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For communities to respond to their challenges, they must resolve, for themselves, that their capacity to solve problems requires revitalization. Outside consultants can make recommendations, but without local ownership of a strategy and implementation plan, it is not likely that the community will take action. The Civic Index, a twelve point community self-evaluation tool, helps communities develop their problem solving capacity by providing a method and a process for first identifying and recognizing their strengths and weaknesses, and then structuring collaborative approaches to solving shared problems. Today's column discusses the Civic Index component of Community Vision and Pride.

Community Vision: A shared sense of a desired future

Communities that deal successfully with the challenges they face have developed a clear picture of where they want to go and also have a clear sense of their past.

As the International City/County Management Association explains, "A growing number of places are using the term 'vision' to describe the first step of the long-range planning process. Starting with a vision implies seeking agreement about the desired outcome of the plan [and] visualizing and articulating the kind of community residents want in the future, which might be defined as five or ten or even twenty years hence."

A community's vision should reflect the common values of that community; at the same time, however, it needs to be inclusive of the diverse populations which make up that community. Moreover, a community vision is not a "cookie cutter" type of document. A vision should reflect those qualities that make a community unique.

Having a vision can motivate community residents; it gives them a goal. It must be remembered, however, that a vision is an ideal; it may not be attained in its entirety and for that matter it probably won't be. But it can and should guide community actions. Moreover, a community vision is not dogma, set in stone. A community should revisit its vision often, to account for changes in the community's environment.

A long term community vision helps guide the community's short term strategic decisions; each immediate policy should fit in the plan to reach the overall goal.

For example, the community of Broomfield, Colorado developed a simple, long term vision - to be its own city and county. A series of annexations in the 1970s had resulted in Broomfield being located in four different counties, creating a logistical nightmare in terms of coordinating services and enacting any community-wide decisions.

With this long term vision in mind, short term goals were clearly definable: create community spirit; run a referendum campaign, etc. The result was that Colorado's voters on November 2, 1998 voted to approve the formal creation of the city and county of Broomfield.

Some questions a community can ask to evaluate whether or not is has a vision, and whether or not that vision is widely held, are:

• Is there a shared sense of a desired future for the community?
• Has the community completed a broad strategic plan?
• Does the community have a positive self-image?
• Does the community preserve and enhance what is special and unique?
• Does the community proactively monitor critical issues?
• Does the community deal with problems before they become crises?

One way of achieving these goals is through a community visioning project. Such a process brings together all sectors of a community to identify problems, evaluate changing conditions, and build collective approaches to improve the quality of life in the community.

To establish a vision for the future and pride in past accomplishments requires broadly participatory strategic planning activities. These activities can take many forms. "Goal for" or "Year 2010" projects are examples of processes that have been undertaken across the country.

For example, beginning in 1995 Saranac Lake Village, New York, a winner of the National Civic League's All-America City Award in 1998, spent over 700 hours evaluating who they were and where they wanted to go. A cross-section of the community first compiled a list of the community's strengths and weaknesses (referring to weaknesses as opportunities). The city then used this information to create a mission and vision statement. The result was "Saranac Lake: 2001 - A Five Year Strategic Plan for Community Revitalization."

Sharing in problem solving and planning for the future as a community is an empowering experience that raises the community's collective self-esteem and pride in their community. When citizens are brought into the community vision-creation process, they become invested; the community vision that emerges is theirs and they become stakeholders in their community's future.

For information on how the concepts and techniques presented in this column can be applied in your community or to order the 1999 Revised Civic Index, contact the National Civic League by e-mail at ncl@ncl.org; on the world wide web at www.ncl.org; or by phone at (303) 571-4343.

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