New Partners for Smart Growth Scholarship Announcement
4th Annual CPEX New Partners for Smart Growth Scholarship Announcement: Smart Growth Scholarship for Louisiana Elected Officials, 2011
Communities across Louisiana are working to foster economic growth, make efficient use of tax payer dollars, maximize the use of existing infrastructure, protect natural resources, enhance public health, offer a range of housing types, and provide safe communities. Unfortunately, many communities lack the tools, resources, or information necessary to achieve these goals.
In order to help meet this growing need, the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is again offering scholarship funding to local elected officials within Louisiana whose communities are currently employing Smart Growth principles and techniques into their planning efforts or intend to do so in the near-term. CPEX will provide a $500 scholarship for up to ten elected officials to attend the 10th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth: Building Safe, Healthy and Livable Communities Conference, to be held on February 3 – 5, 2011 at the Westin Charlotte Hotel in Charlotte, NC.
This three day conference, the nation’s premier forum on Smart Growth, will offer participants the opportunity to hear about the latest research, cutting-edge tools and techniques used to implement plans, model projects, planning best practices, policies and codes, coordinated networking activities, interactive learning experiences, and new partners.
Most importantly, this dynamic event will offer elected officials with a great opportunity to network and coordinate with their peers as well as practitioners from many different disciplines and from across the country. In order to apply for these resources, the interested elected officials must comply with application submission requirements described on page 2 and 3.
In addition to the $500 scholarship, the selected applicants will receive direct staff assistance to help them apply for a scholarship offered by the Local Government Commission to have their conference registration fee of $309 waived.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
CPEX first provided scholarships for elected officials to attend the 2008 7th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth: Building Healthy, Safe, Livable Communities conference in Washington, DC. Ten local elected officials attended the three-day conference with CPEX staff in February 2008.
Again in 2009 and 2010, CPEX staff and elected officials from across Louisiana travelled to Albuquerque, NM and Seattle, WA to attend the Annual New Partners for Smart Growth conference. They attended conference sessions on small town planning, planning challenges in coastal communities, transportation, and smart growth 101.
Smart Growth is characterized by the following goals:
- take advantage of existing infrastructure investments by directing development and redevelopment towards existing communities;
- create a range of housing opportunities and choices;
- mixed land uses;
- create walkable neighborhoods;
- foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place;
- preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas;
- provide a variety of transportation choices;
- make development decisions predictable, fair and cost effective; and
- encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in development decisions.
THE APPLICATION PROCESS
CPEX plans to select ten elected officials to receive a scholarship that will assist with the attendance cost of the 10th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth: Building Safe, Healthy and Livable Communities Conference, to be held on February 3 – 5, 2010 at the Westin Charlotte Hotel in Charlotte, NC. The scholarship will be awarded to the selected applicant at the end of the trip and all applicants are responsible for their own logistics including hotel reservations and flights. CPEX anticipates announcing the selected elected officials by early November of 2010.
CPEX will evaluate applications based on the criteria listed below.
Evaluation Criteria
- 1. Applicant must be a local, elected government official in Louisiana (e.g., mayor, councilman, alderman, police juror, and parish president, etc). This scholarship does not extend to members of an elected official''s staff.
2. Applicant must demonstrate a commitment and interest in learning more about the principles of Smart Growth and how to effectively implement these principles in his/her community.
3. Applicant must describe a future initiative or current planning project in his/her community which demonstrably employs the principles of Smart Growth and how attendance of the New Partners Conference would assist him/her in building capacity as a community leader.
4. Additional weight will be given to elected officials who pledge to support another critical member of their community who assist them with Smart Growth planning (e.g. additional elected official, planning director, or planning commissioner).
Submitting the Application
To be considered complete and eligible for review, all applicants must submit a one to two page letter describing the elected official’s interest in the conference and outlining any current or future plans for community planning and implementation of Smart Growth tenets.
CPEX must receive applications by 5:00 p.m., September 30, 2010. No late applications will be accepted. All applications must be submitted in accordance with the requirements described above.
Please send your application via mail, email, or hand delivery to:
Jennifer Stenhouse, Outreach Manager
Center for Planning Excellence
100 Lafayette Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70801
225-267-6300
Download the application HERE.
For more information on the conference, visit http://newpartners.org/.