Partnership
for
Community Planning

Models for Land Use Education, Planning, and Management

Planning in Wisconsin:  At The Leading Edge
Increasing natural resource consumption and changing land use patterns have had significant impacts on the environmental, economic, and cultural resources that are essential to sustain our quality of life. In 1999, Wisconsin adopted a comprehensive community planning law, providing an opportunity to educate citizens, elected officials and professionals about community planning and resource management. This project, Partnership for Community Planning: Models for Land Use Education, Planning, & Management, will build on the planning principles in that law to create effective models for community planning, resource management and related education.

Working with Communities
The Center for Land Use Education (CLUE) will work collaboratively with local, state, and federal partners to investigate and critique the effectiveness of different planning approaches in various geographic, demographic, and cultural settings. We will work with communities across Wisconsin to complete comprehensive plans and identify improved methods and strategies for innovative decision-making, plan evaluation, implementation, monitoring, and revision.

Sharing the Experience
We will synthesize educational materials and experiences derived from working with our partner communities to create a flexible comprehensive planning and resource management template for use in other communities � throughout Wisconsin, the nation, and internationally. Specifically, this project will identify, test, and deliver products to assist communities in planning for and managing their natural resources:

(1)  Criteria to identify or prioritize communities with significant natural and agricultural resources and the capacity to engage in planning.
(2)  Procedures to prepare a community for the planning process.
(3)  A methodology to assess and build community planning capacity.
(4)  Incentives that encourage long-term community engagement in planning and plan implementation.
(5)  Public participation methods that foster opportunities for dialogue among citizens, government, and other stakeholders.
(6)  Inventory techniques and analyses useful for setting community goals and objectives.
(7)  Tools to identify, evaluate and choose among alternative resource management options.

Planning Without Boundaries: An International Model
We will invite potential international partners interested in our planning and management models to participate in and observe critical stages of local planning processes.

A culminating conference will invite project partners � including communities, planning professionals, international partners, educational institutions and state and federal agencies � to discuss the results of this project and future directions.

The conference proceedings will identify processes, techniques, and resources necessary to overcome technological, economic and socio-cultural barriers to transfer sound planning principles to local planning efforts overseas. Educational exchanges and other communication tools will enhance this process.

Local Community Partners
CLUE is assisting comprehensive planning projects or is engaged in pre-planning activities with communities in the following counties:

We also contribute to community planning statewide through educational conferences and distribution of educational materials.

Photos courtesy of Jason Folstad, Bob Nichols, Stora Enso, USDA-NRCS, and UWSP-News Services

For More Information
Center for Land Use Education
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
College of Natural Resources
800 Reserve Street
Stevens Point, WI 54481

Phone: (715) 346-3783
Fax: (715) 346-4038
Email: landcenter@uwsp.edu