Southwest Pennsylvania Public Officials Design Institute
Sustainable Pittsburgh recognizes the diversity of communities in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Region and the myriad of issues with which they are confronted- whether an expanding suburban fringe or an interior community focusing on redevelopment. Some communities have experienced their growth cycles and are looking for stability. Others are seeking to greatly expand to overcome relatively slower growth and development over the past few years. The Public Officials Design Institute offers a regional context in which to make more effective decisions about growth and development. The Public Officials Design Institute is designed to provide local government officials with tools and language to develop programs and policies that will promote quality development and redevelopment, while deterring the future occurrence of sprawl.
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Public Officials Design Institute (the Institute) is an initiative of Sustainable Pittsburgh, its partners, and a team of community professionals. The Institute is dedicated to improving the design of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s towns and cities by offering elected officials the hands-on, problem-specific tools they need to improve the design and well being of their communities. The objective is to instill in public officials an appreciation for the importance of design of the public realm and to understand the relationships between social, economic, and environmental considerations in creating communities. The Institute assists officials in realizing the potential that exists, and gives them the knowledge they need to seize opportunities for making positive change by influencing the design of their communities.
Participants in the Institute program will be trained to distinguish among design options, based upon then problems and projects that the participants themselves have identified. This will be accomplished by assembling a group of experts, who are able to assess urban design and community planning projects quickly and who can move from initial concept to specific options in a short time. The resource team will represent a broad basis of professional response that is identified in the without compensation out of a desire to foster better community design and, for the private sector, to establish working relationships with communities and their leaders.
The intended outcome of the Institute is to create an informed, skillful approach to design and development that empowers public officials, give them the knowledge and skills to solve design problems, and plan future development in their towns and cities with less impact on the physical environment. The goal is to develop a greater vision and bring attention to our regions economic needs, while increasing awareness of equity in bringing about and redirecting Southwestern Pennsylvania’s growth. This is a multi-faceted approach to visionary problem solving, building community, and fostering effective leadership.
This is achieved by having the participant’s recognize their leadership potential to being about change in their communities, while empowering them with clarity of focus regarding their ability to create well-designed communities and places.
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