Detroit Works Project, others, and you!

Detroit initiatives worth knowing:

1)  Detroit Works
[Important ongoing/upcoming events in motion] The Detroit Works project has the city municipality's attention and leans strongly toward economic revitalization.  It takes public recommendations, and would certainly benefit from balanced perspectives in community and environmental development toward comprehensive sustainability.

Schedule of events/strategic sessions (soonest August 14th at 2929 Russell Street the full schedule is in the link below, and pasted for viewing-purposes only at the bottom of this post):
http://detroitworksproject.com/engagement/how-to-engage/

2)  Community Development Advocates of Detroit (CDAD) framework
Thomas Stephens, a long-time Detroit community advocate (he gave strong comments at last year's EPA Enviro. Justice conference) and policy analyst for the City pointed me to the Community Development Advocates of Detroit (CDAD) framework, which outlines roles for community organizations and downtown development which are soundly informed by comprehensive principles of sustainability and existing visioning (earth charter, etc.):

CDAD Declaration (fair summary of principles, etc.):

http://www.scribd.com/doc/102398605/CDAD-detroit-Declaration-plus 

The Framework (Visioning--the big picture about what organizations fit in where)

http://www.scribd.com/doc/102632046/CDAD-Revitalization-Framework-2010

This was informed by local input and key principles to sustainable cities from "Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems" [see bottom of this post for the key points and book it came from], some Detroit groups were using these to guide their visioning efforts and city/community development plans.

The CDAD was supposed to do what the Detroit Works project strives to do now and had a lot of heart put into it but before it really got traction a change in City administration seems to have hampered its promotion and use.  From what I've interpreted from reading the CDAD, it leans more toward vision than direct recommended actions, but the conditions established in the document are important for the amount of consideration they give.  I'd recommend they be included in the Detroit Works plans.

Key points from Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems (8 pages of bullet points, etc):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/102626881/Cities-as-Sustainable-Ecosystems
The book from which it was sourced from:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/19720427/cities-as-sustainable-ecosystems

Additional Detroit visioning initiatives:

At this point, I've counted and/or participated in four Detroit-shaping visioning events, I'm certain there are more that I'm missing.  I'm listing them here for any potential readers to consider and urge you to represent the insight from your experience as well as the insight found in these previous initiatives at the ongoing Detroit Works program.

The Engineering Society of Detroit Institute's Future Detroit youth symposium (Disclaimer: I was a facilitator there--middle school students from Detroit and Dearborn school districts came up with how and what they wanted Detroit to transform 30 years into the future. Their insight was very good, but I'm unclear if anyone followed up on the policy recommendations submitted to city administration garnered from this event.  Also, it's worth noting some important narratives were trimmed down for space concerns--some worthwhile ideas didn't make it into the final print but you can request the full drafts.):
http://bit.ly/FutureDetroitYouthSymposiumESDI

CDAD (mentioned above)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/102632046/CDAD-Revitalization-Framework-2010

Detroit Vision 2012 (I don't know what came of the event, but here's what the website says is their "takeaway" message from having it happen--I suspect the wisdom garnered from the event was a "you-should-have-been-there" case, all of the recommendations seem rather generic but the community organizations are accessible and continue to do substantial work):
http://detroit2012.org/news/takeaway/

Detroit Works (mentioned above):
http://detroitworksproject.com/

Good science considers all data, and authentic community input is no exception--I believe the time, talents, hope, and effort put into these initiatives are invaluable and should not be wasted.  With all due respect to the creators and contributors of these events, from an outsider's perspective, there seems to be a substantial disjoint between good community engagement and coherent plans for focused actions among the people responsible and capable of enacting insight.  Hopefully this will change.

The Detroit Works schedule:

Please call 313-259-4407 or e-mail Info@DetroitLongTerm.com.

Please come out and participate in any of the events listed below (note: all times below are in E.S.T.):

Open Houses will be hosted at the Long Term Planning HomeBase at 2929 Russell Street in August and September from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. with brief presentations at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. The open houses will focus on Draft Strategies that relate to the following:

• Tuesday, August 7: Economic Growth;
• Tuesday, August 14: Neighborhoods;
• Tuesday, August 21: City Systems, Infrastructure and Environment;
• Tuesday, August 28: Land Use, Zoning and Urban Design; and
• Tuesday, September 4: Public Land and Facilities.

• August 9: Zion Chapel, 3000 24th St, Detroit, MI 48216
• August 16: Highland Park Housing Commission 13725 John R.  Please note this event has been cancelled.
• August 24: Boys and Girls Club, 20100 Schoenherr Street between E.7 Mile and 8 Mile Rd.

• July 31;
• August 7, 14, 21, and 28; and
• September 4 and 11.

• August 22
• August 29, and
• September 5.

Four Community Conversations about the Draft Strategies will be hosted between September 10 and September 14, 2012. They will provide another opportunity for Detroiters to connect with one another, learn about some Draft Strategies and provide their feedback. The locations and times are as follows:

• Monday, Sept 10: Northwest – Leland Missionary Baptist Church, 22420 Fenkell, Detroit
• Tuesday, Sept 11: North East – American Serbian Memorial Hall, 19940 Van Dyke St., Detroit
• Wednesday, Sept 12: Central/Near East – Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, 3606 E. Forest Ave, Detroit 48207
• Thursday, Sept 13: Southwest – Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, 1211 Trumbull Street, Detroit

Rouge Project Comments: Reply from the Army Corps of Engineers

I've discovered "The Agency Tone" of written voice. Very polite! Possibly because I submitted comments over a month ago (several agencies dealing with the National Environmental Protection Act [NEPA] are obligated to give response within the month of communications from the public).  Having spoken to EPA employees, the EPA has legal obligation to respond to any citizen communications--probably within a month timeframe too.  

The Army Corps of Engineers  (ACE--what a fine acronym to have!) was supposed to respond with 30 days (I'm no longer sure, but I suspect it's a direct stipulation from NEPA), but I had to prod them earlier in December to see if there'd be any follow-up.

This is about as exciting as I'd imagine getting a personal letter from an elected official. For those who can't really see what's here--it's a personal letter from the DOD's Army Corps of Engineers in response to my questions--stamped and signed too! 

In reply to my procedural and project comments to the Army Corps of Engineers from November, Detroit district sent a personal letter with detailed replies to both comment sets I submitted.

One of my primary concerns involved the poor degree of outreach--had it not been for friends who major in environmental studies/science and work with the Friends of the Rouge, I might not have known about the proposal at all!

It turns out (as you'll see in their reply letter) the Army Corps of Engineers did what they could and needed to inform local governments and organizations. From what I read, the ACE's response to one of my questions (about watershed outreach plans) means that promotion/marketing/pr is more of an issue than having the right community stakeholders and closer coordination between federal and local government.

I suspect poor infrastructure for communication and outreach is an endemic issue for our beloved but under-budgeted/staffed local governments and not-for-profit organizations alike.

Also, I learned county government plays a more significant role in the project than previously thought.

I believe PR organizations/institutions and colleges (with education and marketing programs or willing interns from any discipline) can better help coordinate and promote the outreach in the future.

Page 1 (click the image[s] to read)
I'll let you decide what happened with
the date that they entered--by the looks of things
I submitted my comments in the future!
Also, I couldn't resist blacking out my address
on a government document,
it now looks even more official than the original.

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4  Hand signed with a real person's signature!

A random remark: this post has a lot of meta text--I wrote (and you read) about photos of writing--how odd!


And my follow-up e-mail (from Dec. 8th):
To whom it may concern,

I submitted a procedural recommendation on Monday Nov. 7th and (according to my e-mail) comments on Nov. 8th at 12:00 AM and would like to know about the status of the project. I did not receive any message of acknowledgement or reply within the 30 day timeframe and therefore am writing to request for follow up.

I hope the procedural recommendation merits a reply since it was submitted within the comment deadline.

Thank you...

Questions for Sustainability Fest?

Do you have questions about Sustainability Fest? We'll answer what we can and get to work with finding answers right away if we don't have them yet (answered to the best of our knowledge and ability).

Can't attend sustainability fest but want to share your thoughts with our speakers and guests? Post your questions here and we'll do our best to represent your comments and concerns at the event.

Who might you want to ask questions to? Here are some topics to consider and the people who we'll investigate with:

Sustainable food systems: Professor Lohr is presenting "The Environmental Crisis on Your Plate" Monday Oct. 19th at 7:30 pm in Kochoff Hall of the University Center.

What are some company philosophies for social, environmental, and economic responsibility?

Larry Crittenden of the U.S.Green Building Council and the many other "Triple Bottom Line" organizations will answer your questions at the panel discussion during the Sustainable Connections Career Expo Wednesday Oct. 21st from 1:30-4:00pm in Kochoff Hall of the University Center.

What the heck does art have to do with sustainability?

Ask any of the artists (including me!) who will be presenting their works Wednesday Oct. 21st from 12:00-3:00 at the Sustainable visions art exhibition, and at 4:00 you have the unique opportunity to experience social sustainability in-concert as performers regardless of your prior musical experience (even if you've had none). Check out Rzewski's "Sheep of Panurge" to see how you can participate: http://icking-music-archive.org/scores/rzewski/mouton.pdf