The Pinellas County Chapter of the Sierra Club’s Conservation Committee (Planning Team) made up of five members, with a Committee Chair leading the group, was seeking a facilitator to help convene stakeholders to form an independent conservation coalition. From the perspective of the Conservation Committee, the mission of the coalition is to develop an updated Conservation Plan for Pinellas County, a funding mechanism, and supporting regulations to ensure a lasting environmental legacy. Rooted in Process collaborated with the Planning Team over a series of meetings to co-create a workshop for initiating the new Pinellas Conservation Coalition. The team created a pre-workshop survey used to explore the issues with the stakeholders. We created a focus question and designed a visioning session using the online application, Trello, to capture ideas from workshop collaborators. The group included various stakeholders from the County, region, and state. We spent 3 hours with stakeholders exploring the focus question and current situation, brainstorming, organizing data, and laying out next steps. We used the Technology of Participation method created by the Institute of Cultural Affairs that allows for a participatory decision-making process through a practical vision workshop. The new coalition then selected leaders to work on developing an action plan by coming to consensus on annual goals and developing a coordinated workplan for the next year. This process included the leaders organizing into action teams to develop the plan and implement the work. This is a dedicated group of conservation-minded individuals and organizations working to align their priorities and implement action!
Pre-assessment: Survey to stakeholders prior to visioning session
Focus Question: How can we use our collective knowledge, influence, and power to advance land conservation and acquisition in Pinellas County within the next several years?
Visioning Workshop Question: What do we want to see in place in two years as a result of our work together?
Action Plan Workshop Question: What actions can we implement over the first year to realize our vision?
