The Vision Thing

A former president, when asked about his over-arching policy objective, is said to have quipped, “Oh, the vision thing.” 

The “vision thing,” while used pejoratively towards elected officials for their lack of long-term and cohesive thinking, is a hard thing for individuals, families, corporations, governments and citizen sector organizations to work towards.   While we all know that today is yesterdays tomorrow, planning for and envisioning the future requires time, energy and resources that compete with the present — a present that is itself hard enough.  

So why is the creation of a vision, and the development of a plan to impliment it, so important? To be cliche, if we "fail to plan, we plan to fail."

Every day we hear that we should be setting aside money for our future.  This can be in the form of a rainy day account, a down payment for a house, a college fund for our kids, or a retirement plan.  At the same time, we need to sit down as individuals, families, groups and government to consider who, what and where we want to be in five, 10, 20 and more years. This "envisioning" of course starts by accentuating the positive. What kind of work am I called to do? What kind of neighborhood do we want to live in? What kind of community do we want to be?

That last question is at the center of the work of leaders of our community organizations and governments ... or at least it should be. The challenge is that the 'tyranny of the urgent', the day to day problems that crop up, and the length of elected terms of office often displace the important with the urgent. At its worse, the potential that we hold gets squandered.

In Kent we have had some such projects over the years, including Kent Vision 2000 and Destination 2006, each of which had some long-term impact on our community. Our emphasis on our downtown development, bike trails, community transit and environmental projection can clearly be seen.  

Now, citizens of Portage County have the opportunity to contribute to two such projects, Vision In Portage (VIP) and TransPORTAGE.

Vision in Portage is organized through Portage County Regional Planning and as an offshoot of Leadership Portage County and is seeking citizen collaboration on the creation of a list of strategic goals for our community. They have had a variety of task force groups meeting for a good part of the last year and have some preliminary stategies for us to respond to and embrace.

The VIP mission statement is: "Vision in Portage is dedicated to the planning and development of long term positive changes in Portage County. We are determined to make meaningful contributions to our community through networking and grass roots efforts."

As mentioned briefly in a previous blog post, TransPORTAGE, a non-partisan citizen sector organization that is working on spreading the transition town vision of a more locally self-reliant and resilient Portage County region (including adjacent areas).  TransPORTAGE vision statement reads: 

TransPORTAGE is part of the great adventure of learning to live more sustainably on a planet with finite resources.  Across the country and around the world, Transition communities are becoming more resilient by growing their own food, re-learning basic skills, localizing economies, rethinking health care and transportation, installing solar panels, accessing the talents and energy of youth, honoring the wisdom of elders and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

A core element of the Transition Town movement is positive visioning. We understand that the only way to respond to the vagaries of a global economy chasing the lowest wage and with little regard to the social, ecological and economic cost is to rebuild our economy from the ground up.  Some of our core vision principles are thus: 

We envision a future:

• Built on using clean, renewable energy
• Where one can ride a bike, take a bus, or walk for work,
  social activities and commerce
• That respects the past and the future in the use of scarce resources          
• Not threatened by climate change
• In which all people engage in meaningful work and contribute
  to a vibrant society

  TransPORTAGE.org is:

• Encouraging people to think globally and act locally
• Encouraging people to increase their purchase of local food, energy and other everyday items
• Encouraging sustainable transportation such as public transit, walking, and biking
• Supporting initiatives that result in increased resilience
• Asking people to reduce their carbon footprint voluntarily
• Envisioning a prosperous Portage

TransPORTAGE is co-sponsoring The Portage Slant, which is a call for visionary ideas that encourages people of all ages and interests to share their vision for our region. Entries are due August 15th. There is no entry fee.  The entry form can be found at this link. 

At the recent Kent Heritage Fest, TransPORTAGE representatives asked people to write down their visions on small cards and we tacked them up to share with others. Here are some of the ideas that your neighbors have:

• Bookstores!
• More People adopting animals
• Natural Food Restaurant
• Community Gardens (2)
• More people working and supporting themselves and each other
• Time Bank is thriving!
• Commuter rail to Akron and Cleveland, bus and train to all Ohio  (4)
• Lots more recycling
• More Bike Friendly Streets and Trails, more beautiful bike (and) hike trails (2)
• Local Farms and Food Systems
• Microbrewery and Pub, Coopertive Brewery made with local ingredients
• Historic Preservation to fuel Kents economic vitality. Save the old hotel and other buildings.
• Single Payer Medical Care
• Chickens!, Goats!, Ducks! = Food
• A municipal windmill in every town and village
• Environmental Education Programs
• Locally produced food and household products
• Local governments need to talk more, plan more, collaborate
• Bring different races together
• Mine landfills for raw materials
• Garden roofs on all buildings

These are just a few ideas, randomly generated by passersby. They show that each of us can positively imagine a future for our people, place and prosperity. We encourage all citizens to take advantage of the opportunity to express their vision for our region in both of these venues.   

While some believe that planning and envisioning have limited usefulness, and indeed others find it arrogant to presume that we can know what is best in our ever evolving and innovative world, it would be hard to say hat those with vision are "the enemies of the future." When I spend time talking with those a generation younger than mine, I find a certain optimism and energy that we who are older should find a way to embrace.  

As Rosabeth Moss Kanter says in her book American the Principled: "Our future will be shaped by the assumptions we make about who we are and what we can be."  

No matter what we choose to do, we are making the future. The question is, is it one that our children will thank us for?