Community as Social Ecosystem - Ashland Oregon 2007

Attendees left to right: Bottom row, Wendy R. Mondry, Kate Preskenis, Vicky Sturtevant: Second row, Lucy Burton, Dorothy Weber, Donna Andrews, Aubrey Sharp, Susan Jessie, Michael Campbell: Top row: Trish Malone, Rich Whitley, Jim Kent, Rebecca Daye, Suzanne Simmons, Jean Maxwell, D. Dee Westerberg, Kevin Preister

“Community as Social Ecosystem” May 4, 5, & 6, 2007, Ashland, Oregon

At the three day workshop, participants learned:

The magic and empowerment of the Discovery Process
How to identify gathering places and why they are critical to the informal networks
Understanding what makes a community "tick"
How the informal networks of communities drive the formal process
How to identify public concerns and interests and the ways these shape management and policy
Seven cultural descriptors for community assessment.

The citizens of Ashland identified two (of many) important issues that the community is currently facing: 1) The clean up of the contaminated ground in the railroad district at the Union Pacific Railroad site. This is important to all living in beautiful Ashland. What are the steps to clean up and how should it be done for the highest and best of all at stake? 2) Understanding how the pedestrian environment of Ashland contributes to Social Capital and what that means for urban design.

This workshop focused on how citizens can make these changes through an organic, citizen lead process.