … Continued

Technical assistance

Upcoming Webinars: October 2012

Wednesday, October 3, 2:00-3:15pm ET. Register for the NALGEP Brownfield Communities Network webinar today and gain valuable information about the recently announced grant guidelines and Request for Proposals for the EPA’s FY2013 Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Program.

Thursday, October 4, 3:00-4:00pm ET. EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities will conduct a webinar on free technical assistance available to communities through EPA’s Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program.

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Upcoming Webinars: September 2012

Wednesday, September 5, 2:00-3:00pm ET. Join EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities to discuss the Agency’s voluntary school siting guidelines, which can help local school districts and community members evaluate environmental factors to make the best possible school siting decisions.

Thursday, September 6, 1:00-2:30pm ET. Building Sustainable Communities through Environmental Justice Strategies Register here.

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Upcoming Webinars: June 2012

Tuesday, June 12, 1:00-3:00pm ET. Communication Strategies for Planning Processes. Register here.

Tuesday, June 12, 2:00-3:30pm ET. A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies. Register here.

Wednesday, June 13, 2:00-3:00pm ET. What Public Transit Means for Public Health. Register here.

Wednesday, June 13, 3:00-5:00pm ET. How PHAs Can Keep Housing Affordable By Controlling Transportation Costs. Register here.

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Upcoming Webinars: April 2012

Monday, April 2, 2012, 12:30- 1:00pm ET. Housing and Urban Development Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities: Broad Stakeholder Call. RSVP here by Monday, April 2nd at 10am.

Thursday, April 5, 2012, 1:30- 3:00pm ET. New Tools in Scenario Planning: Denver Region’s Metro Vision 2040 Update. Register here.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 3:00- 4:00pm ET. Creating a Unique Public Space: The Uptown Roundabout in Normal, Illinois. No registration required. More information.

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Partnership for Sustainable Communities 2012 Briefing materials now available

Thank you to everyone who attended SGA’s Sustainable Communities Network Partnership for Sustainable Communities Briefing on February 16th, 2012.

Smart Growth America hosted the senior leadership from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency on this briefing.

Click below to listen to Beth Osborne (DOT), Mariia Zimmerman (HUD), and Tim Torma (EPA) give updates on this year’s Partnership for Sustainable Communities grants and programs, talk about where the Partnership stands in the President’s fiscal year 2013 budget, and outline the work that each Partnership agency plans to do in the upcoming year.

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"Navigating Change: Running Effective Community and Coalition Meetings" webinar materials now available

Thank you to everyone who attended SGA’s Sustainable Communities Network webinar Navigating Change: Running Effective Community and Coalition Meetings on November 22nd.

During this training, Odin Zackman, facilitator and community sustainability consultant, walked us through the basics of designing an effective community or coalition meeting. Navigating Change provided facilitation tips and techniques, and offered interventions that can help keep public meetings on track. The presentation (without audio) can be viewed here. Click below for the full presentation, responses to unanswered questions asked during the webinar, and additional resources.

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Upcoming webinar: Navigating Change: Running Effective Community and Coalition Meetings

Building sustainable communities involves engaging people in meetings to set a vision, agree upon goals, manage projects, and build relationships that will carry forward. Often—even with people who agree with what we are hoping to create—these meetings aren’t as effective as we’d like: they go off topic, we get mired in a particular issue, or we get overwhelmed by the number of decisions we need to make. In many cases, these meetings are interrupted by or taken over by those who are uncomfortable with our work, or might not understand the benefits of creating healthier, more sustainable communities.

Navigating Change, presented by facilitator and community sustainability consultant Odin Zackman, will walk you through the basics of designing an effective community or coalition meeting, provide facilitation tips and techniques, and offer interventions that can help keep public meetings on track. We’ll also reserve time for questions and a “community meeting clinic” where your stories and challenges can serve as case studies for all participants.

In preparation for this webinar, please fill out a brief survey to share your expectations. This will help design a session that addresses the questions and challenges you face that tend to be common to many communities.

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