How Storytelling Helped Three Communities Find Their Heart & Soul

EngagingCities is supported by The Orton Family Foundation, which helps small cities and towns adapt to change while maintaining or enhancing the things they value most. The Orton Family Foundation hosts The Planning Tool Exchange (PlanIt X), a free online database of community planning projects, tools, and resources.We encourage you to browse, comment and contribute to PlanIt X.

Storytelling has long been used to connect people to each other and to celebrate the past, but a handful of communities today see storytelling as the way to a better future. The three communities highlighted here and in the Planning Tool Exchange used storytelling to engage their citizens and identify common values – part of a broader community planning processes.

Golden, CO Vision 2030
This vibrant City just outside of Denver knew it wouldn’t work to just invite citizens to City Hall and expect them to participate in its Heart & Soul Community Planning process. Golden instead held a series of block parties in neighborhoods all around town and met with a wide range of community groups. Staff and volunteers interviewed citizens in these venues and captured hours of stories on videotape. The City then asked different groups to watch those videos and identify the core values expressed in their neighbors’ stories. That led to identifying a set of core values for the whole city, which were just written into the City’s new Comprehensive Plan and will guide all future planning and development decisions. Read more at PlanIt X >

Portland, Oregon Vision Vessel
Portland officials built a combination digital recording studio/ballot box to engage the City’s creative, younger residents, raise the level of discourse, and tap into residents’ hopes for Portland’s future. Resembling an outdoor shower stall, the Vision Vessel allowed people to walk in and learn a bit about the project and planning in Portland and then spend some time recording their own thoughts. The Vision Vessel migrated around to festivals, colleges, and farmers’ markets. Organizers posted citizen feedback on the web and the Mayor eventually folded the citizen feedback into a larger city planning and visioning process. Read more at PlanIt X >

Starksboro, VT Art & Soul
A class of Middlebury College students spent a semester in rural Starksboro, interviewing and photographing citizens and creating a book and presentation of their stories. Xxx people turned out for the celebration and unveiling, and that unleashed a tide of action and volunteerism in the town. A visiting artist came in for the next phase of the project – helping citizens create art that explored their common values – and Starksboro is now working to implement projects and address needs that were identified by the storytelling and art, such as creating an online community forum and investing in local meetings spaces. Read more at PlanIt X >

Read more about digital storytelling in the Planning Tool Exchange and add your own thoughts and examples!