What do 30 different counties in four states have in common, and howcan they work together toward common goals?
County leaders in southwestern Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, eastern Ohio and western Maryland want to findout, and last week launched the Regional Visioning Project, a two-yearprocess that will engage residents of the region in an effort to create”a shared vision for the region’s best future.”
William P. Getty, president of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and a member of the steering committee for theproject, cites successful regional visioning projects in the United States, Canada and Europe as models for the new endeavor.
Says Getty: “The SteeringCommittee hopes to engage the greatest number of people of anyvisioning process”–and specifically to surpass the level of publicparticipation for a similar process in Calgary, which reported theinvolvement of more than 18,000 citizens.
There are four goals for the visioning process: to create a common vision, including strategies and a plan of action; to instill “a sense of realistic optimism” about the region and its goals for competitive performance in the global marketplace; to inspire public determination to solve the region’s problems; and to make new and more effective connections among the people, communities, and institutions of the region.
As the economic center of the 30-county region, Pittsburgh will host the project’s first public meeting at Hazlett Theater on May 20, organized by cityLIVE!.
Source: Regional Visioning Project
Writer: Joseph Plummer
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