Envision Central Texas has a number of exciting initiatives underway this year including the Quality Growth Toolbox, the Greenprint for Growth, a "Vision" checklist and the 2007 ECT Community Stewardship Awards. ECT is conducting a series of meetings in each of the five Central Texas counties to update elected officials and other community leaders about these and other important ECT projects and to engage in a dialogue about pressing growth-related challenges in each of the counties.

The Williamson County breifing was hosted by Judge Dan A. Gattis and ECT Community Outreach Committee Co-Chairs Travis Froehlich and Tom Yantis on February 15 in Georgetown; the Bastrop County update meeting was hosted by Judge Ronnie McDonald and ECT Chair-Elect Jim Walker on February 16 in Bastrop; and, the Hays County breakfast was hosted by Judge Elizabeth Sumter and ECT Chairman Fritz Steiner on February 23 in San Marcos. Plans are being finalized for an ECT update meeting in Caldwell County on Thursday, March 29 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Lockhart City Hall Council Chambers and for two meetings in Travis County in April. If you would like to be included on the guest list of any of these meetings, email dmiller@envisioncentraltexas.org.

Immediately after its two-year visioning efforts, Envision Central Texas took its first steps toward implementation by creating seven committees to focus on the key issue areas within the new regional vision. Each of the committees are led by two co-chairs and today more than one hundred people from across the region make up the rosters of the seven groups. Since 2005, each committee has hosted events, produced reports or conducted other activities that have pushed the vision forward. Click here to read more about recent changes to the Implementation Committee structure.

The Envision Central Texas Open Space Committee, in partnership with the Trust for Public Land (TPL), is actively seeking a total of $250,000 in funding to conduct an ambitious regional open space mapping process called Greenprint for Growth.

Pete Dwyer and Carrie Knox are co-chairs of the Greeprinting fundraising sub-committee. The Lower Colorado River Authority and the Shield Ayres Foundation are the first two contributors to the Greenprinting fundraising campaign. For more information about the Central Texas Greenprint for Growth click here. For more information about contributing, contact Sally Campbell at scampbell@envisioncentraltexas.org.

ECT Social Equity Co-chairs Dr. Barbara Mink and Dr. Charles Urdy hosted a reception on March 4 for Austin muralist and figurative painter Fidencio Durán who discussed the personal and cultural influences on his paintings. Ten of Mr. Durán’s paintings from various eras of his work including a recent piece soon to be on loan to the Smithsonian were on display. This event was sponsored in collaboration with the Latino/Latin American Studies Center (El Centro) at the Austin Community College District.

Shown in the photograph (from left to right) are ECT Board Member and Social Equity Co-chair Dr. Barbara Mink, Austin Community College Trustee; ECT Board Member and Social Equity Co-chair Dr. Charles Urdy; Dr. Donetta Goodall, Austin Community College; and artist Fidencio Duran.

ECT is pleased to welcome five new members to our board of directors. Carole Belver, Community Action, Inc. of Hays, Caldwell, and Blanco Counties; Jackie Goodman, Consultant; John Hall, Lockhart Independent School District; John Moman, Moman Architects Inc.; and Mark Williams, Austin Independent School District. For a complete listing of the ECT board of directors, visit our website.

Envision Central Texas is committed to assisting cities, counties, planning commissions, private sector representatives, public entities and communities throughout our region plan for the future in ways that will help preserve and enhance our natural resources, economic vitality, social equity, and overall quality of living. In support of that role, ECT is developing a Quality Growth Toolbox, which is an online collection of resources, models, best practices and other tools designed to assist communities as they plan for growth. Click here to learn more.

Opportunity Mapping: “Leveling Central Texas' Playing Field” on March 21, 11:15 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Austin. As our region continues to grow and change, it is vital that we understand how socio-economic opportunity is distributed throughout Central Texas communities and the impact this has on our quality of life. Community Partnership for the Homeless invites you to join leaders from throughout our region for this luncheon and presentation. The event will feature john powell of The Kirwan Institute, who will present the research findings, and a panel of Central Texas leaders will indicate how this new knowledge of opportunity-rich and opportunity-challenged areas in our community can be interpreted and integrated into action-oriented initiatives. To find out more and to register, click here.

SmartCode Workshop coming to Austin March 29- 31, 2007. This event, being brought to Austin by PlaceMakers, is an opportunity to join planners, architects, developers, elected officials and citizens to learn how to implement practical solutions for quality livability. There will also be a free event open to the public from 5-7:30 p.m. on March 29 at the Frank Erwin Center that will feature Andrés Duany and John Norquist who will discuss the tenets of new urbanism and set the stage for the Congress for the New Urbanism, which will take place in Austin in 2008. To learn more and to register for the workshop, click here.

Second Annual Neighborhood Planning Conference on May 5, 2007 at Austin Community College's Eastview Campus. The theme for the 2007 Conference is The Next Ten Years: Building Community Capacity and will include citizen-led workshops designed to enhance community capacity building. Workshop proposals are currently being solicited. Click here to read more about the Conference and how to submit a workshop proposal.

We'd like to hear from you! Each of our newsletters contains information about people, projects, processes or events that are helping to positively shape growth in our region and preserve our quality of life. If you would like to submit an article or news about an event for consideration in an upcoming ECT newsletter, email dmiller@envisioncentraltexas.org with the details.