At NCI, we are interested in not just how to plan and run a successful charrette but how to assure long-term project success. Visionary projects get approved and built in a timely fashion when strong leadership is combined with a collaborative team approach. On one end of the leadership spectrum you have the guru approach [...]

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Donna Hinde, Partner and Landscape Architect The Planning Partnership A charrette is an opportunity for participation, and not a requirement. Participation is always voluntary and we can never force people to attend. We have found that without exception, reluctance or unwillingness to attend stems from uncertainty, a lack of faith in the process or from [...]

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By Joanna Lombard, Architect and Professor Sometimes it can’t be resolved – knowing when you may not be “charrette-ready”. Mid-way through an active charrette in a moderately sized city, the team sat down for supper to discuss the results of the previous sessions. We realized that we actually faced irreconcilable differences. The mandate for the [...]

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March 23, 2011, 10:00-11:30 am PDT (1:00-2:30 pm EDT) Note: after live webinar date a recording will be available Overview Social media is a fast changing game. Hear how advocates, consultants and planners can use social media and avoid common fatal flaws. Find out how to get more informed participants to get involved and stay [...]

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The charrette event cannot be separated from the preparation and implementation phases for the total project. Therefore, it is not possible to budget for a charrette in isolation. The cost is completely dependent on project scale and complexity, how much preparation work has to be done, available resources, data collection, studies to be completed, and [...]

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Excerpted from an article in the NCI 2007 Best Practices Report By Debra Hempel, AICP Community Planning & Urban Design Manager, HDR, Inc. A Schedule that Fits the Community When setting up the charrette schedule, it is important to determine project issues and community concerns in order to identify and prioritize meetings. My approach to [...]

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How can you reduce the learning curve for charrette participants? If you have a complex issue like affordable housing or sustainable street design you may not want to wait until the charrette to start the discussion. Holding an educational event a month or two before the charrette can help reduce the time spent providing people [...]

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HUD will soon issue a NOFA under the Sustainable Communities Partnership. The Partnership has identified capacity building for federal agencies and grant recipients in its list of priorities. NCI’s new project consulting program builds local capacity in collaborative planning through on-the-job training. Please e-mail us for more information.

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Avoiding Project Failure Due to Inaccurate Stakeholder Information When an opposition group moves in after a charrette and undermines project implementation it is usually because the project team either was unaware of their existence or did not fully understand their true position. One powerful method for verifying information is to conduct confidential stakeholder interviews. Confidential [...]

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Excerpted from the NCI 2005 Best Practices Report By Keith Covington, Principal Third Coast Design Studio Some of the toughest people to deal with during a planning process are those who did not attend the charrette. In the public sector, we have tried just about every method to notify and encourage people to attend. After [...]

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