Community Planning Workshops One mechanism of the Community Assistance Program (CAP) that addresses social
equity in planning is the Community Planning Workshop. These one-day workshops,
formerly known as "charrettes," engage community leaders, citizens,
and guest planners in discussing and proposing specific solutions to urban
planning challenges. Typically workshops begin with an introduction of individuals involved and
a tour of the subject community, neighborhood or site. Participants form breakout
groups that concentrate on specific aspects of the project, plan, or neighborhood.
These groups begin by discussing existing issues and then formulate new ideas
based on community needs and sound planning techniques. Each breakout group
reports their results to the entire workshop participant group. Facilitators
lead a discussion of these results among the larger group to form a consensus
of both future goals and recommendations to achieve these goals. Upon the conclusion
of the one-day workshop, it is the responsibility of the local community to
compose a Final Report that incorporates workshop results and specific actions
that local officials should take to turn the project vision into reality. Click here for examples of AICP
Community Planning Workshops:
Currently, annual Community Planning Workshops are held only in
conjunction with the APA National Conference. No matter where you live, however,
there are advantages to holding a workshop in your community. | 
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