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INTRODUCTION SERVICE AREA VISION PARK PLANS IMPLEMENTATIONPLANNING PROCESS EAST OF THE RIVER PARK MASTER PLAN OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT The East of the River Park Master Plan is the result of more than 1 ½ years of planning and design by MPRB staff, the community, and hired technical consultants. More than 90 community engagement events were held and several different stages of input garnered thousands of individual comments on park plans, guiding principles, and the planning process itself. The backbone of community engagement was the 19-member Community Advisory Committee (CAC), a group of community members appointed by MPRB Commissioners, City Council Members, and Neighborhood Organizations. The CAC met 12 times as a group. CAC members also created a working group to address the Regional Trail system and Grand Rounds Missing Link. The workgroup delved in more deeply into their topic area and reported back to the full CAC along with a recommendation on the final route for the Grand Rounds Missing Link. Many CAC members also connected directly with their networks and neighbors to bring valuable insight to the planning process. Throughout the process, MPRB staff expended significant efforts to reach out to community members often left out of planning processes, namely people of youth, seniors, and people of color. Staff and design team members attended numerous community events, both in and outside of parks, door knocked, and often simply visited parks on busy days to talk with users. Southeast Minneapolis is home to the University of Minnesota, and reaching out to the student, staff, and faculty population was also a core strategy for outreach which included appointing a student to the CAC, presenting on the plan in courses, and even organizing a walking tour for a student club of neighborhood parks. Four other efforts were specifically envisioned to involve more East of the River in the process and to make the design process itself more transparent: the Youth Design Team, the Data Jam, Design Week, and the Plan Van pop-up park engagement tour. The Youth Design Team (YDT) employed high school students to participate in the planning of neighborhood parks in NE and SE Minneapolis. During the year-long process, these youth worked with MPRB planning staff, design consultants, local artists, and community members to help bring important youth perspectives and creative ideas to the process and park plans. Youth Design Team participants went through a competitive application process, were 15-19 years old, live or attend school in Northeast or Southeast Minneapolis, and are interested in parks, design, and/or policy making. The YDT worked on all stages of the plan including site inventory and analysis, community data collection, data analysis, and park planning and design. The YDT had hands-on experience learning concepts, building skills, and gaining professional experience, all while helping to impact the future of parks in their communities. All the gathered input was incorporated into the Data Jam (see appendix B) and provided to park designers. The Youth Design Team was the first of its kind at MPRB and is unique in the public sector, but did build off the success of other youth job Image 11 | Youth Design Team talks to community members. Source: MPRB 22