What Matters Most? - How shared values speak volumes about a community's future

At Community Matters’10 in Denver last month, I had the privilege of moderating a breakout session about moving “from values to actions”—how communities can tap into their shared values to generate change that makes a lasting, positive difference for their future.

If the full room and scrawling pens were any indication, this fairly conceptual topic struck a deep chord with a lot of people. And the success stories shared—about values-based planning from Montana’s Bitterroot Valley to Golden, Colorado to Damariscotta, Maine—did not disappoint.

A lot of meaningful change begins by asking the simple question, “What matters most?” The answers to this question will uncover a community’s most deeply held beliefs and ideals about itself. When you think about it, a community’s values are really a direct expression of its heart and soul. They may reflect a community’s unique or treasured assets, its key historic or natural features, special buildings or important places, specific social or cultural characteristics, local folkways, myths and much more. They may be intangible or concrete—or both things at once.

Shared, local values typically express things residents seek to protect or enhance as their community moves into the future…things they hope not to lose. Though not necessarily timeless, values tend to be enduring. While they can and do evolve over time, they are typically slower to change and tend to be longer-lived than plans, policies or decisions.

The cool thing is that every community has its own unique set of values. Of course, some values seem almost universal regardless of geography, such as “small town atmosphere,” “sense of place” or “diverse local population.” But in my experience, every community also expresses values that are unique to that place alone, revealing a lot about its particular combination of natural, cultural, built and human elements. These unique values set that place apart from any other, and also speak to how it might change as it grows.

Hilo, Hawaii values its lush tropical greenery nurtured by coastal rains and the “spirit of Aloha” (see EnVision Downtown Hilo poster graphic, above, and at left, Connections Public Charter School kids in Hilo creating a giant version of Honu, the sacred turtle, in concert with the release of the Hilo Vision and Action Plan in 2005). Portland, Oregon values its lively, distinctive neighborhoods, “original thinking” and a penchant for collective problem solving. Tiny Mill Bay in British Columbia values its jaw-dropping views of Saanich Inlet and Kerry Park, a community asset sustained by local volunteers.

Community values are a touchstone. They inform a community’s visions and aspirations for the future. If an emerging vision jibes with a community’s shared values, it is more likely to capture and reflect the true nature of that community, and will therefore be supported and sustained over time.

Knowing what is special and unique about a community is the source of authenticity in planning. It’s hard for a plan to wander too far astray if it’s guided by the heart and soul of a place. Of course, emerging trends and global forces will add a strong dose of reality to any community’s plans. And the community must acknowledge these forces and respond accordingly. But every community will be better poised to do so if it views them through the lens of its own set of established values.

Communities are healthier in the long run when fed from the wellspring of unique, shared, local values.