EDH 2025 Plan_Original_Dec 05 Final

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meetings, research, task force brainstorming, and identification of goals and actions through polling. Any media available may be used. The process can be custom tailored to fit any community. By the time a community reaches the third step, it has developed a good idea of where it is going if current trends continue and it begins to articulate its vision of an ideal future. Broad vision ideas make way to specific vision ideas. Themes, or focus areas, emerge and the community fine- tunes its vision. Strategies are developed within each focus area from specific vision ideas, and the community then develops a list of specific action ideas that fit each strategy. This becomes the action plan for making the vision real. The action planning stage calls for intense critical thinking during which the community considers existing resources, possible constraints, lead partners, funding sources, and time-frames for each action idea. When the action plan is finalized the vision is ready for implementation. The Oregon Model of Community Visioning is a flexible form of planning that anticipates changes as the process progresses. A time frame of perhaps twenty years is given to allow for implementation of some complicated long-range actions, but the plan is reviewed and evaluated at regular, shorter intervals, typically every five years. The community-based vision can be revised through another visioning process if circumstances within the community have changed to warrant revision. This constant cycle is necessary to keep the community actively involved in planning for its future. This cycle describes why EnVision Downtown Hilo 2025 is referred to as a "living plan." The foundation of a community's vision is its collective core values, and the community's articulated vision must reflect those values. A successful visioning process is a painstaking one during which every step is checked and rechecked by the community for authenticity through consensus. Effective execution of community visioning takes a long time, involving hours of planning and a lot of hard work. The benefits of such an undertaking are well worth the effort. By visioning, a community can define its shared values in one voice, which serves to cement resolve. In the process of developing a community vision, each member of the community becomes more empowered and more positive. Through action planning, the public learns to think critically about the obstacles that must be overcome and partnerships needed to realize a vision. The visioning public also learns to think critically about the possible indirect impacts of its proposed actions. The implementation phase is the often forgotten and ignored step; however, it is a crucial element of a true living plan. With an implementation process in place, progress can be measured, actions evaluated and a system established for keeping vision partners in touch. Citizen participation creates the energy and momentum needed for positive change. And as an added bonus, this process builds capacity from within and develops community leaders of the future. The full story of how EnVision Downtown Hilo 2025 came together follows in the next few pages. Downtown Hilo's first community workshop was held on March 22, 2004, a full six months before anyone involved had ever heard of Steven Ames or the Oregon Model of Community Visioning. 4