concordia is a community based planning and design team with a collective passion for the principles of concord. We implement our work through an integrative and participatory process that addresses physical, cultural, social, educational, organizational and economic assets and needs.
The Concordia Model
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CONCORDIA COMMUNITY PLANNING
Founded in 1983, Concordia LLC is located in New Orleans, Louisiana and is a nationally recognized planning, architecture and public policy design firm. Our staff of multi-disciplinary design and planning professionals and support personnel are focused on a process of creativity, vision, participation and integration.
Concordia was formed to pursue participatory process and integrative design practices. For over 20 years, Concordia has undertaken research in the design of environments for learning. Research alliances include the MIT Media Lab, Harvard University’s Project Zero, University of New Mexico, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Thornburg Institute, Appalachian Education Lab, and West Ed Lab. The research processes include national symposia, alliances with leading scholars, and research papers on topics related to collaboration and interdisciplinary practices.
For the past twenty years, our organization has undertaken bold initiatives to increase the voice of all people in the planning and development of their cities and neighborhoods. However, rather than focus on any one component of planning, our model integrates physical, cultural, social, economic, organizational and educational planning into a single systemic and community-based planning process. The result is more effective and efficient community programs and infrastructure at a much lower cost to taxpayers.
THE CONCORDIA MODEL
Over the past 15 years, Concordia has also been developing tools to promote the comprehensive planning and design of facilities in the context of the total community. These tools comprise the Concordia Model, which combines a democratic and community-based planning process with an integrated analysis of physical, cultural, social, economic, organizational and educational assets and needs. The Concordia Model has been applied in a wide variety of urban, suburban and rural environments.
THE PLANNING PROCESS
The Concordia Model begins with extensive local research, resulting in a community profile that describes the existing resources of the community through each of Concordia’s six dimensional components. This research involves accessing and collecting information from public and private resources, including city agencies and school districts. Additionally, Concordia will build an extensive Geographical Information System (GIS) database for the project, incorporating data collected for use by all involved in the planning process. The research and CGIS (Concordia GIS) provide a foundation for the planning process.
Concordia staff will also interview, hire and train a team of Community Fellows to assist in the organizing and facilitation of the community engagement process. This team of fellows will include both adults and youth. We believe that the youth's participation and leadership are critical to any district’s successful growth and development. The Community Fellows will work side by side with Concordia staff to understand the process and contribute their skills and local expertise. These fellows will also become part of a national network of colleagues that Concordia has trained. Our intent is to invest locally and leave behind leaders that will continue to play a significant role in all aspects of ongoing planning and development.
While research is being collected and the Community Fellows are being identified, Concordia will also be busy organizing a Planning Team to recruit a Steering Committee to lead the planning process.
PLANNING TEAM
Early in the process, Concordia’s staff will conduct broad based interviews with local constituents. From these interviews, a planning team of 10-20 residents will be assembled who will possess an in-depth understanding of their community. Also, a wide mix of neighborhood stakeholders will be assembled. Over a two-month period, the planning team will meet regularly to recruit and invite a team of 100 community members whose mission will be to serve as the neighborhood steering committee.
STEERING COMMITTEE
The Steering Committee is comprised of at least 100 people, including a wide range of residents, parents, youth, and individuals from the business, education and non-profit sectors. The committee must represent a mirror image of the community-at-large. Steering Committee members are responsible for attending all meetings and for representing their work to those who are not participating. Steering Committee membership is open to any constituent in the community, and most Steering Committee members are self-selecting.
The Steering Committee participants are led through a process designed to stimulate creative planning and problem solving for their community, executed through the use of existing assets and defining both general and specialized needs for future development. Working in six sub-committees organized around the six dimensional components of the Concordia Model (social, cultural, educational, physical, organizational, and economic), Steering Committee members will identify, catalogue, and map community assets and opportunities. Then, they will use this information to develop scenarios based on how they would like their renewed community to look. Lastly, they will work towards consensus on a final set of recommendations, proposed projects, and action steps.
PROCESS MEETINGS
An important objective of the Concordia Model is to create an environment of authentic community engagement where participants are not only attending meetings, but also becoming informed contributors to the process of public governance. A series of seven monthly community meetings will be held to assist the community in achieving its planning goals. The meetings have been creatively designed to allow citizen participants to conduct their research and develop informed consensus decisions about challenging public issues.
- Meeting 1: Serves as an introduction to the process.
- Meetings 2, 3, and 4: Most of the work session is spent in sub-committee meetings exploring community resources and needs. The resources are mapped using the CGIS data-base, allowing Steering Committee members to see each resource in relation to all others as well as in the context of the whole community.
- Meeting 5: The six sub-committees share their findings with eachother and adjust their recommendations based based on discussion.
- Meeting 6: Additional input gathered from interviews and surveys from the larger community will be added and a series of scenarios are developed and evaluated.
- Meeting 7: A draft plan will be reviewed and adopted.
Lastly, the final plan will be ratified as part of a community-wide celebration.
OUTCOMES
The community-based planning process provides for specific outcomes related to community engagement, asset mapping and community planning. Following are some anticipated outcomes:
Leadership Development, Recruitment and Training
- We will have successfully attracted a number of qualified candidates, hired them and trained them to assist Concordia as Community Fellows (6); Co-Facilitators (12) and Communications Task Force Leaders (6) in the community planning. These community leaders will become more engaged in the work as it progresses. They will also offer ideas for improvement and tailoring the process to the specific neighborhoods and will be available locally during the implementation phases.
- In addition, we will have recruited approximately 100 people to participate in the planning process. These individuals will attend as many meetings as possible and will be available locally to further assist with the funding, detailed design and implementation phases.
Geographic Information Sharing Capabilities
- We will have a community-based website, asset inventory, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) database with applications to support the enhancement of city-wide and regional GIS capabilities.
- The planning process will also promote cooperation between regional and municipal agencies and other not-for-profit organizations that can collect data to support ongoing planning and implementation.
Planning Process Report
- A final report on community recommendations with action steps for implementation of the communities needs for physical, cultural, social, economic, organizational and educational improvement.
- The Community and Youth Fellows, the process participants, the district and the city express overall satisfaction with the process.
- A professional report inclusive of documentation of the work, research and recommendations are completed and presented to the appropriate audience.
Community Feedback and Evaluation
- A final evaluation of the planning process will be available based on continuous community feedback through a format of After Action Reviews.
Follow up and Implementation Support
- A program of quarterly reviews from Concordia staff for technical support during the implementation phase of the community plan.