Empowering local leaders to make science-based decisions that best fit community needs
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EmailThe Michigan Citizen Planner program strengthens communities and ensures they are productive and engaged with the needs of their residents, both current and future.
Throughout Michigan history, the state has seen periods of heavy in-migration, booms in births, recession driven out-migration, and more. The recent 2020 census results showed that overall Michigan’s population grew, but that growth is not equally distributed.
Michigan has seen some drastic changes over recent decades that shape how local leaders plan for the future of their communities, making it vital to have access to the latest science-based information on important topics and the understanding of how it informs decision making for future generations.
The Master Citizen Planner webinar series is an annual offering from the Michigan State University Extension Citizen Planner team consisting of six one-hour webinars on topics of interest to land use decision makers, such as planners and appointed or elected officials. The series is designed to meet the Master Citizen Planner requirements of six hours of continuing land use education. Webinars explored statewide demographic trends, as well as regional variation within the state. Topics important to community planning like aging population, racial-ethnic diversity, and sources of population growth were discussed in-depth.
A total of 35 individuals from across the state registered for this program. Thirteen participants completed the supplied evaluation after the program showing that:
- 85% of respondents reported increased knowledge about the topic
- 85% of respondents reported enhanced skills to be effective in their role
- 70% of respondents reported increased confidence in their ability to fulfill their role in their community
- 77% will learn more information about the topic
Participants were also able to provide qualitative feedback on what they plan to do differently as a result of this program. Selected quotes include:
- “It will better help me on the planning commission to understand trends.”
- “When approaching review of our Master Plan I will be able to use this information to see how my community can plan for retention of our current residents and then also how we can plan to interest potential migrants.”
- “We may seek out additional assistance on demographic analysis as we go forward with the update to our master plan in 2024.”
- “When we get going on our next Attainable Housing push with the next ordinance review I will know where to get some really specific demographic information about the populations in our area and thus what housing needs we need to fill.”
- “Plan for an aging population.”
- “Possibly reach out for data we may be able to use for decision making in our area. I really liked this topic.”
By equipping local leaders with the latest research-based community development best practices, and the necessary tools to understand how to implement, the Michigan Citizen Planner program strengthens communities and ensures they are productive and engaged with the needs of their residents, both current and future.
