We’re going to blog today from the 2nd regional learning network in Youngstown with a broad cross section of politicians, community development groups, ‘green’ and urban groups from Cleveland, Youngstown and Pittsburgh.

(I'm sitting next to an electrical engineer from Youngstown who's boss charged him with starting a green building division. The green building movement is in its nascent stages here, he tells me (four projects are applying for LEED, including Youngstown State University's new business school). He came today to find out who's pushing for more green building in Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, and would like to be an organizer for meetings to introduce his clients to what it means to be green.)

Dick Brooks, Action Media, is delivering the keynote on storytelling. If stories don’t jibe with what we believe, we’re probably going to reject it. Facts contain no meaning, the meaning is in the story, and stories are how we communicate.

Terms and labels have a way of stopping people from thinking about the values that lie underneath such as choice, free market, family and children in balance with each other (relating a story about “Inclusionary Housing” a term that doesn’t create a great context in people’s minds).

We’re working on regionalism on how to promote connectivity. Does it make sense to those if you’re talking to them who aren’t planners or politicians? Our work in Baltimore we found most people only know what’s going on in a four block radius of where they live – regionalism is an abstraction to them. People don’t see the shifting of responsibility, they might think what happens in the region might affect them, but it’s an extremely difficult concept to get across. People are extremely cynical about government. But they want to believe in government of the people by the people and for the people. But ordinary citizens don’t believe they’re getting it. Opportunity is a fundamental American value. But, take the word ‘fairness’ if you ask people you find it’s usually what’s fair to me.

Framing – start by talking about larger values that we as a culture identify with such as democracy, opportunity, fairness. Establish the context and couch it in terms of ‘making this a better place.’

If you stay with something long enough you will come to the how. Don’t start with what policies we want, start big, evoke the results. We’re ensuring every voice is heard. That access to resources is governed by fairness, etc. Identify the real value at play, i.e. you don’t go into a meeting talking about building a homeless shelter, you start by talking about how we’re going to protect children and that we value as a society no child sleeping on the street and that sets the stage for a conversation about how we’re going to achieve those goals.

How will you discuss the results? Until you make story arc of where we’re trying to get to share a vision

To making the world a better place we need to discuss a fundamental redesign of society. We need to envision what it means to stop eating fossil fuels and start eating sunlight. So that we design products that mimic nature’s millions of years of research and development. So that we build in a way that creates energy. So that we design cities that are democratic they’re filled with choices for biking, walking to schools, work and shops close to home.

Choice, investment in the future and the ingenuity of the American people, fairness in the access to resources,

Opportunity Homes most of the neighborhoods are the strategic investment iniatives. Marketing strategically. Vacant land stragey we’re looking at. Rezoning within those areas. The investment that’s going on. Kim Scott. Quality of Life, Equal Opportunity are some shared values. When we’re done we’ll have a community that’s growing it’s own food (community gardens is the what).

Energy Conservation and access to nutritional food (is the what). When we tell people about energy conservation they think of Jimmy Carter in a sweater. It’s not an image that works well with people who think of what they’re doing without. Efficiency means doing the same with less (it’s a more acceptable frame for people).

Not evoking the negative image or frame (i.e. “it’s not safe” to visit city neighborhoods. It’s hard to find a language that resonates)

Safety and security is a an issue. The push back on parks and bike paths tells me there’s a perception that the world is no longer a safe place. Talking about all of the improvements you’ve made in the community, focus on the positive things, the pride you have, the success you have (and think about your answers before get in). While you’re not kidding people that there’s crime, you say people don’t realize how safe our community is, for instance, our police chief says…or inoculate against the neg image by saying we’re designing a place that invites families and invites children to walk to school (it is strong there are strong negatives bc the news broadcasts are probably the most unlikely and removed from our lives.

Knowing what your stories are. We don’t measure safety, we measure crime. So our stories are those families who bike together and whose children walk to school.

There are facts – lots of kids ride bikes and walk to school. Look for them. Talk to police, EMS, hospitals – have accidents gone down? “The commissioner says that crime has gone down.” “Tell the story of the person who lost weight by walking every day.”

Mayor of Youngstown spoke on the BBC last week said we have a really dynamic town finding it’s stride and we have a vision – it sounded completely believable. Contrasting the Bruce Springsteen story, we’re grabbing the future, not the past was the feeling. I find people value the media too much and undervalue their own voice. It’s not the reporter’s job to do your work. If you choose to talk to reporters, decide what story it is this reporter needs to hear. Y-town is a new vision with young and progressive people…the answers are all about where we’re going. This is how we fight the encompassing vision what won Barack the election is he generated a vision that was inclusive.