Placemaking workshops will result in strategies for regions throughout Michigan

A statewide series of placemaking workshops delivered as part of the MIplace Partnership Initiative will help communities improve quality of life and economic prosperity.

Downtown Marquette. Photo credit: Brad Neumann l MSU Extension
Downtown Marquette. Photo credit: Brad Neumann l MSU Extension

Placemaking is a simple concept: communities that create and enhance amenities resulting in a high quality of life for residents are able to retain and attract talented workers and can therefore be very competitive in the global economy. Effective placemaking has the potential to transform a place from somewhere you cannot wait to leave into a place where you cannot wait to be! That’s important in the global economy, because talent is mobile. In other words, quality places attract economic development. Placemaking is all about creating quality places.

Placemaking Strategy Development Workshops are designed to help communities move from training to action. The trainings are based on the MIplace Placemaking Curriculum that has now been taught to over 10,000 stakeholders in the last two years. There are two types of workshops being offered at more than 30 locations around the state:

Option 1 – This type of workshop is three hours long and provides training on Modules 1-3 of the MIplace Placemaking Curriculum:

  • Module 1: People, Places and Placemaking defines and discusses terms and definitions, and presents the most fundamental elements of placemaking.
  • Module 2: Economics of Place explores how the global New Economy functions and reviews research that supports placemaking and its role in community economic development.
  • Module 3: Neighborhoods, Streets and Connections explains the role the built environment has in creating places. Form is considered in context of land use issues, such as zoning, density, mix, connectivity, health and walkability.

Option 2 – This workshop option has two parts and runs 6 hours: Placemaking Curriculum training plus Placemaking Strategy Development.

  • The first part provides training from Modules 1-3 of the MIplace Placemaking Curriculum.
  • The second part supplies MSU Extension facilitators to assist communities in developing draft placemaking strategies.

The workshops are free, but RSVPs are required. For more information and to register visit, http://events.anr.msu.edu/placemakingstrategy. Space is limited to first come, first served.

The MIplace Partnership Initiative is a collaboration of 30 nonprofits and 8 state agencies including the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, the Michigan Municipal League, the MSU Land Policy Institute, and Michigan State University Extension.

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