Action Agenda: Roadmap to Restoration
Across the Puget Sound region, the Puget Sound Partnership is mobilizing communities, agencies and organizations to work together to create a comprehensive Action Agenda to restore Puget Sound.
The Action Agenda is the roadmap for Puget Sound restoration and protection efforts for years to come. It will tell us what a healthy Puget Sound looks like, and identify and set priorities for what work needs to be accomplished. And because it will be developed by the region, it will hold the region accountable for achieving a healthy Puget Sound.
- Our Guiding Principles
- What is the process to create the Action Agenda?
- We need your help
- How can agencies and groups participate and contribute?
- Action Agenda documents
Work to build the Action Agenda is getting under way with numerous opportunities to get involved upcoming. Guiding its development are some core principles that support the process:
- You are an essential participant in the process.
- Collaboration and cooperation across sectors and interests is vital.
- The Action Agenda creation process will be clear and transparent.
- Public engagement is critical.
- The process should include a scientific review of proposed actions.
- We will work with existing organizational and decision-making structures rather than create new processes.
What is the process to create the Action Agenda?
The Action Agenda will be developed by answering three key questions with extensive opportunities for input, dialog and involvement for everyone interested in restoring Puget Sound.
- What is the status of and what are the threats to Puget Sound?s health?
- What is a healthy Puget Sound ecosystem?
- What actions must we take to move from where we are today to a healthy Puget Sound by 2020?
Action Agenda Work Plan
To answer each key question, the Partnership will conduct a four-phase community involvement process. Each phase will engage scientific and policy experts, agencies and governments, and community groups and the public. Everyone will have a chance to participate.
Phase I. Synthesize existing data and information:
- Status of Puget Sound health
- Indicators to measure ecosystem health
- Current programs and efforts, opportunities (capital, policy, education/outreach, science)
Phase II. Conduct a gap analysis to highlight what more is needed
Phase III. Identify priorities, actions, assignments:
- Ecosystem (capital, policy, education/outreach, science)
- Local (capital, policy, education/outreach, science)
Phase IV. Roll up, review draft Action Agenda, and approve
Work to develop the Action Agenda is just starting. Your involvement is critical to the success of this landmark initiative.
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Sign up for Action Agenda announcements and news. (Put "Action Agenda list" in the subject line)
Look for many ways to get involved in the coming months, such as:
- Scientific peer-review for all science-related draft products.
- Broad opportunities for agencies and groups to discuss the draft science-related products.
- Focused task teams on specific issues, particularly in the Phase I Synthesis Work and Phase II Gap Analysis to help identify priorities. This will include:
- Small focused analytic teams that prepare work for broader discussion with regional experts and interests.
- Focused, facilitated workshops to refine analytic work to move to the next stage. Regional experts and those taking actions will be asked and encouraged to participate.
- Small focused analytic teams that prepare work for broader discussion with regional experts and interests.
- Focused input from the Ecosystem Coordination Board, whose 27 members will advise the Leadership Council in developing and carrying out the Action Agenda.
- "Charrette"-style workshops at both the ecosystem-level and in local areas to identify actions and responsibilities. These public workshops will be highly interactive and designed to accomplish significant content work in a short time period (such as over two days). The workshops will include:
- Significant input from agencies to identify actions and responsibilities
- Teams of scientific and policy experts working with local area
- Interactive workshops with broader interests
- Significant input from agencies to identify actions and responsibilities
- Public review of the "roll up" of the Action Agenda. This will include follow-up workshops in local areas.
How can agencies and groups participate and contribute?
A key focus is ensuring agencies and groups are kept up-to-date on the Action Agenda content and process, and making sure people can participate in their local charrette workshop. Partnership staff will also work closely with them to conduct the analytic work needed.
To get started, all agencies and groups should identify a key staff contact who can:
- Speak for their agency and organizations.
- Help identify expertise (policy, scientists, governmental) in their agencies and organizations to participate in various tasks.
- Occasionally, subsets of these people may need to meet related to specific tasks.
The Partnership will also work with existing caucuses where possible. Caucus leads should work back through their members to make sure their agencies and groups are informed and know how to participate in each step.
The Partnership will maintain an interactive, up-to-date Web site as the primary portal for getting the latest information and news. We'll also communicate often to ensure staff are kept current with the planning process and emerging issues.
>> For more information about the development of the Action Agenda, contact Martha Neuman, 206.661.8078.
