Partners in Place

Growing a Sense of Place in Ourselves and Our Communities:
A Training Workshop for Public Participation Practitioners

1996, and ongoing

Neighborhood, community, landscape, watershed, bioregion — each of us has the opportunity to be an active steward of the place or places we call home. As we work to support citizen participation in community projects, how often do we stand back and reflect on the variety of ways in which people define the place(s) they call home? What might we do to support citizens in clearly articulating what is important to them about their home places and in expanding their awareness of what others in their community value? How might we apply this Sense of Place lens to all phases of our public involvement projects?

This interactive workshop integrates two areas of study and practice:

• Sense of Place work with individuals (with a strong personal/reflective focus), and
• Sense of Place work with groups (to help groups or communities build common vision and goals).

The workshop is designed to encourage reflective and innovative thinking that might “recharge our batteries.” As practitioners who are often called in to support environmental and other community projects, we sometimes lose momentum. The workshop training provides a forum for renewing our energy and sense of purpose.

The workshop begins with a guided process in which each participant identifies, maps, and communicates the images that sustain their personal relationship to place. We then apply Sense of Place approaches to some of the core values of public participation, to some specific Case Studies that highlight Sense of Place, and finally to the projects and experiences that participants bring forth from their own professional practice and home communities. Participants go home with a variety of tools, skills, and resources; these aids help them to use Sense of Place as an organizing theme for citizen’s participation philosophy and practice.