One of our largest challenges may be gaining the trust of community members. Without trust, consensus is unlikely.  In order to address communities’ distrust of public involvement, we should design the Charrette as an open, transparent, and targeted process that responds to the capacities, conditions, and dynamics within the community.  Open means inclusive, non-judgmental, and [...]

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NCI recently received this inquiry by email. We thought the answer would be useful for others visiting this website.
The answer depends on the scope of the charrette, however, budgets should always be considered early on. A major goal of the charrette and NCI Dynamic Planning is to reduce rework. This [...]

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In response to shrinking project budgets, more and more planning agencies are developing the in-house capacity to conduct charrettes. Director of Fayetteville Long Range Planning, Karen Minkel, has assembled a staff of planners and designers who possess the diverse talents from both planning and design disciplines necessary to run a community charrette. Last year, Karen [...]

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The NCI Charrette RFP Template is being utilized in at least four RFPs this spring. The template is a free resource from NCI providing a complete framework for specifying a NCI charrette process in a RFP. The template has been used in RFPs issued by Boone, NC, Peekskill, NY, Freeport, NY and Wellington, New Zealand.
Download [...]

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Tips for presenting to large audiences:
1. Use a large screen
Have you ever been to a presentation where 60 or more people are forced to look at one of those wobbly 3-legged, 8-foot-wide screens? You know the ones that always have creases in them? If your presentation is worth showing then it is worth seeing [...]

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Charrettes can be used for any scale of planning or design project. They have been used for projects ranging from regional planning to building design.
For large projects that have distinct geographic and/or political boundaries it is common to hold a single regional charrette or workshop to work on shared values or vision elements, followed [...]

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Oliver Kuehne, Senior Town PlannerHDR Town Planning

Create a supply checklist. Specify what you need, and how many of each; take inventory a few days prior to leaving for the charrette as some items may need to be ordered.
Put one person in charge of inventory and packing. If everybody throws stuff in a suitcase you will [...]

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Why is NCI taking the time to write a model RFP template? Far too often, a sponsoring agency is surprised when, after awarding a contract, they learn that the consultant has a completely different idea of what constitutes a charrette. This gap in understanding can potentially cause major problems in the scoping and delivery of [...]

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Successful project implementation requires the understanding and support of those who must implement the charrette plan. Very often this includes members of the local planning staff whose responsibility it is to create and administer any policy and/or development standards resulting from the charrette. A good example of such a project is one that includes the [...]

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The most successful Dynamic Planning projects occur when the people responsible for shepherding the project through planning and implementation share the values that guide the way the project is run and how the stakeholders are treated. The following Dynamic Planning values must be shared by the sponsor and the project management team for a successful [...]

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