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Linking Community Visioning and Highway Capacity Planning (2012)

Chapter: Chapter 7 Forming Partnerships

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Page 53
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 7 Forming Partnerships." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Linking Community Visioning and Highway Capacity Planning. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14580.
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Page 54
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 7 Forming Partnerships." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Linking Community Visioning and Highway Capacity Planning. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14580.
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Page 55
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 7 Forming Partnerships." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Linking Community Visioning and Highway Capacity Planning. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14580.
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Page 55
Page 56
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 7 Forming Partnerships." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Linking Community Visioning and Highway Capacity Planning. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14580.
×
Page 56
Page 57
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 7 Forming Partnerships." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Linking Community Visioning and Highway Capacity Planning. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14580.
×
Page 57
Page 58
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 7 Forming Partnerships." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Linking Community Visioning and Highway Capacity Planning. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14580.
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53 C h a p t e r 7 Introduction The broad scope of a visioning effort often involves organiza- tions representing concerns well beyond the traditional roles of transportation planning and project agencies. This feature of visioning necessitates the formation of partnerships among various public, private, and civic organizations, as well as part- nerships among transportation and resource agencies, and within a transportation agency itself. Partnerships are gener- ally developed to convene and facilitate a visioning process. This may involve a number of internal and external models and approaches. This chapter describes partnerships formed to prepare, create, and implement visioning processes. Key purposes and characteristics of effective partnerships are discussed, based on a review of national examples of visioning processes. Potential partnership models are illustrated, both internal and external to the vision’s convening organization. What Is partnering? A partnership brings together diverse groups to achieve a common goal. In the context of this research, that goal is developing a shared vision. As described in earlier sections illustrating the model Vision Guide, partners are individuals or organizations with an active and defined role, and with influence over the visioning process. Partnerships may be formed to leverage financial or in-kind resources for a vision, to provide a forum for stakeholder cooperation, or to pro- vide executive-level decision-making authority. Most often these relationships are informal, and partners are bound by a shared commitment and common interest in a visioning pro- cess. Partnerships also may be secured formally, for example, by inviting participation on the board of directors of a vision’s lead organization or through interagency agreements among public entities. Within the framework of a visioning process, partnerships often bring together multiple public, private, and civic entities, including: • Transportation interests (state DOTs, MPOs, regional authorities, local governments, private modal partners, and federal agencies); • Resource interests (local, regional, state, and federal envi- ronmental agencies, water or air quality management dis- tricts, conservation and wildlife organizations, and private landholders); • Elected officials and staff; • Community interests (public or private partners with responsibility for decisions related to land use, economic development, community resources, housing, and related subjects); • Private-sector interests (major employers, industry associa- tions, or chambers of commerce); and • Civic interests (universities, community foundations, neigh- borhood associations, or community groups). purposes of partnerships Agencies responsible for transportation planning and project development have traditionally worked within well-defined environments with specific responsibilities. In the past, part- nering has been used most commonly in the construction and environmental review stages of transportation project devel- opment. State DOTs develop partnership agreements with regulatory agencies to describe the ground rules for working together, solving problems, and governing dispute resolutions. However, recently agencies are increasingly partnering with resource agencies and other organizations in preconstruction activities such as problem identification, planning, design, and visioning. Partnerships greatly improve the effectiveness of these integrated and interdisciplinary planning efforts. Forming Partnerships

54 Partnering, as a formal organization or management prac- tice, has mostly been pursued in the private sector. As with the practice of visioning itself, visioning partnership approaches are constantly evolving and increasingly inventive (Lorange et al. 1992). The primary reasons why partnerships are undertaken vary from case to case but primarily include the following: • Developing decision-making authority; • Strategically involving stakeholders; • Guaranteeing financial or in-kind resources; and • Providing a structure for implementation efforts. Developing Decision-Making Authority Visioning processes are complex arrangements of stakeholders that require consensus agreement at key decision points to sus- tain a successful process. Although visions are open, inclusive, and consensus-based processes, they do require executive-level decision authority to reconcile differences, craft summary lan- guage, agree on methods, data, tools and techniques, put forth recommendations, and make final decisions on key outcomes. In some cases, visioning processes have developed tiered partnerships with different decision-making authorities gov- erning these tasks. At the broadest level, partnerships such as task forces and working groups involve many partners on a voluntary basis to develop information and discuss ideas. A secondary partnership level may include key stakeholders, including those with financial commitments, regulatory authority, or elected officials with rule-making responsibilities. At the highest level, an executive council or board of directors may be convened by the lead organization to provide a final voice in outcomes or products, or when approving scopes, schedules, budgets, or staff commitments. Strategically Involving Stakeholders In early stages of a visioning process, a solid partnership that brings together representatives from all perspectives will help guide the process by ensuring stakeholders are provided ample opportunity for input. Partnerships may provide venues for sharing project information with stakeholders, thereby improving transparency and providing a forum for vetting and building consensus around project milestones and outcomes. Partnerships intended to involve stakeholders strategically include task forces working to address goals within specific issue areas, working groups of technical staff for scenario- modeling efforts, or staff of elected officials to provide connec- tions to leadership. Representation of stakeholders on the lead organization’s board of directors or executive council often satisfies a strategic purpose, but in broad visioning efforts these preexisting groups may need to expand to include additional representatives. In this case, informal or temporary partner- ships may work well to bring together groups of important stakeholders or to expand an existing partnership to cover all stakeholder groups. Guaranteeing Financial or In-Kind Resources Partnerships often are cultivated to secure funding or resource commitments. This may occur as a result of a matching grant program requiring the cooperation of multiple partners; mem- bership in a partnership may be offered to induce financial contributions; or governmental agencies providing funding may require a voice in the decision-making process. Visions led by civic organizations tend to develop partnerships with key funders and then include those partners in decision mak- ing to recognize contributions. Visions led by governmental agencies tend to have established partnerships structures and may be bound to expand partnerships as a result of state or federal funding agreements. Providing a Structure for Implementation A characteristic of many visions is that the lasting outcome of the process is not necessarily the vision statement, map, or alter- native scenario but rather the partnerships formed during the process that continue to work together on implementation efforts or entirely new initiatives. Organizations founded for the purpose of leading a vision must develop lasting partnerships with regulatory agencies and community and private-sector interests to maintain momentum, pursue implementation efforts, and continue to justify operation. Partnerships also may be founded explicitly for implementation purposes, for example, organizations that approve, fund, and monitor demonstration projects, or councils of elected officials and key stakeholders that establish priorities or commit resources toward implementation. Structuring partnerships Communities and regions have taken different approaches to structuring the role of the lead organization and the roles and responsibilities of partners. Generally, visioning efforts are cre- ated under two basic structures: • Existing organization convenes through an existing public, private, or civic organization. In these cases, an existing orga- nization may be broadened through strategic partnerships to develop legitimacy when addressing broad issues and to facilitate greater stakeholder involvement in the process. • New organization convenes through an entity or partnership created explicitly for the purposes of visioning. In these cases,

55 strategic partnerships often are created to develop decision- making authority, involve funding partners, and facilitate greater stakeholder involvement in the process. The basic hierarchy and organizational structure of a vision- ing process tends to remain the same, whether the lead organi- zation is existing or new. However, the partnerships created or leveraged for visioning may have different purposes. For the purposes of this project, partnerships are organized accord- ing to whether they are considered internal or external to the lead organization of the visioning process. This distinction is made because the relationships developed, method of partner outreach, formal or informal agreement, and often the basic purpose of partnerships vary in each arrangement. Internal Partnerships Partnerships internal to the lead organization include formal or informal arrangements created for the purposes of devel- oping information, securing resources, or providing decision- making authority. • Formal arrangements include partnership models such as boards of directors, councils, or any executive-level decision- making entity. • Informal arrangements include partnership models such as task forces, working groups, advisory committees, or project teams formed for specific purposes, such as public outreach, technical efforts, or implementation monitoring and reporting. External Partnerships Partnerships external to the lead organization include formal or informal arrangements between the convener and other key stakeholders. Whether created or existing partnerships, these are leveraged for the purposes of involving stakeholders, lending legitimacy to efforts, securing resources, and aiding implementation efforts. • Formal arrangements include partnership models such as the creation of councils of elected officials, interagency or agency director committees, representative bodies, or new community-based organizations or civic institutions. • Informal arrangements include partnership models such as agency staff working groups, public-private advisory committees, or task forces formed for a specific purpose. Figure 7.1 illustrates a generic organizational structure for a vision and potential partnership models, both internal and external to the lead organization. This representation is an example, and visioning processes are not limited to the struc- ture or models presented here. However, most visions are organized starting from the bottom up, with working-level Task Forces, Issue Area Groups, Stakeholder Committees Staff Committee, Project Team, Technical Advisory Group Board of Directors, Executive Committee, Funders Group Executive Level Advi sory Level Public In pu t Working Level Working Level Working Level Task Forces, Issue Area Groups, Stakeholder Committees Key Stakeholder Alliances, Technical Advisory Groups, Funders Councils Interagency Council, Directors Committee, Council of Elected Officials Ex tern al Par tn erships In ternal Part ner ships Figure 7.1. Generic vision organizational structure and partnership models.

56 partnerships having the responsibility to solicit and use public input. Often, advisory-level partnerships are formed to involve stakeholders strategically and to hold some decision- making responsibility or advisory role in complex activities, such as scenario or indicator development. Finally, executive- level partnering models provide ultimate authority over the approval and adoption of final vision outcomes. The next section provides several partnership examples from existing visioning processes. Partnership Examples Arizona State Route 179 A vision for the State Route 179 corridor was organized by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), in partnership with FHWA, Coconino National Forest, Big Park Regional Coordinating Council, Yavapai and Coconino Counties, and the city of Sedona. These entities were repre- sented on the executive team, which was the ultimate decision- making body. External partnerships included design advisory panels with members from each executive team agency, addi- tional stakeholders, and citizen volunteers representing a wide range of interests, whose role was to solicit input on design considerations. Additional internal partnerships at the work- ing and advisory levels included a public outreach team, a project management team, and ADOT’s technical team. New Visions 2015–2030 The Capital District Transportation Committee (CDTC) convened New Visions, a visioning effort to address issues in Upstate New York in conjunction with an update to the region’s LRTP. The committee leveraged an existing internal partnership, the Policy Board, to provide executive-level guid- ance for the vision. Board members include the New York State DOT, Capital District Transportation Authority, Capital District Regional Planning Commission, New York State Thruway Authority, Albany County Airport Authority, Albany Port District Commission, county and at-large community representatives, FHWA, and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The CDTC’s internal plan- ning committee, composed of staff and technical experts from Policy Board organizations, provided advisory-level support. In addition, five New Visions Working Groups were organized as external partnerships to draw broad stakeholder input. Other significant external partnerships included alliances with the Capital District Regional Planning Council, to provide techni- cal support; the Center for Economic Growth, which conducted complementary scenario analysis; and ARISE (A Regional Initiative to Support Empowerment), which was involved in coordinating outreach activities. Central Florida Regional Growth Vision The civic organization myregion.org, a subsidiary of the Greater Orlando Chamber of Commerce, convened a regional visioning process in Central Florida. The effort involved elected officials from seven counties, 86 cities, five MPOs, three water management districts, and two regional planning coun- cils, and engaged additional state, regional, and local agencies, as well as community and business partners. The myregion.org board of directors had significant decision-making authority in the visioning process. An external informal committee of significant partners provided policy direction and vetted out- comes, and a technical advisory committee and project team provided technical support and guidance in managing the project. Later, an external partnership was organized to lead implementation efforts, known as the Congress of Regional Leaders. This partnership involves elected officials from around the region in implementation efforts. Key Factors in Successful partnerships Effective partnerships are critical to the development and implementation of a successful vision. This section identifies key factors or characteristics of partnerships that may signifi- cantly inform the visioning process. Committed Leadership The convening organization and participating agencies must consistently communicate and demonstrate strong executive-level support and committed leadership through- out the visioning process. Effective leaders are often chosen to chair partnerships, with responsibility for engaging partners, developing consensus, ensuring participation, and maintain- ing communication channels. Leadership may come from agency directors, elected officials, organizational representa- tives, or members of the public. These leaders often become the public face and visible champions for a visioning effort, lobbying internally and externally to maintain momentum and support for the vision. Adaptable Organizational Structure A visioning process benefits from an organizational structure that allows for a variety of external and internal partnerships to be developed as needed. Various external partnerships are useful to support specific aspects of a process at different times, such as the facilitation of stakeholder engagement, technical input on scenario efforts, vision outcome and pol- icy direction, and implementation efforts. In addition, inter- nal partnerships may evolve as opportunities arise to reach

57 out to new stakeholders, elected officials or partner leader- ship may change, the roles of project funding or agency part- ners may fluctuate, and the scope and scale of a vision may be adjusted at any point in a process. An organizational struc- ture that is able to adapt to current conditions, while main- taining clear management responsibility and decision-making authority, will be best suited to fulfilling the purpose of visioning and best able to sustain efforts well into the future. Involvement of Decision Makers The involvement of a diverse set of stakeholders is important in any visioning process; however the involvement of partners with ultimate regulatory powers, decision authority, or imple- mentation responsibility is critical. For example, a vision that addresses issues of transportation and land use will find it challenging to implement the vision if local governments are not involved from the onset, or at the very least involved in implementing partnerships to help craft recommended futures, policies, or goals. Similarly, a regional or statewide vision ulti- mately needs ownership and commitment of regional entities for its successful implementation. Decision makers are often involved through external partnerships that assist in advisory capacities to fine-tune public involvement input or in pro- cesses to transfer vision outcomes to related plans and pro- cesses. A process also may target the involvement of elected officials through unique partnerships that suit the profes- sional demands of these rule makers. Diverse Representation Partnerships often are formed for the purpose of stake- holder involvement. Public participation and input opportu- nities alone cannot ensure diverse representation, but balanced and strategic partnerships can assure that the key stakeholders, interests, and players have a voice in the vision development process. Private-sector and community representatives are important in ensuring that a vision has local champions, broad business community support, and access to a range of expertise and perspectives, and implementation resources. application within the Vision Guide Forming partnerships is a key task throughout the visioning process, and partners can be engaged either as a need arises or for the duration of the project. In addition, partnerships often are the lasting outcomes of a vision, maintaining coop- erative relationships and momentum for the vision’s goals long after public involvement activities are completed. Within the interactive, online Vision Guide a forming partnerships component helps practitioners identify activity areas most relevant to partnering. The following sections cor- respond with the model Vision Guide and provide high-level guidance for structuring and forming partnerships. Preparing the Vision Partnership development is critical within early stages of a visioning process. When preparing for the vision, the prac- titioner must establish an organizational structure, identify and reach out to key partners, secure resource committee members from partners, and develop a broad base of support for the visioning effort. These activities require a great deal of resources and time but are invaluable to organizing a success- ful visioning process. What Has Been Done? Visioning processes are sponsored by an existing organiza- tion or a newly formed organization. Existing organizations may be public agencies or private entities, whereas newly formed organizations often are public-private partnerships. Assessing the capacity, reach, and commitments of existing partnerships or organizations can provide valuable informa- tion that will help inform whether new strategic partnerships or existing partnerships will be more effective to organize the visioning process. What Are Our Resources? Securing commitments from partners is a primary purpose of forming partnerships and a valuable tool for practitioners when organizing a visioning process. Formal partner com- mitment structures may be established, such as sponsorship opportunities, requiring funders to buy in to decision-making bodies, or entering into formal contractual arrangements. Informal structures can elicit partner support through pledges of in-kind technical or cash assistance, utilizing existing con- tracting mechanisms for consultant or staff support, or fund- raising to support specific tasks within the process. Who Will We Involve? Establishing a defined and accepted decision-making and organizational structure is necessary for a visioning process to move forward. A generic organizational model for a vision process typically involves an executive-level body such as a steering committee; advisory-level structures such as a techni- cal advisory group; working-level groups such as task forces; and the public input level, from which direction is initially drawn. Each of these organizational structures represents an opportunity to develop diverse, multisector partnerships

58 among key stakeholders, such as elected officials, implement- ing agencies, funders, or citizen groups. Creating the Vision Although partnerships are significant during the develop- ment of a vision statement, it is the final steps of creating the vision that sets the stage for implementation efforts. Without the agreement of significant partners on the final outcomes of a vision, the process risks continuing without full support and is not likely to achieve objectives. Maintaining strong partnerships through this phase is challenging and likely requires significant networking, compromises, and consen- sus building, but it is necessary to reach a shared vision and a plan to move forward. How Will We Get There? The roles and responsibilities of partners should be clearly communicated and identified when developing the final vision outcomes or products. Partnerships developed during earlier input or planning processes may be continued, or the practi- tioner may foresee the need to create new partnerships geared specifically toward implementation. Partner responsibilities developed at this stage may be transferred to future commit- ment tracking or outcome measurement processes. Partnership models or arrangements developed at this point in a process may include formal councils or committees (of elected officials or implementing agencies) or informal stakeholder groups with assigned actions or objectives. Implementing the Vision Without the support of key partners, particularly decision makers, implementation efforts cannot succeed. Effective partnerships may actually become the most lasting outcome of a visioning process by coalescing support for coordinated and collaborative activities. Acting on goals and objectives, tracking progress, and maintaining support for the vision require continued efforts to maintain current partners and forge new partnerships. How Will We Realize Our Vision? The involvement of partners, particularly decision makers, assists in the transition and transfer from high-level visioning to ground-level processes and plans. Partnership models that serve to integrate related plans with the vision include formal adoption by local agencies or informal endorsement by pri- vate organizations. Securing partner commitments also is critical to establishing implementation strategies and for pro- viding momentum to transfer responsibility for action to partners. Commitments from partners may include pledges to accept and act on the recommendations of a vision, formal adoption of the vision into related plans, or agreements to develop demonstration projects. How Will We Stay on Track? Sustaining momentum and partner involvement may be challenging in later stages of a visioning process. Partnership structures may help maintain communication among key partners through implementation committees or other for- mal models. Informal, broad partnerships such as citizen advisory groups may morph into other areas or functions but still provide oversight and public pressure to act on vision objectives. Developing a reliable commitment tracking pro- cess also relies on the assistance of partners in developing agreements and guidance on tracking and reporting efforts to advance the vision. What Have We Accomplished? Recognizing the contributions of partners toward vision outcomes provides an opportunity to reward partners in success and motivate partners in failure. Partnerships such as steering committees or technical advisory groups are often established or renewed to help develop community indica- tors or progress reports, or to revisit the vision and determine next steps. How to Maintain Our Vision? For partners to continue to buy into and act on a vision, sometimes decades after development, they may need to be reengaged in visioning efforts. Partnerships such as steering committees or technical advisory groups are often renewed or established to update components of a vision or to rec- ognize projects. Partnership structures may be continued or entirely new organizations may be spun off to address spe- cific priorities or projects.

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TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Report S2-C08-RR-1: Linking Community Visioning and Highway Capacity Planning explores community visioning efforts, identifies steps and activities that might be considered when engaging in visioning, and highlights the links between vision outcomes and transportation planning and project development processes.

The report also presents a model—the Vision Guide—that is a blueprint for preparing, creating, and implementing a visioning process. As part of the project that produced Report S2-C08-RR-1, a companion web tool was also developed. The web tool, Transportation—Visioning for Communities (T-VIZ), is the interactive version of the Vision Guide.

Appendixes to the report, which are available only in electronic format, are as follows:

• Appendix A: Case Study Summaries

• Appendix B: Considering Communities

• Appendix C: Stakeholder Outreach Resources

• Appendix D: Commitment Tracking

An e-book version of this report is available for purchase at Google, iTunes, and Amazon.

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