The Citizen Planning School program aims to educate citizens on the One Region Forward Initiative long-term regional plan through learning sessions and workshops. It supports "Champions for Change" citizens interested in small-scale community projects through technical assistance from students and professionals. As an intern, the author provided technical assistance to two community projects, event staffing, and helped develop educational toolkits. Overall, the program successfully educated citizens and supported their projects, and the author learned about community engagement and clear communication.

1. Portfolio:
Citizen Planning School
Name: Shen-Hao Chang|| Course Number: URP574|| Spring 2015

2. About the Citizen Planning School
The Citizen Planning School program ia part of the One
Region Forward Initiative (1RF). The program complements
the long-term regional plan by providing a learning platform
for citizens of Erie and Niagara counties to increase
sustainability of their communities.
Participants attend learning sessions to gain insight from
local experts from the private, public and non-profit sectors
on a range of issues in planning and sustainable
development.
A key component of the program is selecting a class of
Champions for Change, who are dedicated citizens interested
in transforming their ideas for small scale community
projects into action. They receive technical assistance from
professionals and graduate students enrolled in the UB
School of Architecture and Planning to transform their
creative ideas into actions.
Goals of the Citizen Planning School:
1. Educate the public on 1RF
2. Understand community engagement
3. Build resident capacity for community based change
4. Engage mutual learning between students and
participants
Contents:
Page 3 Program Support
Page 4 Technical Assistance
Page 6 Events
Page 9 Materials
Page 10 Evaluation
Page 11 Reflection
Figure 1: People
Source: www.pic.com

3. Program support
Contents:
Page 3 Program Support
Page 4 Technical Assistance
Page 6 Events
Page 9 Materials
Page 10 Evaluation
Page 11 Reflection
My dual role of student and an intern for the Citizen Planning
School has enabled me to familiarize with new sets of skills
and implement them through a variety of roles. This has
helped me to train to become a well-rounded planner. The
following list outlines my responsibilities in the program:
Technical Assistance
● 1-on-1 technical support with champions for change
to guide them through the four step model of small
scale project planning.
Event Staffing
● Oversaw on-site catering and hospitality
● Provided 1-on-1 assistance to participants during
workshop sessions
● assisted attendees in GIS workshop: Mapping metrics
is a highly beneficial tool that allows citizens to
investigate, analyze specific geographic areas of
interest by sector
Toolkit Development
● Researched and integrated data resources
● Content-editing
Project Management
● Learned how to create and integrate a logic model
into small-scale project planning.
● Delegated personnel to specific responsibilities with
the use of a Gantt chart

4. Technical Assistance
My role as a technical assistance provider is to guide and
motivate the citizen champion to move their project forward
through the four steps of small scale project development:
● Idea refinement: developing project statement
● Scope definition: organize use of time, money,
resources, other potential assets
● Planning research: gather data from precedent
studies,
● Small plan development: organize findings and
analysis in a final deliverable plan
I personally assisted champion Ron Fraser in developing a
preliminary strategy for a market spatial study of Erie
County’s farmer’s markets in the South Town area. The goal
of this project is to analyze the market areas of six farmer’s
markets by surveying customers and vendors.
● Refined the project’s goals and objectives by
removing any ambiguous or unrelated goals
● Developed a framework for creating a the survey
● Constructed a table outlining potential assets to
leverage
● Recommended precedent cases and previous
studies to build credibility of the project.
● Constructed a logic model outlining flow of resources,
actions and outcomes.
Contents:
Page 3 Program Support
Page 4 Technical Assistance
Page 6 Events
Page 9 Materials
Page 10 Evaluation
Page 11 Reflection
Figure 1: Asset Mapping for Farmer’s Markey Survey

5. Technical Assistance
Contents:
Page 3 Program Support
Page 4 Technical Assistance
Page 6 Events
Page 9 Materials
Page 10 Evaluation
Page 11 Reflection
My second project was assisting Valerie Edwards in
developing an outreach strategy for her afterschool
tutoring program “My Little Literacy Leaders”. The
project seeks to expand to ensure the youths would
receive the academic, emotional, social support beyond
the capacities of traditional after-school programs.
Recommendations:
● Develop a logic model outlining the flow of
resources, actions and outcomes for the project
● Conduct an organizational assessment analyzing
the current capacity of the program
● Develop a recruitment strategy
● Created a framework for publicizing the program
through public presentations, engagement with
local community groups and using social media
Figure 1: My Little Literacy Leaders Program Logic Model
Figure 2: My Little Literacy Leaders After School Program
Source: Valerie Edwards

6. Events || Learning Sessions
Two learning Sessions were held to educate citizens the goals
of the One Region Forward Initiative . Participants attend
issue-based lectures, and gain insight from local experts from
the private, public and non-profit sectors on a range of issues
in planning and sustainable development. They also have
access to online toolkits that guide them through multiple
resources when planning for projects.
Key Statistics
● ~45 attendees per learning session
● 9 guest speakers & 8 guest panelists
● 2 workshops
● 11 champions for change
Contents:
Page 3 Program Support
Page 4 Technical Assistance
Page 6 Events
Page 9 Materials
Page 10 Evaluation
Page 11 Reflection
Figure 1: People
Source: www.pic.com

7. Events || Workshops
Contents:
Page 3 Program Support
Page 4 Technical Assistance
Page 6 Events
Page 9 Materials
Page 10 Evaluation
Page 11 Reflection
Figure 1: People
Source: www.pic.com
Four workshop sessions were held to facilitate 1 on 1
discussions with the champions. These sessions provided
an opportunity to review current progress, revise project
content, discuss potential changes, and assign
responsibilities. These sessions were also instrumental in
building rapport with the champions, and were a
platform for mutual learning.

8. Events || Idea Summit
Contents:
Page 3 Program Support
Page 4 Technical Assistance
Page 6 Events
Page 9 Materials
Page 10 Evaluation
Page 11 Reflection
The champions’ projects were shared to the public in a
symposium called the Idea Summit. The event is a
celebration culminating three months of collaboration
between students and the champions. The event was also
attended by professionals from public, private and non-
private sectors to create a platform for networking and
future collaborations.
Key Statistics:
● 67 attendees
● 11 projects
● Projects in idea phase: 2
● Projects in planning phase: 7
● Projects in action phase: 2

9. Materials || Toolkits
Contents:
Page 3 Program Support
Page 4 Technical Assistance
Page 6 Events
Page 9 Materials
Page 10 Evaluation
Page 11 Reflection
We have developed toolkits for attendees of the Citizen
Planning School to supplement topics discussed during
the learning sessions. The toolkits provide a list of
resources available for Citizen Planners who may be
interested in initiating change to their community. In
total we have produced two 16 page toolkits. The
contents include short descriptions of selected regional
planning initiatives, curated list of user-friendly web-
based analytical tools and a guide to professional words
in concepts in planning.
The goal of these toolkits is to clearly communicate its
contents to the reader in a concise, and effective
manner. My role during the preparation of the toolkits
was performing research and integrating appropriate
data resources. The most relevant and useful resources
were included in the toolkits. In addition, careful
attention was paid to enhancing the user-friendly
experience by simplifying professional wording into a
clear format understandable for all types of readers.
·

10. Evaluation || One Region Forward
To evaluate the merits and weaknesses of the One Region
Forward (1RF) long-range plan, I compared the document to
a precedent case from Des Moines, Iowa. Overall, I have
gained considerable insight in understanding the complexity
of developing a long-range regional plan. Below is a summary
of my analysis:
● There is no universal template for developing long-
range regional plans. Each one is developed under
their own unique circumstances.
● Both plans feature a diversified outreach strategy
involving a mix of public meetings and social media.
● Both plans feature a bottom-up grassroots approach
in engaging the general public.
● A plan is likely to achieve its goals when it clearly
communicates its implementation strategy. 1RF is
lacking in this aspect, and could learn from Des
Moines by elaborating on funding strategies and
designated agencies.
● 1RF has adopted a scenario planning approach that
contrasts multiple development trajectories with the
business-as-usual scenario. This is a great strategy to
build consensus and foster camaraderie among
citizens, agencies and localities.
● Plan content needs to be internally consistent. This
was a major weakness in the Des Moines study.
Topics involving intangible factors, such as arts and
culture, historic preservation, and placemaking were
ambiguously defined with no clear objective.
Contents:
Page 3 Program Support
Page 4 Technical Assistance
Page 6 Events
Page 9 Materials
Page 10 Evaluation
Page 11 Reflection

11. Reflection ||
Overall the Citizen Planning School achieves its goals in
educating citizens the objectives and goals of 1RF. The school
also successfully supports citizen champions the resources
and assistance for small scale project planning.
From my experience as a student and an intern, I learned the
value of community engagement, which is to pass on
knowledge or skill to the general public, and ensuring they
understand and appreciate the value of the information
given. By working collaboratively, I learned the importance of
mutual learning
I also gained insight on communicating with clarity. By
working through multiple media, range from orally to toolkit
preparation, I have lear value of appropriate use of words to
precisely inform the reader. Through toolkits, 1 on 1
guidance, panel discussions
At the same time, my experience as student could be further
increased if we had more opportunities to interact with the
champions. I suggest engaging with them earlier would result
in better matching of skills and expertise. Theg first learning
session workshop could be reoriented to allow champions to
present their project proposals and pinpoint exactly what
type of expertise the need. This approach may result in
more productivity and potentially more projects moving
from planning to action phase.
Finally it is crucial for graduate and returning champions to
share their past experiences as new champions are enrolled
in the program. It not only provides a networking
opportunity, but also enhances the social organization of the
community, which is exactly what is needed to induce
change in the region.
Contents:
Page 3 Program Support
Page 4 Technical Assistance
Page 6 Events
Page 9 Materials
Page 10 Evaluation
Page 11 Reflection
Citizen Planning School

12. References/Appendix
Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. The Tomorrow Plan. 2013. http://www.
thetomorrowplan.com/
One Region Forward. “One Region Forward’s Regional Plan for Sustainable Development”. 2014. http:
//www.oneregionforward.org/the-plan/
One Region Forward. “Citizen Planning School”. n.d. http://www.oneregionforward.org/citizen-
planning-school/