Community Vision Workshops Toolkit

Toolkit Overview Video 

Please watch this short video about the toolkit and workshop process. 

 

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Purpose

The purpose of the Workshop Toolkit is to provide a guide for Community Advisory Committee Members (CAC), City staff, and volunteers to facilitate Vision Workshops with community groups, organizations, neighborhood associations, and other small groups. The materials below provide all the tools necessary to inform community members on the General Plan Update (e.g., Santa Rosa Forward) and gather feedback on the draft Vision Statements and major opportunities facing the city and community.

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Desired Outcomes

These Community Workshops will result in community members learning about the purpose, scope, and schedule of the General Plan Update (i.e., through a presentation and/or handout materials) and allow the community opportunities (i.e., through interactive exercises) to provide feedback and ideas. Community comments during this process will be used to help refine the Vision Statement for the General Plan Update and identify a range of opportunities to be addressed during the project.

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Timing

Each workshop should last about one hour. This will include a brief presentation (10 minutes) provided by the facilitator (i.e., CAC member, City staff, or volunteer) followed by a questionnaire completed by each participant. Participants will have about 45 minutes to complete the exercise (described in detail below). It is okay if there is a rich discussion and the discussion runs a little long—the timing is flexible. The workshop should conclude with a five-minute discussion summarizing and highlighting responses to the questionnaire and next steps.

Please make sure all workshops are completed and all materials are returned to the City by June 15, 2021. Please send all collected materials to Andy Gustavson at agustavson@srcity.org. This will be critical to ensure the Project Team has enough time to compile all the information and prepare a comprehensive summary of comments and feedback from this engagement. 

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Setting Up a Workshop

The Workshop Toolkit is intended to allow flexibility in how additional workshops and meetings are conducted. We encourage you, as a faciitator, to lead workshops based on your connections with community groups, organizations, neighborhood associations, and other small groups. You can run these workshops as either part of an existing agenda or as a separate stand-alone meeting. Given the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, we anticipate most of these meetings will be conducted virtually. Ensure that any in-person activities meet all current Sonoma County and State of California social-distancing requirements.

During this effort, there will be various workshops that CAC members, City staff, and additional volunteers will be hosting to spread the word about the project and gain feedback on the Vision Components. The City will need to track workshops and are available to help with logistics and materials. Here is a summary of the steps you should take for each workshop:

Prior to Your Workshop

1. Reach out to Andy Gustavson at the City of Santa Rosa either by email or phone at AGustavson@srcity.org or (707) 543-3236. He will help you coordinate the various workshop and support logistics.
   
   
2. Discuss with Andy who you are planning to meet with and when the workshop will take place. The City needs to track who we are reaching out to and when.
   
   
3. Discuss with Andy what your needs are to complete the workshop. The City can help set up a Zoom invitation for a virtual meeting and/or provide hard copy materials for an in-person meeting.

After Your Workshop

4. Reach back out to Andy Gustavson and confirm that the workshop took place so he can update the track information. Also send Andy any saved Zoom chat (for digital workshops) and/or hard copy Questionnaires (for in-person workshops) so the City can collect all materials and feedback. 

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Workshop Materials