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 The John W. Gardner Academy for Regional Stewardship provides technical assistance to regions that want to connect regional leaders to national best practices. While Academies are designed to address specific regional issues, they follow a process focused on diagnosing challenges and opportunities, identifying appropriate best practices, and developing a collaborative regional strategy by working with a regional stewardship team. ARS currently is involved in supporting three ongoing Academies: Long Island, Oklahoma City and New Orleans. Additionally, discussions are underway to initiate Academies in Pittsburgh, Northeast Ohio, Florida (statewide, multi-region), and Hartford. Expanded descriptions of current Academy activities appear below.
Long Island. The second year of the Long Island Index project currently is underway. ARS has been assisting in the development of indicators and advising on a revised framework with a special analysis focused on land use. Additionally, ARS organized a best practices visit by the Index project manager to Chicago Metropolis 2020. The Index continues to exert considerable impact on the region. The executives from the two principal suburban counties on the Island (Nassau and Suffolk) have proposed a strengthened Regional Planning Council and Long Island Newsday (the dominant regional daily newspaper) recommended using the Index as a measurement tool for this regional planning effort. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton recently highlighted the value of the Index at a Long Island Association meeting. (For more information on the Long Island Index, consult the March 2004 issue of the ARS E-Newsletter.)
Oklahoma City. ARS completed a talent audit for the Oklahoma City regional leadership group, which identified the out-migration of young professionals as its greatest concern, despite growing job opportunities in health and biomedical occupations, as well as other professional services. The regional leadership group has begun to develop action plans that better link the universities to the community through internships and incentives for retaining graduates, as well as an attract back strategy to encourage former Oklahoma City residents to return to the region to take advantage of growing job opportunities. Oklahoma City also is formulating a quality-of-life/arts/culture strategy to develop, attract and retain creative talent.
New Orleans. The Top 10 by 2010 leadership group has approved an action plan for developing initiatives around the indicators that were identified in its initial work. ARS has designed a process for the leadership group to develop action teams around specific issues, and then manage the implementation of selected initiatives. The group is interested in inclusive stewardship, which would involve more effective linkage of community-based initiatives with regional efforts in such areas as education and workforce and economic and community development.
For more information on the Gardner Academy for Regional Stewardship, or if you are interested in initiating a project, contact either Doug Henton, Academy Coordinator, at or John Parr, President and CEO of the Alliance for Regional Stewardship, at j (please include a reference to the Gardner Academy for Regional Stewardship in the subject line).
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