The Visioning Virus: A Grassroots Participation Process

Speaker:

Melvin Vuk
Campus Executive Officer
New Mexico State University at Carlsbad
Carlsbad, NM 88220
505-234-9210
505-885-4951
mvuk@cavern.nmsu.edu

Carolyn Banks
Acting RCCI Director
New Mexico State University - Carlsbad, NM
221 South Canyon Street
Carlsbad, NM 88220
505-885-9352
505-885-9531
cbanks@cavern.nmsu.edu

Bob Forrest
Mayor of Carlsbad, NM

Larry Briggs
Eddy County Commissioner, NM

Our community has had strong leadership historically and many of the people who had been here all their lives had at one time attempted to make suggestions for changes and were shot down, partly because they didn't know how to precipitate changes from "the bottom up." The visioning process we developed is a grassroots educational process for developing quality of life in rural areas. It developed through a process of meetings with local stakeholders to determine what RCCI could do to begin making changes in our community. This group became the first Vision Board. They decided we needed to ask the community members what they think is important for Carlsbad to do in the short-term and the long-term to improve quality of life in our area. At these meetings we asked the questions "What would you like to see change in Carlsbad during the next two years?" and "What would you like to see change in the next ten years?" We had to keep people focused on positive changes instead of just "dumping" their frustrations. This Visioning process caused many changes in Carlsbad. The consensus is that it doesn't matter who accomplishes the goals, just that it does happen. In general the entire process is now viewed as a "think tank" for community development in quality of life issues.
 
 
Presentation