Facilitation & Citizen Participation
Capitol Lake (November 2008 – August 2009)
The Capitol Lake Adaptive Management Plan (CLAMP) Steering Committee was tasked with the responsibility of preparing a recommendation to the Director of General Administration on the future status of Capitol Lake – should it stay as a managed lake or be restored as an estuary. Creative Community Services assisted the committee with facilitation services during their deliberations, including designing and writing the first draft recommendation.
We also assisted the Department of General Administration in soliciting public opinions and ideas from the local citizens. Our participation designs included a public participation plan, a special focus group session to analyze Capitol Lake Alternatives, and the Draft Alternatives Analysis Open House. ▲
Thurston County Shoreline Master Program Update
(April 2008 through
March 2009)
This project entailed developing and implementing a citizen participation plan for Thurston County’s update of the Shoreline Master Program update.
The design included one set of workshops to collect citizen data about their characterization of the shoreline by using a cognitive mapping approach. The second workshop series aimed at citizens sharing opinions and ideas about regional shoreline issues using open house comment cards. The project concluded with two focus group sessions involving shoreline residential property owners and shellfish producers to identify mitigation approaches for aquaculture. ▲
Chehalis River Surge Plain Natural Areas Preserve
Washington DNR requested that we assist
them in cataloging opinions about developing a management plan for the
Chehalis River Surge Plain (CRSP) Natural Areas Preserve (NAP).
The two workshops engaged citizens and representatives from groups holding diverse and conflicting interests for the area. The first session focused on setting common goals for the area’s management and the second session explored ways to address conflicting uses. We also assisted WDNR with writing sections of the final management plan. ▲
Stavis Natural Resources Conservation Area (February 2008)
This was a single evening workshop to catalog the opinions of approximately 150 citizens about developing a management plan for the Stavis Natural Resources Conservation Area. ▲
South Puget Sound Sustainability Outreach Initiative (Nov. 2007 – Jan. 2008)
Charting a future for a sustainable south Puget Sound was the focus of a series of facilitations involving a wide-range of stakeholder groups from Mason, Thurston, and Pierce Counties. We prepared a report summarizing the findings shared by participants. The Squaxin Island Tribe sponsored this project.
Capitol Lake Estuary Study: Economic and Social Net Benefits Study (2006–07)
CCS facilitated four workshops and two public open house events for the Washington Departments of Fish and Wildlife and General Administration to catalog opinions about the economic and social values associated with retaining Capitol Lake or converting it to an estuary. Citizen data generated from these workshops was incorporated into a larger economic and social values report. ▲
Projects
Strategic Planning
Natural Resources & Community Planning
Grant Writing & Management