Dave Faulkner
Director

113 Miami Street
Urbana, OH 43078

p 937 653 5764
t 877 873 5674
f 937 652 1599
faulkner.29@osu.edu

Creative Knowledge Economy

Champaign Transformation Project

DEVELOPING A 21ST CENTURY ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO

June 2003

Project Focus: Prepare Champaign County, Ohio for a 21st Century Creative Knowledge Economy.

Project Overview: Strategic Concepts, Inc, and the Center for Communities of the Future (COTF), proposes to work with the consortium of the Community Improvement Corporation of Champaign County, OSU Extension Champaign County, and Urbana University to design and implement a comprehensive 21st century economic development strategy based on COTF principles and specific capacity building actions to prepare Champaign County for the challenges of a new type of 21st century economy (Creative Knowledge Economy - CKE) and society. As a result of constant change in society, 21st century trends impact the economy of local communities in ways completely different from those traditionally experienced.

Goal: The goal of this project is to create capacities for an economic culture of transformation in Champaign County able to respond to the challenges of three existing economies that are in constant churnÉ.the last stages of an Industrial Economy, the development of a Creative Knowledge Economy and the early signals of a Web/Networked Economy that will be the norm by 2020.

Objectives: This project has seven objectives:

  1. To foster a new way of thinking about the future;
  2. To develop a futures oriented environment that will support an entrepreneurial culture;
  3. To build specific processes to assess the economic environment, recruit economic assets and build long-term capacities for transformation.
  4. To combine this futures context awareness with analysis of assessment results in order to develop recommended actions published as a "21st Century Community Transformation Plan" to guide economic development activities.
  5. To develop a core group of process leaders and master capacity builders capable of developing such a culture;
  6. To establish a CKE infrastructure as outlined in the plan as well as a network of entrepreneurs interested in creating a base of new business opportunities supporting the theme of "building a futures culture";
  7. To create multiple levels of networks and connections in local, regional, state, national and international arenas supporting the development of a CKE in Champaign County; and

Phases: It is suggested that three phases be evolved over the next two years:

Phase I - Initiate capacity building and community assessment August thru December 2003:

  1. Establish a Futures Institute at Urbana University;
  2. Identify interested local leaders in order to coach a core group from Champaign County in the concepts of the CKE and the COTF System of Community Transformation;
  3. Assess strengths, needs and opportunities for economic transformation as a parallel process to include the creation of a pilot core entrepreneurial group interested in developing multiple small businesses to manufacture products and provide services that are "futures oriented" for national distribution;
  4. Establish a retired teachers "Leading the Charge" project to build capacities for Transformational Learning:
  5. Establish a monthly library "citizens futures group" involved with "futures learning modules" and generative dialogue;
  6. Create a Champaign County Community Transformation workbook.

Phase II - Continue capacity building, assessment analysis and plan development and publication January thru July 2004:

  1. Establish a speakers series to introduce trends and transformative ideas open to all the citizens in Champaign County;
  2. Establish an Advanced Process Leadership Development Program for up and coming leaders in Champaign County;
  3. Establish a full CKE Infrastructure initiative which identifies broadband wireless telecommunications needs and develop a five year implementation plan; and
  4. Establish a Champaign County COTF/CKE web site.
  5. Publish a 21st Century Community Transformation Plan in conjunction with the continued evolution of a Futures Institute at Urbana UniversityÉconnect this plan with the original Phase I assessment of community transformation opportunities in Champaign County

Phase III - Implement plan, evaluate progress/results, continue capacity building and planning

August 2004 thru July 2005:

  1. Design and implement a project to recruit young cultural creatives from throughout the world as a symbolic and practical Creative Knowledge Economy development initiative;
  2. Create initial networks of 21st Century Neighborhood Academies to introduce citizens to the concepts and methods of a CKE;
  3. Establish local corporations to design, manufacture and distribute a "futures learning family of products" such as futures games, futures cookies and community transformation guide booklets;
  4. Develop a "national futures speakers group" coached in specific areas of "building capacities for a CKE in rural areas;"
  5. Investigate the creation of a 21st Century Millennium Center to serve as a residence for those young creative professionals recruited to Urbana, as well as become a "futures museum" for the region where visitors can walk through and see, touch and feel the future

Expected Results: This project will result in these tangible outcomes:

  1. A core group of interested leaders will be coached as "master capacity builders" in order to be able to guide and facilitate an overall system of parallel processes for community transformation in Champaign County by August 2004;
  2. The design and development of a Futures Institute would be established at Urbana University to provide a clearinghouse of future trends, a focus for collaboration within a futures context and a central location for transformative learning experiences;
  3. OSU Extension, Champaign County, Community Economic Development Office would become the center for networking all systemic activities and for helping to coach others in building capacities for a Creative Knowledge Economy;
  4. A 21st Century Community Transformation Plan document and web site will be published to serve as a benchmark, guide and interactive tool for continuous community transformation to meet the challenges of the Creative Knowledge Economy;
  5. Over twelve months 100 citizens would become involved with the Champaign County Library 21st Century Futures Dialogue Series;
  6. Two new businesses would be incorporated to produce "futures products" with the slogan "produced in the rural futures capital of the US"; 7) The Chamber of Commerce would establish a Process Leadership Development Program and graduate 20-30 per year;
  7. A goal of recruiting 15 young cultural creatives would be set for a pilot project for Champaign County to help create an environment of creativity and innovation;
  8. Three Neighborhood Academies would be initiated and 8-10 self-selected neighborhood residents ( or 4-6 families ) would be introduced to the ideas of future trends and transformative thinking;
  9. A specific plan to develop an electronic broadband wireless infrastructure for Champaign County would be finalized and staged over five years to include access to the Internet as well as technical training and coaching for electronic entrepreneurial opportunities.

Evaluation: A multi-phased evaluation will be utilized. Phase One will be an ongoing interactive direct evaluation by the participants and facilitators. Phase Two will be an evaluation of the quantity and quality of each of the specific projects and multiple processes that are initiated. Phase Three of the evaluation will focus on the transformation of economic development opportunities for Urbana and extent to which a creative economic culture is emerging.

The measurement instruments, both quantitatively and qualitatively, will be designed in conjunction with the core strategic team and will include:

  1. The number of projects established and people involved,
  2. A Creative Knowledge Economy survey tool that will identify progress in transformative thinking and action in Champaign County,
  3. The number of internal and external networks established to support the development of a Creative Knowledge Economy,
  4. A technical skills profile of Champaign County,
  5. A Creative Knowledge Economy mapping of the benchmarks important to each of the three types of economies once specific targets have been developed within the framework of the overall strategy, and
  6. Other metrics as identified.