Join the Civic Conversation and Strategy-in-Action
In an effort to address the challenges of the current recession and the emerging conditions that Stamford will face over the next several decades, we are reaching out to dynamic and knowledgeable citizens to participate in a a civic conversation that will serve as a strategy-in-action and a means by which Stamford citizens take control of their destiny.
Reinventing Stamford: Redefining the Recession, kicked off on Tuesday, March 24th with 105 participants at the Palace Theater. A second event on May 11th focused on Stamford's connections to the metro, the megaregion and the global network. There were two events in June: one on downtown place-making on June 8th; and one on the intersection of education and the economy on June 10th. We took the summer off and then reconvened on September 17th, to focus on Stamford: the Green City; on October 28th, when we began a transition from information gathering and conversation to strategy-in-action; and on December 8th, with the theme of Stamford: the Creative City, with a focus on finding opportunties in emerging conditions to create jobs and wealth.
The Partners: Stamford Achieves, Stamford Downtown Special Services District, Stamford Economic Development Commission, Fairfield County Community Foundation, GE Asset Management, Stamford Hospital, Stamford Partnership, Stamford Planning Board, Pitney Bowes, Stamford Public Schools, and Stamford Urban Redevelopment Commission.
The Proposition: We need to develop strategies and promote actions that accelerate Stamford's reorientation around the economic crisis. Stamford should aim to emerge from the recession as a more innovative, greener, more sustainable and diversified economy, and overall, a more consciously resilient place and people.
Next Event: The eighth Reinventing Stamford Town Meeting will take place Wednesday, March 10th, from 6pm to 9pm at Ferguson Library. This event will be the launch pad for four action teams to implement the projects proposed in
Pivot Point: The First Year ofReinventing
Stamford. A PDF of the report can be donwloaded from the Resources section of this website. Pivot Point shapes the ideas generated by the seven 2009 Reinventing Stamford town meetings into a coherent strategy for Stamford that lays a foundation for long-term economic growth, energy efficiency, environmental quality and reduced economic disparity.
As the name of the report
suggests, we are pivoting from a focus on research and information gathering to
strategy-in-action. The small group discussion at the March 10th event will be organized by the themes of the four teams:
Finding Opportunity in Emerging Conditions
Creating an Innovation-Capable Workforce
Building a Creative Habitat
Expanding Regional Networks
Each small group will identify "goldmines" and "landmines" for the work of the action team...the key conditions, people, institutions and projects that are likely to help or hinder the work of the team. To stimulate the small group discussion, Duane Hill will moderate a set-up panel of a convener or representative of each of the four teams, who will have a similar discussion of goldmines and landmines.
In effect, this event will enable the participants to try on the work of an action team to see it is of further interest. There will be a range of ways to be involved in the work of a team, from serving on the core group that drives the team, to serving as an occasional resource to the team, to just following the progress of the team on this website, which will be reconfigured to serve as a communications platofrom for each action team.
To Join the Conversation: People interested in participating in the next event should contact Kip Bergstrom at kbergstrom@reinventingstamford.com or at 327-9180. Do so as soon as possible, as space is limited for this event.
