Resources
Resource type
Project scale
Recent Resources
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EPA's Local Foods, Local Places Toolkit
In October of 2017, encouraged by the National consumer demand to grow and develop local food systems in both rural and urban districts in the United States, the EPA released its toolkit entitled, “Local Foods, Local Places: A Guide to Help Communities Revitalize Using Local Food Systems.” The toolkit offers federal agency support aimed at community-driven planning processes. The focus of the report is to provide assistance and examples for the creation of future local food systems in the United States by outlining step-by-step strategies for organizational planning assistance and hosting community workshops that will lay the ground-work for future implementation. Three phases constitute the ‘Local Foods, Local Places’ planning process: (1) planning, (2) convening and (3) action. The toolkit outlines each phase in detail with thorough case study examples followed by a comprehensive Appendix of resources to assist planners and communities in achieving longevity and success in organizing and creating a local foods system that works for all stakeholders.
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CIRD Coordinator's Manual
The Coorinator's Manual was created by the Citizens' Institute on Rural Design™ to guide the coordinator of a CIRD workshop through all components of workshop preparation, but it can also be used for producing other community workshops. The manual walks the reader through planning a workshop, and includes exercises for setting goals, and creating plans for design, communications, and implementation. -
Small Town and Rural Multimodal Networks Guide
This resource translates existing street design guidance and facility types for bicycle and pedestrian safety and comfort for smaller scale places. The guide provides clear examples of how to interpret and apply design flexibility to improve bicycling and walking conditions and presents compelling photographs, visual illustrations and technical diagrams to communicate design issues and solutions in a smaller scale setting.
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Rural Placemaking: Making the Most of Creativity in your Community
This issue of Rural Voices examines Creative Placemaking as it is practiced in rural communities. The term “creative placemaking” is only about a decade old, but rural community organizations have long taken on community-building endeavors that have included the arts. Creative placemaking offers the explicit recognition that arts and artists, when fully engaged with local stakeholders, are often a gel or a catalyst toward sustained community betterment and economic growth.
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Using Arts and Culture to Advance Equity and Inclusion
This toolkit highlights successful examples of how arts and culture were utilized in multiple sectors in equity initiatives. Examples from communities both far and near provide a resource for how Dubuque could engage the community through arts and culture to make a more welcoming, inclusive community.
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Orton Family Foundation: Outreach and Communications Resource Guide
This guide demonstrates how a great communications strategy gets off the ground. To lay the groundwork, first assemble a communications committee who will guide the process start to finish.
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Jackson Hole Public Art: Public Art & Placemaking Toolkit for Rural Communities
This guide by Jackson Hole Public Art outlines the nine steps required to set up a successful public art project.
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The Role of the Cultural Arts in Post-Disaster Recovery
Coming back from a natural disaster can be especially difficult for small rural towns who often lack the large amounts of financial capital to rebuild. But tough times can also be an opportunity for recreating the vision of a town. This paper describes the story of Live Oak, Florida, one of CIRD’s 2013 host communities, which experienced heavy flooding in 2010 and in their plan for reconstruction used the cultural assets of their citizens in order to create a new plan to bring life back to their community.
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(Re)Building Downtown: A Guidebook for Revitalization
(Re)Building Downtown: A Guidebook for Revitalization is a resource for local elected officials who want to re-invigorate and strengthen neighborhood centers of economy, culture, and history through a smart growth approach to development.
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Agricultural Urbanism Toolkit
The Agricultural Urbanism Toolkit Booklet is a resource for communities to learn about Agricultural Urbanism and the tactics used to develop local food systems.