Organizational planning and visual strategies lay the groundwork for 10-year planning
Strategic Planning · Social Science · Graphic Design
Challenge: Unify a 35-member subcommittee of agency and NGO leadership to work together to develop a shared vision for the Narragansett Bay region and lay out a focused plan of action.
Key Project Collaborators: RI Department of Environmental Management, MA Department of Environmental Protection, US Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, RI Department of Health, The Nature Conservancy, Mass Audubon, University of Rhode Island, Clark University, Rhode Island School of Design, Save the Bay, Narragansett Bay Estuarine Research Reserve
Every ten years, National Estuary Programs coordinate planning for a set of actions that address the complex environmental problems facing their region.
During a series of early meetings, a large subcommittee of prominent members of the environmental and scientific community in the Narragansett Bay region is formed to discuss goals, visioning, and expectations for the next CCMP, Vision 2032.
A variety of tensions come up consistently in the energetic conversations that take place in our subcommittee meetings.
Key to the planning process is identifying realistic actions that make measurable progress within our four focus areas.
This logic model highlights the resources, outputs, and outcomes that must be accounted for during the planning process in order to achieve promised impacts.
Vision 2032 will consist of 30-50 individual Action Plans, adhering to “SMART” standards and organized hierarchically.
Action Plan Content Mock-up
The subcommittee agrees on four focus areas and twelve objectives to guide Action Plan development.
Workgroups are formed for each focus area to develop specific actions that meet the objectives for their group.
These objectives are mapped out to a playbook of proposed action areas to kickstart action planning.
The workgroups commit to involving stakeholders who have specific expertise in each focus area and who represent the local needs of their communities.
The subcommittee reviews a spectrum of engagement through an equity lens, and makes a commitment to stakeholder engagement based on balancing aspirations with capacity: “We aim to meaningfully involve, while striving to achieve deeper collaboration.”
Adapted from a spectrum of engagement developed by Rosa González of Facilitating Power, in collaboration with Movement Strategy Center. This version builds a useful equity lens onto other well-known public participation tools, including Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation and the IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum.
Last, a set of principles and priorities synthesized from subcommittee discussions.
