Online Game Engages Region in Planning Process
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- An online game that allows participants to redesign northeastern Ohio aims to engage people in the regional planning process who might ordinarily not get involved.
Imagine MyNEO already has more than 500 participants, reports Hunter Morrison, director of the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium. The game is part of Vibrant NEO 2040, a process to create a long-term roadmap to develop “a more vibrant, resilient and sustainable region,” according to information on NEOSCC’s website.
“The primary purpose is to engage people who don’t necessarily come to public meetings,” Morrison said. “A whole lot of folks that have opinions and concerns about this region don’t have the time or the inclination to come to public meetings.” The game also aims to reach people in younger demographics who are used to working in an online environment, he added.
The game allows participants to allocate resources based on the priorities they set. It asks people “to imagine the sort of region they want and tell us what that is, but also to understand there are limits to resources,” Morrison explained.
A detailed analysis will be conducted on the information gathered through the game, Morrison said. The emphasis now is to recruit individuals to go to Imagine MyNEO and “talk about what concerns them, whether in the Mahoning Valley or Greater Cleveland or Akron,” Morrison said.
The game is part of “a number of points of information” for the Vibrant NEO 2040 process, Morrison said. A series of workshops was held across the region in late May and early June. In August, a set of open houses is planned in the Mahoning Valley for people to provide more input, he said. NEOISCC will then come back in September to present what appear to be the preferences.
“It’s really important for folks who live in the Mahoning Valley” to participate and offer their input,” he emphasized. Morrison also encourages members of the Youngstown diaspora -- people who no longer live in the region but “carry the Valley in their hearts” -- to participate as well. The aim is to get “a couple thousand” participants, he said.
Although the data will be downloaded in late July, the game itself will remain live as an online tool to continue to engage people and probe issues going forward, Morrison said.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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