Education - Smart Growth Leadership Program

Format, Content and Course Themes

Format

The program is highly interdisciplinary and collaborative with an emphasis on group discussion and exercises that integrate the four themes of the course. The program design draws on the variety and depth of experience among the participants, and it seeks to expand and broaden their capacities by providing new perspectives and ample opportunity for disciplined dialogue. Upon completion of the program, all participants receive a certificate from the University of Maryland, National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education.

Content

The Maryland Smart Growth Leadership Program provides critical skills and knowledge to a diverse audience of interested local and state elected and career officials, private sector leaders, and non-profit representatives. Those attending this program find that it strengthens their capacity for leading the changes in policies and culture within and between their agencies, jurisdictions and institutions -- changes that involve complex decisions about land use, planning and the many other dimensions of Smart Growth. The program explores:

• The core principles of Smart Growth and their implications for the development, revitalization and maintenance of vibrant communities;
• The fundamentals of planning and zoning and the legal context of land use;
• The forces and unintended consequences of government and private sector actions that contribute to sprawl;
• The various policy tensions and conflicts that exist among governmental programs and private actions affecting Smart Growth and how to identify common ground and areas for collaboration; and
• The ways in which participants can take a more effective leadership role in seeing that Smart Growth principles are reflected in policy and action at many levels.

Course Themes

• Leadership Principles and Change Agency
  Examines leadership principles and practices by focusing on theories of leadership and the study of leadership styles, as well as studying cases and engaging in discussions with practitioners. Participants will strengthen the skills necessary to become change agents in support of Smart Growth principles and practices.
  
  
• Infrastructure Planning and its Social, Economic and Environmental Effects
  Examines the implications of major infrastructure decisions—roads, sewer and water, and utility planning. The impact of these decisions are tracked with respect to issues such as the regulatory environment, fiscal considerations, economic benefits and consequences, and capital and operating budgeting for major infrastructure.
  
  
• Understanding Environmental Systems and Management
  Examines the current authorities and programs to regulate and manage land use and related water and air resources by federal, state and local governments, and explores the potential for their more effective application through coordination with Smart Growth tools and programs.
  
  
• Community Development: Determining What is Desirable and Sustainable
  Examines the characteristics of sustainable communities. Considers issues such as: comprehensive planning; partnerships; the ecological effects of various kinds and sizes of communities; the role of public and private practices in bringing various communities into being; an overview of community and housing design alternatives; historic preservation; urban, rural, and new and aging suburban dilemmas and strategies.