Workshop Package FAQs
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Is there a set format for your workshops or are you
flexible?
Our standard Walkable Community Workshop is four
hours long. However, we are more than willing to work with
our partners on a program that best fits their needs. Some
workshops may be longer - to address a particularly troublesome
issue. Some may be shorter - such as an evening session to
acquaint community members with basic concepts.
Who are your facilitators?
They come from a broad range of backgrounds: transportation
planning, advocacy, public health, engineering, education,
elected office. We use nationally-recognized experts in these
fields. Typically, they are veterans of hundreds of workshops.
Whenever possible we pair complementary facilitators: For
example, a land use & planning expert would be paired
with an expert in bike-ped facility design and operation-for
example.
Let us know what your workshop requirements are and we will
do our best to ensure you are matched with the right facilitators.
How can we fund these workshops?
Often, one client underwrites the entire 5 or 8 workshop
package. Howqver, we recommend clients actively seek other
community partners. There are two primary reasons for this:
the first obvious, the second not so obvious. The first is
that cost-sharing will make the workshops an easier sell to
your MPO board, department head, or city or town council.
The second is that community partners will likely be more
supportive if they have a financial investment in the workshops.
If we had to identify one predictor of a community's success
in becoming more walkable and bike-friendly, it would be a
high level of shared commitment.
City and MPO or County and MPO partnerships are quite common.
Various departments within larger cities may collaborate to
fund workshops. For example, a city's Parks & Recreation
Department may be a willing partner, and may request a workshop
session to focus on trail connectivity in exchange for its
support. Public-private partnerships are possible and encouraged.
In Minnesota, Blue Cross/Blue Shield has partially underwritten
several walkable community workshops. Within MPOs a variety
of funding sources are available. Areas with poor air quality
and/or high traffic congestion may be able to apply CMAQ funds
to these workshops. Several of our partners in California
have chosen this route.
The bottom line about the bottom line: Look around for partners.
Be creative. Let us know if we can help.
Are your prices flexible?
We may offer limited flexibility in payment schedules
and workshop cost to smaller clients, and/or clients who are
able to demonstrate a financial hardship. The mission of the
National Center for Bicycling & Walking is to provide
assistance to as many communities as want to become more walkable
and bicycle-friendly. If we are unable to provide direct assistance,
we will do our best to connect you to other resources that
will enable you to reach your goal.
