Do you often have a tough time convincing a project sponsor of the importance of a collaborative process? One of the most important benefits of true collaboration in community planning is ending up with a plan that minimizes costly rework and results in a built project. Everyone suffers when a project in which many people have invested time, energy and money has to go back to the drawing board. The citizens suffer because their time has been wasted on a plan that sits on the shelf. The elected officials suffer because their constituents have one more reason to distrust government. The developer suffers because of the money wasted in planning costs and in interest paid.

True collaboration occurs when each individual’s unique contribution is valued for his or her role in making a feasible plan. Such a plan will reflect the needs of the neighbors as well as the developer, elected officials, public agencies, etc. This means that all interested parties must be involved from the beginning. Anyone who might build, use, sell, approve or attempt to block the project provides feedback to the design team throughout the charrette to create a plan that incorporates his or her ideas and concerns. The charrette process gives the plan mutual authorship and a vision shared by all participants. This approach is initially more work, but in the long run, it will save time in rework and most certainly produce a higher quality product with a greater chance of implementation.