Partnership Between Design Workshop and The City of Aspen and Pitkin County Results in STaR Award

22 March 2010

Aspen, CO – The City of Aspen and Pitkin County have been awarded the 2009 STaR Award for Outstanding Planning Initiative by the Small Town and Rural (STaR) Planning Division for their collaboration on the Aspen Area Community Plan (AACP).

Partnering with Design Workshop, an international landscape architecture, land planning, urban design and strategic services firm with offices in Aspen and Denver, The City of Aspen and Pitkin County sought to engage the community through a comprehensive effort designed to increase citizen involvement throughout the plan development. The AACP is updated every 8 to 10 years by The City of Aspen and Pitkin County and serves as a 10-year community vision for the future that helps to guide decision-making by the Aspen City Council and Pitkin County Commissioners.

“The City of Aspen and Pitkin County wanted to approach the AACP in new and inventive ways to achieve community involvement in the process,” said Kurt Culbertson, Design Workshop's chairman of the board of directors. “With that in mind, we implemented a grassroots strategy that facilitated a variety of entry-points for citizens to have a say in the long-term vision of their community.”

The group utilized traditional (large and small group meetings, media, focus groups) and nontraditional tactics (social media, traveling toolkits for citizens to host personalized meetings, speaker series, Web site) to achieve an astounding level of citizen involvement. More than 1,000 community members took part in the planning process, nearly ten times more than were involved during the 1998-2000 AACP process.

“Design Workshop really helped us push the envelope in terms of engagement,” said Jessica Garrow, Long Range Planner for the City of Aspen Community Development Department. “We were really happy with their work in coordinating the Latino outreach and in setting up specific meetings with area organizations. They were also instrumental in crafting the questions for our large group meetings.”

The STaR Award for Outstanding Planning is judged on eight criteria: Innovation, Quality, Measurable Results and Implementation, Role of Elected Officials, Transferability, Collaboration/Public Involvement, Long-Term Sustainability and/or Use of Smart Growth Principles.

Design Workshop also won a 2008 STaR Award for Outstanding Planning Initiative for its Avon Community Plan in Avon, Colorado.

About Design Workshop
Founded in 1969, Design Workshop is an international landscape architecture, land planning, urban design and strategic services firm with six offices in the U.S. and work spanning the globe. The firm has been recognized with over 150 prestigious awards for its work in new communities, urban centers, resorts, public parks, golf courses and residences. The firm's philosophy challenges the project team to equally integrate and balance artistic vision, environmental sensitivity, community values and sound economics to create unique places that stand the test of time. It refers to this approach as DW Legacy Design®.