Agenda 21 and planning explained

Agenda 21 and planning explained

Some critics of planning and planners are using the United Nations document "Agenda 21" to spread inaccurate and misleading information about local planning. These falsehoods are addressed in "Agenda 21 and Planning: Myths and Facts," the first how-to guide in APA's Communications Boot Camp, now available on our website. Also posted is a recording of the November 4 webinar, "First Steps in Responding to Critics and Reframing Planning."

Communications Boot Camp is a 12-week series of free webinars and how-to guides designed to help APA members transform themselves and their allies into effective messengers and advocates for planning.

Communications Boot Camp webpage

Dec 1 Webinar: Govt Contact Centers and Improved Processes/Decisionmaking

"You don’t want to miss our next joint webinar with ICMA and PTI – learn how three cities – Albany, GA, Greensboro, NC and for a special return engagement, Pittsburgh, PA, use reporting to tie daily calls and service requests to data that departments and even citizens can use and learn from.

Hear from departments and how they use the reports to analyze and improve performance.  Pittsburgh will share a program they use that can help with decision making, including a way for citizens to view monthly performance indicators related to day-to-day operations of every city department.  

Title:  How government contact centers use reports to help departments and their jurisdictions to improve processes and drive decision making

December 7, 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. EST

Pulling departments into your contact center thru your CRM:   Learn how jurisdictions have developed good relationships with departments through the reporting capabilities of their CRM.  Can a contact center CRM be the catalyst for process improvement throughout the organization?  Can a CRM help a locality to spot trends or problems in neighborhoods?

Register today:  https://publictechnology.webex.com/publictechnology/onstage/g.php?d=661038322&t=a"

Source: DJ Russell on GovLoop

GMF Urban & Regional Policy Program Fellowships: 2012 Call for Applications

The German Marshall Fund of the United States is pleased to announce the 2012 Call for Applications for fellowships being offered through its Urban and Regional Policy program. The Urban and Regional Policy Fellowships are open to practitioners and policymakers working on local and state policy in the United States and Europe. Fellows have the opportunity to conduct research projects (of varying length and depth) designed to shed new light on an urban or regional policy challenge by exploring how it has been addressed on the other side of the Atlantic. Fellows return from their time overseas equipped with the ideas and insights necessary to effect significant and lasting change in their own communities.

Fellowship Overview

GMF offers two types of Urban and Regional Policy fellowships that vary in length, intensity, and expected outcomes. Short-term Travel Grants are available for individuals seeking to gather information that pertains to a specific, social, economic, or physical challenge or obstacle in their home communities. Over three to four weeks, these fellows visit a maximum of two cities for a series of site visits and meetings with relevant individuals and institutions. Longer-term Research Grants are available for individuals interested in completing more in-depth policy analysis. These fellows are based abroad for three months and examine how three case study cities approached a discrete policy challenge through site visits and interviews. Long-term fellows are expected to review available literature in advance of their travel and adhere to a well-developed research methodology.

Fellowship Outcomes

Both short and long-term fellows are expected to produce a written report summarizing their policy recommendations for publication and dissemination, as well as actively disseminate their findings to the policy community broadly, and their home communities more specifically. The type of fellowship conducted will determine the length and intensity of both the written and oral final products; long-term fellows will generally be expected to produce a full-length policy report.

Who Should Apply

GMF welcomes applications from mid-career professionals with an interest in gaining an understanding of how similar urban and regional challenges are approached in a policy context other than their own and an ability to translate lessons learned into policy action in their own communities. Applicants should be policymakers or practitioners in state/local government, leaders from the private sector, or representatives of non-profit and policy organizations. The fellowship is not intended for academic research. GMF welcomes fellowship proposals that cover a wide array of topics, including but not limited to urban sustainability, transportation, environmental policy, and education and workforce development. In 2012, the Advisory Committee is particularly interested in applications that focus on social issues such as affordable housing and social inclusion.

Urban and Regional Policy Program Networks

A major component of the Urban and Regional Policy Program’s practitioner network is the Transatlantic Cities Network (TCN), which provides a framework for the exchange of information about innovative policies, best practices, and local policy challenges among a diverse network of policymakers, practitioners, and civic leaders who are well-positioned to put new ideas into practice in their home cities. Potential fellows may make use of this vibrant network and others within GMF throughout the course of the Fellowship.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should see the program summary and application forms, on our website, for further details on the program and application process. The deadline for submission of applications is January 31st, 2012. Please contact Casey Kuklick, Program Assistant, with specific questions at ckuklick@gmfus.org.

Arcadia (in DC) hiring Mobile Market School Educator

Like kids, local food, food justice, and child nutrition? This could be the job for you!

Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture is hiring a part-time Mobile Market School Educator to lead educational programming on Arcadia's travelling farmers' market bus, and coordinate local food taste tests in DC cafeterias. Full application information at http://bit.ly/ArcadiaMMJob.

Crowd-Sourced Wikis for Government

We're glad to share the link to the recording for this recent webinar program, courtesy of CPAP Phd Student Jacob Parcell:

Social collaboration tools can welcome interested people to contribute ideas that help your agency develop policy. Hear how Ontario, Canada, used a social innovation wiki to gather public input for a policy paper on Social Innovation that helped them implement Ontario’s social innovation strategy.

In this webinar, Allyson Hewitt from SiG@MaRS, and Anne Bermonte from Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation, will share lessons learned, and discuss the opportunities and ongoing challenges of using social media to develop policy. Syracuse University's Ines Mergel will discuss her research of federal, state and local agencies' use of wikis, and how she created a checklist for creating and maintaining a wiki.

http://www.howto.gov/training/classes/crowd-source-wiki

Updated: Job Candidate Talks, CPAP and GIA

Ryan Yeung, Ph.D. – Visiting Assistant Professor, Public Administration, Rutgers University
Candidate for CPAP positions
Nov 14, 2:00p, Thomas Conner House
Nov 15, 12:00p, Prince Street
“The Effect of Immigrant Composition on Student Achievement: Evidence from New York City”

Matthew Dallek, Ph.D. – Associate Academic Director and Director of Summer Academic Programs, University of California Washington Center
Candidate for the GIA-NCR position
Nov 14, 1-2:00p, 502 Major Bill
Nov 16, 12-1:30p, Prince Street Rm 304
“Under Siege: The Roosevelt Administration and the Politics and Policy of Civil Defense During World War II”

Ariel Ahram, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, Joint Appointment in Political Science and International & Area Studies, University of Oklahoma
Candidate for the GIA-NCR position
Nov 14, 12:30-2:00p, Prince Street Rm 304
Nov 16, 11a-12:00p, Major Bill 527
“Proxy Warriors: The Rise and Fall of State Sponsored Militias”

Adam Eckerd, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, School of Public Affairs & Administration, University of Kansas-Lawrence
Candidate for CPAP positions
Nov 17, time tba, Prince Street
Nov 18, time tba, Thomas Conner
"Going Green Together? Brownfield Remediation and Environmental Justice"

Michael Jones, Ph.D. – Residential Research Fellow, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University
Candidate for CPAP positions
Nov 17, 4:00p, Thomas Conner
Nov 18, TBA, Prince Street
“Cultural Narratives and Climate Change Opinion: A Micro-level Application of the Narrative Policy Framework”

Chris Carrigan – Ph.D. Candidate, Public Policy, Harvard University, and Regulation Fellow, University of Pennsylvania Law School
Candidate for CPAP positions
Nov 28, time tba, Prince Street
Nov 29, time tba, Thomas Conner
Title TBA

Deven Carlson – Ph.D. Candidate, Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Candidate for CPAP positions
Dec 1, time tba, Thomas Conner
Dec 2, time tba, Prince Street
Title TBA

Mia Bird, Ph.D. – Instructor in Public Policy, University of California-Berkeley
Candidate for CPAP positions
Dec 5, time tba, Thomas Conner
Dec 6, time tba, Prince Street
Title TBA

Nov 17 Info Session: Sustainable Europe, June 26-July 20

Information Session
November 17
11:00am-12:00pm
Prince Street Polycom – Room 220
1021 Prince Street, Alexandria VA
Sustainable Europe
Riva San Vitale, Switzerland – June 26-July 20, 2012