An Introduction to
Common Ground: A Blueprint for Regional Action
For many people civic engagement is little more than a chapter in a dusty civics text book. That’s about to change thanks to an exciting multi-media initiative that will invite every citizen in the six county metropolitan area to help create a vision for the future. Common Ground: A Blueprint for Regional Action will use video, broadcast television, cable, print, radio, and the Internet to connect everyone in Northeastern Illinois in the vital and exciting task of envisioning what Chicago and its surrounding counties will look like in 2050. This initiative is the critical first phase of an innovative three year project undertaken by NIPC, the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, to create a new thirty year plan for the region.
Nationally known for its excellence in data analysis and research, NIPC is the public body responsible for creating the master plan or roadmap that will guide city, county, and state agencies as well as businesses and developers in the critical decisions that will shape our future. NIPC is partnering with public and private sectors to insure that for the first time this process is open and inclusive, reflecting voices from every corner of our regional community including youth, the elderly, and the region’s rich racial and cultural diversity.
The time is right to develop a fresh regional vision. The release of new census data points to dramatic demographic shifts underway in the six county area. An aging population, cultural and racial diversity, and new demands on housing, transportation, natural resources will increase. Traffic gridlock, airport congestion, threatened natural resources, a changing workforce and the lack of affordable housing plague us today. Innovation and change are possible, but no one city or county or township can meet this challenge alone. Detailed data and statistical analysis alone cannot resolve these problems. No community or civic watchdog group can implement solutions in a vacuum. Regional cooperation and collaboration are essential. Only a common vision can provide the framework for effective action.
Already the list of concerns is long and daunting. Regional interests and needs seem contradictory in current political terms. Can we have new houses and also more open space? Can we have new roads and lower gasoline consumption? How can we have new industry bringing new jobs and reduced noise and pollution? Can we have sustainable growth that maintains water and air quality at a healthy level? Common Ground: A Blueprint for Regional Action will ask these questions and more, using a range of media and technology to facilitate the public discussions that lead to commitment for action.
Endorsed by the governmental and civic leadership from all counties, Common Ground: A Blueprint for Regional Action is already underway. 12 Leadership Workshops have drawn nearly 900 residents of diverse economic and racial backgrounds from all six counties to identify key issues. On Saturday, October 27, over 1,000 area citizens will gather at the Rosemont Convention Center in an unprecedented Regional Forum to begin to shape the workshop issues into a regional action agenda. Using computers, and keypad technology, citizens will talk to one another across geographic, political, and ethnic boundaries to find common areas of concern and hope. Workgroups will be formed to begin the intensive work of creating a regional plan.
Later in mid 2002 a progress report in be taken to the entire region through a major Electronic Town Meeting (ETM) to shape a regional vision and set action priorities for Common Ground. Through multi-platform media partnerships with broadcast television, radio, print, and the Internet, every citizen will be able to voice his or her opinions on the future of the region.
Out of the ETM, a vision and prioritized set of goals will emerge which citizen-based working groups will continue to work together with NIPC and its other agency partners to refine and shape IDEAS into scenarios depicting possible courses of action. Technology will again be used to visualize what these scenarios mean for the lives of everyday people. A second ETM will take place late in 2003 to address proposed regional priorities. Finally, informed by citizen input, NIPC will create a draft regional plan for final presentation to the region through a final round of public workshops. Multi-platform media coverage and analysis will provide a continuum of visibility, information and enlightenment throughout the process.
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