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Your Town Alabama |The Center for Regional Planning and Design | 1731 1st Avenue North, Suite 200 | Birmingham, AL 35203 | info@yourtownalabama.org
Your Town Alabama now has a blog: visit it to get current information about grants, workshops, conferences, success stories and more! Visit the Your Town Alabama Blog NOW!
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Registration is now open for the 2009 Your Town Alabama workshop (June 3-5, 2009).
Learn more about the workshop and about how to apply here.
"The best information gathering session I have ever attended, I did not want it to end." Quote from 2007 YT Class Participant.
"Just wanted to say thanks for reccomending the workshop, it was a huge success! I haven't been able to stop talking about it... I enjoyed it thoroughly and I learned alot!" Quote from 2006 YT Class Participant.
“The YourTown Alabama workshop was like no other conference or meeting I've attended--in the very best sense. I probably can't do justice to the thought it has provoked, the energy it inspires, and the hope it gives. Thank you so much. I hate that we can't come again year after year! I will, though, send names of people who will benefit from and use its wealth of information and resources.” Quote from 2005 YT Class Participant.
Towns, villages and neighborhoods in Alabama, and across America, face an uncertain future—a future which is increasingly threatened by large scale economic changes, population shifts, land policy changes, the impact of electronic commerce and mass merchandising. In the face of these changes, communities find themselves struggling to maintain their vitality and even their sense of identity.
Whether the threat is sudden growth or stagnation, planning and design decisions can often make the difference between survival and decay, between healthy prosperity and decline. Despite the crucial importance of planning and design, small communities rarely have good access to professional assistance or information regarding the application of planning and design to their communities' issues. The YourTown Alabama program is a first step in meeting these needs.
The workshop format is an intensive engagement of citizen leaders and professionals. The two and one half days are highly participatory with lectures, case-study presentations, and interactive group problem solving, including work on realistic issues in a hypothetical small town.
The goal is to provide advanced leadership skills supported by information and planning tools that can be taken home to all corners of our state and applied to the process of Designing Our Future!
As a Your Town-er, we are sure that you have taken the Your Town Alabama assets-based concept back to your community and are working to change the world. We realize that many of the Your Town alumni return to their communities with new ideas and face the: “That’s nice but it can’t be done here,” mentality of the neighbors who haven’t been exposed to the Your Town asset-based principles and “can-do” message.
To assist you in your quest, Your Town Alabama, through funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission, has produced a web-based video. The video provides an introduction to:
- Alabama the Beautiful - Alabama is a beautiful State, full of natural resources and economic opportunities, and is worthy of preservation. These concepts represent an economic engine for communities.
- They Can Do It – Why Can’t We? – Showcases Alabama examples of good community development practices.
- Economics of Great Community Planning – Provides case examples of the economic benefit of creative community planning
It is hoped that this project will provide support to alumni, provide education on sustainable asset-based economic development to the local community and encourage participation in Your Town Alabama events.
The 10 minute introduction video – Planning to Succeed: Asset-Based Planning in Small Town and Rural Alabama is available for viewing below and on the Your Town Alabama website (www.yourtownalabama.org). A longer, more detailed DVD version is available through the Your Town Alabama website which includes: 10 minute introduction web-based video and 20 minute complete version
You may download the 10 minute web-based version free by completing the request form at www.yourtownalabama.org/videorequest.html. Copies of the DVD are free to Your Town Alumni by indicating your graduating class. If you are not a Your Town Alumni, a $10 contribution is requested to offset duplication, processing and postage.
We encourage you to take advantage of this resource to educate civic leaders, elected officials and others about asset-based planning. Please share your success, progress and needs through the Your Town Alabama blog on our website.
As always, with warmest regards,
Paul Kennedy, PresidentYou can also view (or even download) the video in a larger format by visiting it on Google Video.