Initiative 9.6: Sustain the momentum of NEOSCC by continuing to convene stakeholders to identify and address regional issues and to advance the region’s collaborative capacity.
WHAT THIS MEANS. NEOSCC filled a tremendously valuable role by convening and facilitating dialogue between stakeholders throughout the Vibrant NEO 2040 visioning process. The “Workstreams” NEOSCC convened brought together stakeholders who had limited interaction in the past to engage in a joint fact-finding process culminating in the indicators and trends platform. The results were striking: data-driven identification of commonalities across several dimensions of concern, along with open dialogues about what it meant. From these conversations, outward migration, fiscal health, and environmental quality emerged as the central themes guiding the process.
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT. Dialogue builds trust between parties lacking a common history and helps them to identify common interests and concerns—critical first steps to being able to build consensus and agree on joint action. Since many of the required next steps to implement the region’s vision require intergovernmental collaboration or larger regional collaborations, there is an acute need for a space and support function similar to what NEOSCC provided for the regional visioning effort.
GETTING IT DONE. The natural lead for this initiative would be a formalized NEOSCC entity, which could provide the skilled staff and resources to convene ongoing working groups of stakeholders to implement the region’s vision. If appetite for extending NEOSCC’s life is too low, the successors of the organization may want to consider identifying a university partner(s) to fill the facilitation role. Either way, progress toward a vibrant Northeast Ohio in 2040 hinges on the availability of a good facilitation and collaboration management entity.
On February 25, the NEOSCC Board voted unanimously to approve and endorse the Vibrant NEO 2040 Vision, Framework and Action Products. We are sharing an “Initiative A Day” so you can gain a better understanding of the vision and framework! If you would like to read all of the Initiatives, you can download them here: Recommendation and Initiatives. You can access a pdf of the entire vision chapter here. The vision chapter contains all 41 initiatives, development strategies, indicators, and matrices that identify how the recommendations, initiatives and indicators all relate.
Show your support for Vibrant NEO 2040 by adding your name to our Champions of Vibrant NEO 2040 list here.
These recommendations, initiatives, and products, are not one-size-fits all and some aspects of the initiatives won’t be applicable everywhere in the 12-county region. The Vibrant NEO 2040 Vision, Framework and Products are intended inspire and guide decision-making at the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), Council of Government, and local levels to ensure that land use, transportation, and environmental considerations are simultaneously addressed by their processes. Ultimately, the implementation of Vibrant NEO 2040 is up to Northeast Ohio’s communities and residents. But regardless of the applicability of each initiative to any particular part of the region, the goal for each community within the Vision is the same: stability, prosperity, and a high quality of life for all of its residents.
