Education - Governors' Institute on Community Design

In July 2005, the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency jointly announced plans to create the Governors?Institute on Community Design, a new initiative to support governors? leadership in good community design and innovative planning.

The NEA is working in cooperation with the Smart Growth Leadership Institute and the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education at the University of Maryland to develop and implement this new program.

The Institute will offer workshops pairing governors and their cabinet secretaries with top planning experts and practitioners to identify strategies to help each state’s executive team make informed choices as they shape the future of their communities.

Decisions made at the state level can have profound effects on how communities are designed and how people go about their daily lives. The Governors?Institute is intended to provide state leaders with ideas that will help them influence community design in ways that will result in enduring, successful communities.

The Governors?Institute builds on the success of the NEA Mayors' Institute on City Design , which since 1986, has gathered mayors and designers to generate ideas on better city planning. More than 675 mayors have graduated from the Mayor’s Institute, resulting in many specific physical improvements directly motivated by the NEA workshops, from restored waterfronts to downtown revitalization projects. Through the Governors?Institute, the NEA and EPA hope to inspire state leaders to capitalize on their roles as chief state “designers?to identify innovative design approaches that improve the way people live in cities, suburbs, and the countryside.

Former Governors Take Lead

Former Governors Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey and Parris N. Glendening of Maryland have agreed to spearhead the new Governors?Institute on Community Design. Whitman and Glendening serve as co-chairs of the advisory council to Smart Growth America, a coalition of nearly 100 non-profit organizations working to support citizen-driven planning that coordinates development, transportation, revitalization of older areas and preservation of open space and the environment.

A Tailored Approach

While the challenges of regional planning encompass many areas from education to housing to environment, the Governors? Institute will take a targeted approach to foster strategic leadership in civic planning, growth, and development. The Institute initially will hold up to four workshops annually, working closely with governors and their top staff to tailor each workshop to the specific needs and goals of each state. Workshops will bring together a state governor and his or her cabinet to meet with nationally renowned experts and practitioners in design, planning, transportation, housing, school, land-use, and the environment. Together, these teams will address specific issues identified prior to the workshop. During the workshops, intensive working and cross-disciplinary sessions will result in recommendations on state or regional design strategies.

More information on the Governor's Institute on Community Design can be found at http://www.govinstitute.org.