Kinnickinnic River Trail Charrette, 2006
Early in the summer of 2006 a charrette committee formed which included staff from Sixteenth Health Center, The National Park Service, WI Department of Natural Resources, Groundworks Milwaukee and The City of Milwaukee. This committee approached CDS for assistance in planning a public participation charrette that would engage a group of professionals, stake holders, and residents in a workshop to gather ideas for enhancements to the soon to be built Kinnickinnic River Trail.
CDS played a key role in organizing the event held in October 2006. Faculty member Ray Isaacs offered his expertise in public participation events on environmental topics. The student team, led by Project Assistant Adam Flickinger, prepared materials for the charrette. The team created presentations to prepare the participants for the charrette activities, as well as informational booklets to help guide table discussions. At the event, team members gave a presentation of educational materials, acted as facilitators for the tables, provided other UWM students to take part in the public process, and facilitated the final report out at the end of the event. The event attended by over one hundred participants.was extremely successful in gathering ideas and promoting the trail.
After the charrette, CDS in consultation with the charrette committee prepared a presentation of the images from the charrette for use at a public meeting in November, which was attended by many important city figures including Mayor Barrett. CDS also worked for over six months with the committee to design a document, which creates a record of the event and it's outcomes. The document is being used as a tool to gather future support for the trail, and improvements to it.
Changes to the city’s plan have already been made to make room for some of the improvements suggested by participants at the charrette. Sixteenth Street Health center is committed to continuing the mission of gathering support to build a Southside trail that will become a valuable part of the neighborhoods along the Kinnickinnic River.
