Expertise - Visioning/Community Awareness Planning

As Yogi Berra would say:

"If you don't know where you are going - you might end up someplace else."

Community visioning is the process of developing consensus about what future the community wants, and then deciding what is necessary to achieve it. A vision statement captures what community members most value about their community, and the shared image of what they want their community to become. It inspires community members to work together to achieve the vision. A thoughtful vision statement is one of the elements needed to form a forward looking strategic framework that gives councils or boards the long-term-comprehensive perspective necessary to make rational and disciplined tactical/incremental decisions on community issues as they arise. Community vision statements are typically crafted through a collaborative process that involves a wide variety of community residents, stakeholders and elected officials.

Community Visioning is both a process and a statement. The initial process includes discovering the kind of future your community wants by giving your residents the opportunity to express their goals, objectives, and values honestly. Through this discovery, residents are given a platform to discuss what they would like their community to look and feel like within the next five to 10 years and come to a mutually agreed upon Vision.

But talking about a Vision only goes so far. The second part of a community Vision is solidifying it into a statement. That statement represents the goals and objectives of the community and includes a consensus of what the community will look and feel like in the future.

The Vision statement is then used to guide strategic planning, decision making, and government officials who are responsible for directing the future of an entity, an area or region, a city, a county, or even a state.