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What is Community Visioning?
Community Visioning is a public engagement process adopted by HRM Council as a way to implement the Regional Plan. Its purpose is to build consensus amongst residents and other important stakeholders on what our communities should look like, feel like, and be like into the future. Community Visioning engages residents in an open dialogue, discovers new ideas and solutions, and forges community support for collective action.
Read more about the Community Visioning Process
How does Community Visioning fit with the Regional Plan?
The Regional Plan, approved August 2006, is the guide for the future development of the HRM. Over the next 25 years, the Regional Plan will direct growth to a series of compact, mixed-use, walkable growth centres – all linked together by a transit system. Community Visioning is the important community engagement component essential to the community development of these growth centres. Community Visioning is also an important component of achieving a shared vision of the future of HRM, without taking away from the character that makes HRM a distinct and attractive place to live.
What is Appreciative Inquiry?
Appreciative Inquiry is HRM’s official approach to Community Visioning. Appreciative Inquiry rejects the more traditional ‘problem-focused’ approach to community processes. Rather it seeks out existing community assets and opportunities for positive change. It approaches community processes from a standpoint of strength and value.
Appreciative Inquiry encourages imagination, innovation, and flexibility within community processes. It allows participants to appreciate the best of our communities; to imagine what could be in our communities; to determine what needs to be done in our communities; and finally create what will be in our communities.
How are HRM communities selected for the Community Visioning?
Eventually all of the growth centres identified in the Regional Plan will undertake a Community Visioning process, with the exception of some places where a similar community process, which meets the requirements of visioning, is underway or has been recently completed (e.g. HRMbyDesign in the Regional Centre).
Communities are prioritized to undertake Community Visioning based on a set of established criteria. When selecting communities, HRM's Regional Plan Advisory Committee consider any potential synergies, which would avoid duplication of efforts and support existing projects, and immediate drivers, which would affect the future of the community due to a current situation or major initiative in the near future.
Read the Future Community Visioning Program Report to Council 
Which HRM communities have completed the Community Visioning process?
Following the approval of the Regional Plan in August 2006, three communities were selected for a 12-month Community Visioning Pilot Project: Bedford Waterfront, Fall River, and Musquodoboit Harbour. These communities completed their community visions, which were approved by Regional Council in October 2007, and entered the implementation stage of the process. Since the pilot, other communities have undertaken community visioning processes, including the Penhorn/Woodlawn area of Dartmouth, Middle-Upper Sackville and Lucasville, and Spryfield. Woodside is the lastest area to begin a visioning process.
Who guides Community Visioning in each community?
Community Visioning is a citizen-driven process, guided by a working group of 7 to 9 local residents called a Community Liaison Group or CLG. The CLG champion the visioning process at the local level and become community leaders. The CLG is provided with training and resource support by HRM’s Community Development Department.
What is the Role of the Community Liaison Group (CLG)?
The Community Liaison Group or CLG play a vital role in the Community Visioning process. With support from HRM Staff, the CLG develop a set of guiding principles that provide the framework for community consultation. The CLG reach out to the community and ensure that diverse voices and interest groups are represented. Using the public input they collect, the CLG guide the development of the Community Vision and Action Plan. They work with the community to provide advice and generate solutions and actions that reflect the local context.
Read more about the role of the CLG
How are CLG members recruited and selected?
HRM begins each Community Visioning process with a Community Kick-Off celebration. Residents are invited to the Kick-Off where they can learn and express interest in the visioning process and the CLG. Recruitment for the CLG is also advertised in community newspapers, through e-mail lists, posters and flyer campaigns. CLG application forms are made available at the Kick-Off and online at VisionHRM’s website.
All completed CLG applications are reviewed and screened by HRM Staff using selection criteria. The criteria have been established to ensure a broad and diverse group of people and interests (i.e. renters, owners, youth, seniors, long-time residents, newcomers, racially visible persons, persons with disabilities, etc...) are represented on the CLG. Selected applicants are then invited for a telephone interview and their participation as a CLG member is confirmed.
What does a Community Visioning process produce?
The community visioning process produces three products:
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An Action Plan that will outline the steps required for the Community Vision to be implemented and achieved. It will also set priorities and detail which actions are short-term, medium-term, or long-term.
How long is the Community Visioning process?
VisionHRM’s Community Visioning process is a six to eight month program. The CLG spends roughly one month with training and designing the visioning framework. Another four to five months are dedicated to community engagement and consultation. Approximately two months are then used to finalize the Community Vision and Action Plan, before the CLG presents the information to HRM Council.
Which topics are considered during a Community Visioning process?
Community Visioning is an open and flexible process that does not have a single focus. Rather, the visioning process reflects an array of aspirations and needs expressed by residents. Some of the topics Community Visioning may consider include:
- Community Composition and Demographics
- Community Involvement and Civic Pride
- Health and Quality of Life
- Safety
- Parks, Trails, Green Space, and the Environment
- Local Heritage and Culture
- Public Spaces
- Economic Development
- Children, Youth, Families, Seniors and Single Individuals
- Housing and Life Stages
- Transit, Streets, and Roads
What things are not considered during the Community Visioning process?
Community Visioning is a resident-oriented, forward-looking process which provides a broad vision for the future of a community. That said, the visioning process does not consider such specific procedures are plan amendments, secondary planning strategies, new land use policies, community deigns standards, community development initiatives, new business procedures or the resolution of long-term and complex issues.
The Community Vision and Action Plan provide a long-ranging general direction that will guide future policies, programs, and priorities. The visioning process does not involve the high degree of detail that is contained in other community planning programs. For example, a vision would not identify new bus routes and bus stops, but rather express a desire and/or need for improved transit in the community.
What are the boundaries of a community’s vision area?
Traditionally, we see boundaries as having physical markers. As much as this is true, a community’s boundaries – or their sense of community, may also be understood as a feeling or a group consensus. Whichever the case, boundaries change over time and can be difficult to define.
During the Community Visioning process, the CLG will use the community’s input to define the vision area’s boundaries. The CLG may choose to define the area using a specific line or physical marker, or they may choose to define the area in more general terms. In creating the Community Vision, the CLG will recognize that what happens in one area will have an impact on the rest of the community, or the whole of HRM itself.
I am not on the CLG. Can I still participate in Community Visioning?
It is important to remember that the CLG members are the champions of Community Visioning. They are in place to guide the visioning process but they are not a decision-making body. The CLG will create the framework for community consultation and engagement will all residents. While the CLG are primarily responsible for developing the Community Vision and Action Plan, they must ensure that they are representative of the broader community interest.
The CLG will develop community engagement initiatives that compliment the unique character and sensibilities of the community. Activities might include: stakeholder focus groups, public meetings and workshops, online discussion forums, classroom art projects, questionnaires, surveys, etc... All residents are encouraged to participate in these community engagement initiatives so that the CLG may consider, review, and integrate their input into the Community Vision.
What happens once Council approves the Community Vision & Action Plan?
Once HRM Council has approved the Community Vision and Action Plan, the Municipality makes a commitment to support the community through the vision implementation stage. A Vision Implementation Committee or VIC is created and members of the committee work with HRM Council and Staff to put the Action Plan into practice. The VIC may also be involved in community planning and community design initiatives.
I do not have reliable access to e-mail and the Internet. How do I stay in touch and receive notices about Community Visioning meetings and updates?
If you do not have reliable access to e-mail or the Internet and would like to keep up-to-date about Community Visioning, simply contact us at 490-8479 and leave your name, phone number, fax number (if applicable), and mailing address. Please speak clearly and spell out any uncommon names (e.g. surnames, street names, etc...). You may wish to fax your contact information to 490-3976. You will receive updates and notices as information becomes available.
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