Resources for Activity 6: A Vision for the Future

Overview:
In this activity, student teams develop and present a vision for the future of an area in their community

Student Pages:
Case Study - Loudoun County, Virginia
Case Study - Livable Tucson Vision Program
Visioning - Steps 1 and 2
Visioning - Steps 3 and 4

Case Study:
Dummerston, Vermont and its Contiguous Forest Habitat
Learn about the small community of Dummerston and its development patterns.  Are its forests being lost or saved?  What will the community look like in the future?  Using maps, surveys and statistics, learn about the various options communities have for protecting forest areas and wildlife corridors coupled with the impending pressures of future development.
Background – What is Contiguous Forest Habitat and Why is it Important?

Additional Resources
My Community, Our Earth: Geographic Learning for Sustainable Development (MyCOE) is designed for youth to develop their own projects using a vast array of free on-line resources including: a student project guide, GIS software, gallery of past projects, access to maps and data world-wide, and a pool of expert mentors. The student project guide is also offered in Spanish. For teachers and parents, the site contains a downloadable flyer and poster and is complete with an instructor’s guide.

"Growth and Water Resources" Training Module explains how changes in land use affect water resources, and it presents national data on trends in development patterns that have become increasingly significant challenges for achieving water quality standards. The module describes a combination of approaches to accommodate future growth in a way that benefits the economy and the environment and will help us meet out water resource goals.  EPA's Watershed Academy Web has over 50 modules on a wide variety of watershed management topics. The Academy also offers a Watershed Management Certificate program for visitors who complete 15 required modules.

Green Cities: A Guide to Sustainable Community Development, an official document of United Nations World Environment 2005, is Harmony Foundation's latest publication. Green Cities offers a thorough overview of sustainable community development, inspiring success stories, and resources and tools for establishing priorities and taking action.

Transit-Oriented Neighborhoods This report attempts to understand who lives near transit today and who is expected to live there in 25 years, with the desired outcome of creating dialogue between those who want to ensure high-quality transit service and those who want to ensure high-quality neighborhoods.

The People Speak Global Debates – October 2007 & March 2008
This UN Foundation will work with high school students across the U.S. and select countries. During ten-day periods in October 2007 and March 2008, students across the globe will be organizing public debates in their high schools and coordinating a global vote on the debate topics. October’s debate topic is on the best way to lower carbon emissions and March will focus on water rights.

"What Happened to Our Village Green?"  Article by C.E. Hunt, Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

The Orton Family Foundation provides a growing bank of case studies, tools, web resources and success stories that they hope will help inspire, inform and improve the way communities engage in land use planning.

Earth & Sky Radio Correlations
This activity can be supplemented with related Earth & Sky radio shows that you can download for use in your classroom. Learn about the PLT and Earth & Sky Initiative.

Related Earth & Sky Shows:
- Jose Gomez-Ibanez on Greater Urban Density and Less Driving (2009) 
- Mitchell Joachim Designs Smart Cars for Cities of the Future (2008) 
- Michael Fishman: Pedestrian Engineering Improves Designs in Public Spaces    (2008)         
- Jo Pierce’s Tree Farm Sustained with Careful, Long-term thinking  (2008)