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NOVEMBER 2003
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| ALLIANCE ACTIVITIES |
Boston National Stewardship Forum Draws Record Crowd
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Preparations Underway for Next Forum, in Austin, Texas, May 19-21
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 More than 100 people registered for the recent National Stewardship Forum, held November 5-7 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Forum kicked off on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 5th with an optional bus tour of the Boston metropolitan region, which traversed the area spatially, historically and socially, originating in the CBD and culminating in the southwest suburbs. In responses to on-site Forum evaluations, several individuals who attended the tour indicated that it served as a valuable orientation for the Boston Case Study presented the following morning, anchoring the regions issues in a tangible context. In addition to serving as a venue for several interactive workshops and two plenary luncheons one on university-regional partnerships and the other on cross-sector regional initiatives the Boston Forum hosted the first face-to-face meeting of ARSs new affinity group on Regional Indicators Projects and a discussion group on the Principles of Regional Stewardship, currently under development as a broad framework for building successful regional communities. (For more information, see articles on the Affinity Group and Principles of Regional Stewardship, below.) The luncheon plenary on Friday, November 7th was also the occasion for ARSs announcement of its Regional Stewardship Award program, which will annually recognize regional initiatives to promote substantive social, economic and environmental progress through collaborative and inclusive cross-sector action. Established with support from the Morgan Family Foundation, the program will award a cash gift of up to $25,000 to honorees.
All Organizational, Individual, Associate, and Student Regional Stewards will receive a compact disk containing the advance materials and on-site notes from the Boston Forum; the CD will be available to others for $10.00. If you were not able to attend the Boston Forum, we hope you will save the dates for the next National Stewardship Forum, to be held in Austin, Texas, May 19-21, 2004. For more information on the Boston Forum, the upcoming Forum in Austin, or the Regional Stewardship Award program, contact Amy Carrier, ARS, via e-mail at or by telephone at .
[JOIN THE NETWORK]
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ARS Teams-Up with American Association of State Colleges and Universities
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Kellogg-Funded Project to Promote Higher Education-Community Partnerships
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 The Kellogg Foundation recently awarded a $150,000 grant to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) to work with the Alliance for Regional Stewardship to promote, support and study partnerships between state institutions of higher learning and their regional communities. The purpose of the partnership is to (1) raise awareness of regional stewardship and its application nationwide among state college and university leaders and their regional stakeholders; and (2) work intensively with select state colleges and universities and their regional partners in order to better equip them to serve as catalysts for regional stewardship. For more information, contact Travis Reindl, AASCU, by e-mail at or by telephone at , ext. 657.
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ARS Developing Principles of Regional Stewardship
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Principles to Form a Framework for Building Successful Regional Communities
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 Shortly before the formal incorporation of the Alliance for Regional Stewardship, the late John W. Gardner encouraged the founders of ARS to embrace a practical program for the organization, stating, &no more regionalism for its own sake. We now need pragmatic regionalism with a purpose. The intersecting spheres that form the ARS logo are drawn from a Venn diagram that constitutes the orienting framework of the organizations work. Building upon this four-point framework innovative economy, social inclusion, collaborative governance, and livable community ARS launched an effort, at the recent National Stewardship Forum in Boston, to refine and articulate a set of principles, suggesting practical actions, that can assist regional stewards in their work. A Friday morning group session at the Boston Forum engaged about 40 participants in an initial consideration of a draft set of principles to guide open and inclusive civic action, decision making and governance on matters of inter-jurisdictional concern. ARS board member Scott Fosler, a visiting professor at the University of Maryland-College Park, facilitated the session, which constituted a lively and critical discussion on the nature of governance and the geographic frames of regional thinking and action.
A draft briefing paper on the Principles of Regional Stewardship, along with preliminary notes from the group discussion in Boston, may be viewed by clicking the button below. To comment on the briefing paper, or to obtain more information, contact John Parr, ARS, via e-mail at or by telephone at .
[VIEW BRIEFING PAPER AND NOTES]
Regional Indicators Affinity Group Convenes in Boston
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Newly Formed Group Considers Methodology, Objectives of Indicators Projects
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On Wednesday, October 8th, the new ARS affinity group on Regional Indicators projects held its first web-teleconference. Approximately 20 people participated in the meeting, which combined conventional telephone and Internet technologies. The affinity group, with representatives from all major geographic regions of the United States and one representative from Quebec, was formed following a working session at the National Stewardship Forum in St. Louis last May, which revealed significant interest not only in the design and implementation of indicators studies but also their practical application to decision making and policy. This first teleconference served as a vehicle for affinity group members to introduce themselves to each other and discuss their specific interests in regional data collection and research. Members of the group met in person on Friday, November 7th at the Boston National Stewardship Forum during a session facilitated by Allan Wallis, a professor of Public Policy at the University of Colorado-Denver. The session was co-sponsored by the Catanese Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions at Florida Atlantic University and the California Center for Regional Leadership.
In addition to considering the ongoing role of ARS as convener and organizer of the affinity group, participants discussed the purposes and applications of indicators work, the prospects for indicators-driven decision making, alternative design strategies for indicators projects, and the possibility of devising a set of indicators sufficiently generic to permit inter-regional comparison and analysis, among other topics. Participants in the affinity group meeting generally agreed that a common set of indicators should be pursued for purposes of comparing how and why different regions use them, rather than for juxtaposing the performance of individual regions. Preliminary notes from the affinity group meeting in Boston may be viewed by clicking the button below. For more information, contact Amy Carrier, ARS, by e-mail at or by telephone at .
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| NEWS YOU CAN USE |
New Report from MetroBusinessNet: It Takes a Region to Raise a New Economy
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Lessons on the Economic Development Contributions of Business-Civic Groups
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 The social and economic challenges that face our nations metropolitan regions increasingly impact the bottom line of businesses. Such complex issues as lack of affordable housing, congestion and sprawl, and geographic segregation by race and income all have profound implications for business operations. It takes a Region to Raise a New Economy: How Business Leaders are Driving Regional Prosperity, a new report from MetroBusinessNet, makes the case that regional business leaders must work collectively to address the social and economic issues that threaten regional business competitiveness.
MetroBusinessNet is a national, action-learning network composed of business-civic organizations committed to sustainable regional development. Supported by the Ford Foundation, the network is administered by FutureWorks, a private consulting and policy-development firm that helps design, build and manage the strategies, policies and institutions that promote sustainable economic growth on a regional basis.
Many business leaders understand intuitively that socially and economically stable communities are good for their firms, but the value proposition remains thin and individual action seems daunting. The lessons learned thus far through MetroBusinessNet and profiled in It Takes a Region offer a compelling explanation for why business leaders must work together to drive regional prosperity that is firmly rooted in expanded economic opportunity for all citizens.
To view the report in PDF format (Acrobat Reader required), click the button below; to order a printed copy of the report, or learn more about MetroBusinessNet, please contact Erin Flynn, FutureWorks, at or .
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[VIEW REPORT]
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| REGIONAL PROFILE |
The Egan Urban Center, DePaul University
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Chicago, Illinois
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 In In profile this month is the Monsignor John J. Egan Urban Center (EUC) at DePaul University, which is dedicated to the research, development, delivery, and transfer of innovative education-based programs and services that have a significant social impact. Established in 1995, EUC works closely with DePaul faculty members and community organizations to develop educational opportunities that draw upon the expertise of both through classes, community-based service learning projects, conferences, lectures, and special events. The Egan Urban Center is directed by Dr. Michael Bennett, who also serves as an Assistant Professor in the Sociology Department at DePaul University. For more information, visit the Egan Urban Centers website at http://www.depaul.edu/~egan/.
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[FULL ARTICLE]
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| PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA |
Halfway to Everywhere: A Portrait of Americas First-Tier Suburbs, by William H. Hudnut III (Washington, D.C.: Urban Land Institute, 2003), 478 pages, $34.95 (hardcover).
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Reviewed by David Lampe
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 The Urban Land Institute has published Halfway to Everywhere: A Portrait of Americas First-Tier Suburbs, by former U.S. Representative and Indianapolis Mayor William H. Hudnut. A senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute, Hudnut displays his significant administrative and policy expertise in this new book, which focuses on the circumstances and prospects of the nations older suburban communities. Typically referred to as inner-ring or first-tier suburbs, throughout most of Halfway to Everywhere they are labeled first suburbs, which places them appropriately and accurately in historic context, for the communities Hudnut profiles in this book are the earliest artifacts of American metropolitan expansion beyond the boundaries of its great cities. While introducing the reader to a great variety of these first suburbs, the book also supplies rich narrative on leaders elected, appointed and grassroots who call these places home and labor to maintain and improve them, often against discouraging odds.
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[FULL ARTICLE]
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Inner Cities: New Hope, More Challenges
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By Neal Peirce
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 NEW YORKHas the broadly proclaimed renaissance of Americas inner cities, launched in the 90s and continuing into this decade, been real? Have the ghettoes and barrios of our cities made a true and lasting comeback? Finally, theres solid evidence, based on census-tract analysis, to show whats been happening. The data, compiled by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porters Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, were released last month.
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[FULL ARTICLE]
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Copyright © 2003 Alliance for Regional Stewardship. All rights reserved.
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