Symposium Agenda Details

The Charge: To propose a format and content for a Planning Advisory Service Report on planning for landslides and earth failures. Symposium participants will help:

• develop an annotated table of contents for a landslides guidebook;
• identify tools and resources that can be drawn upon by guidebook authors; and
• identify and scope out a number of derivative products.

1. Guidebook purpose and audience: Being clear about the need for a guidebook and its intended audience is an important first step for the symposium.
   1. What is the principal purpose of the guidebook? Is there a mission statement? (See notes and commentary on page 5 for a draft).
   2. Who is the primary audience?
      1. Are planners the primary audience?
         1. If so, what can the Planning Advisory Service offer to reach them? More than 1,700 agencies, consultants, and libraries as a captive audience.
         2. Are there specific subgroups of planners within the overall general membership we should concentrate on? (Highlight some of the relevant divisions, chapters, etc.)
         3. Should we also think about the vast outside audience that reads the PAS Reports? This includes the 11,000 to 13,000 copies APA Book Service sells each year, usually one copy at a time.
      2. Who else do we hope to serve by this guidebook? Are there other groups we can collaborate with?
         1. How about Planning Commission members? APA has a division. We can reach the citizen planners this way. Is this an appropriate target group? One approach is to have enough ready-made material in the guidebook for local planners to use it for their own public education. Another is for APA to directly reach them either through the division or existing publications put out for them.
         2. Should we target planning programs at universities?
         3. Are there any other groups that we should think about? Should we consider expanding the audience to include other professions (real estate, insurance, banking, etc.).
      3. Is there public information content that Washington office can use for reaching other organizations (ULI, NAHB, etc.)?
2. Guidebook Principles
   1. Since this will be a Planning Advisory Service Report, it has to work within the scope and audience for such reports. Its focus is on applied research, not basic research. It has to be balanced between technical information from existing basic research and "how to do it" kind of information.
   2. It has to be eminently practical. PAS reports employ case study, hands-on examples for practitioners. The emphasis is on principles of best practice illustrated with examples while documenting obstacles in implementation (e.g., money, public will, public education) and methods and tools to overcome these obstacles. PAS readers expect strong recommendations in the reports, along with contact information and guidance to other useful tools. (Hillside Protection, Wellhead Protection, and Nonpoint Source Pollution reports are good examples).
   3. It has to be in a format that is easily digestible, easy to get through, and immediately usable. It will not be a text book. For scientific information, use references or appendices. Focus on reaching those who can affect the development policies while they make the policies.
   4. It has to be distributable by USGS--NLIS and other federal information services.
3. Guidebook Contents (see attached draft of Table of Contents)
   1. Planning and zoning issues
   2. Other topics to include in the guidebook
4. Derivative Products and Dissemination Techniques
   1. CD-Rom
   2. Website (APA and USGS)
   3. Conference sessions (APA, URISA, ??)
   4. Curriculum for college course work (interactive web course?)
   5. Newsletters and other publications (for informational purposes)
   6. Public Information from DC office (for reaching legislative branches)
5. Post Symposium Tasks
   1. Written comments from Symposium participants
   2. Website update
   3. Planning Magazine article
   4. Scoping Memo based on minutes of the symposium
   5. Formal Project Proposal to USGS

Proceedings of the Symposium