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Partnership for Sustainable Communities Listening Session

On July 21, 2010, stakeholders from across Washington State convened at Gould Hall on the University of Washington Seattle campus for a day-long, cross-disciplinary dialogue focused on providing input to the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities. The Partnership for Sustainable Communities is a groundbreaking initiative within the United States government intended to align the objectives and resources of three major federal agencies: the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Because this interagency partnership is focused on outcomes within communities, feedback at the local level is crucial to help shape the agenda.

The Region 10 Administrators, Mary McBride (HUD); Rick Krochalis (FTA); Daniel Mathis (FHWA); and Dennis McLerran (EPA); selected the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies, located within the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington, to convene the listening and dialogue session. The purpose of the session was to hear from statewide stakeholders on strategies, ideas and programs that could be implemented to advance the Sustainable Communities initiative across Washington State.  A team from the University of Washington/Washington State University William D. Ruckelshaus Center provided professional facilitation for the event.  The more than 140 participants who attended included representatives from state, regional and local government agencies as well as a range of organizations from the private and non-profit sectors. The day’s activities included presentations from federal agency representatives as well as local leaders in complementary fields. The facilitated dialogue centered on four main questions, which participants addressed first in one-on-one interviews and later in extremely productive group breakout sessions.

Interestingly, although each of the afternoon breakout sessions responded to a different question, the four discussion groups yielded very similar outcomes. Their ultimate recommendations to the federal agencies are represented by the following themes:

1.  There is a desire by local governments for more direct collaboration with the federal agencies.  There is also enthusiasm for the agencies’ efforts to operate in a more integrated way to address community challenges;
2. There is a need for increased and streamlined funding to aid in the development and implementation of sustainable communities at varying scales;
3. All types of communities, large and small; urban and rural, desire technical assistance;
4. Stakeholders will benefit from a consistent vision and goals set forth by the agencies over time.

The federal agency administrators who attended concurred that the response they received was very helpful. The community-based information and recommendations the administrators received from this event will inform the evolving Partnership and its initiatives in the future. 

Partnership for Sustainable Communities WA Dialogue Report

University of Washington /
224 Gould Hall, Box 355726
Seattle, WA 98195
Telephone / 206 543 7679