Success Story - Smart Growth
March 2005
Describe the related Annual Action Plan activity
Active Community Environments-Sustainability
Author & Community
Barbe West, Executive Director & Steps Program Manager
Community Choices
Clark County Washington
Steps cost, or resources used
$7,818.37
In-kind, or community contribution
$426.00
Partners
City of Vancouver
Vancouver Clark Parks & Recreation
Clark County
Kaiser Permanente
Clark County Health Department
Camas School District
Disease and/or Risk factor
Obesity
Date
2/28/06
Description
The Steps Leadership Team is currently in discussions about the sustainability of Steps efforts beyond 2008 and the actions necessary to achieve the transition from Steps activities to policy and system change. Education and building awareness among our Steps teams as well as community leaders is a necessity.
There has also been recognition that people in the public health field need to become better educated about the built environment, planning, building codes, etc. In addition, individuals in city and county planning and government leadership need to better understand the connections between health and the built environment.
As a result, Steps to a Healthier Clark County identified a team of individuals to attend the Smart Growth Conference in Denver Colorado . This team included a City Council person, a County Commissioner , the Director of the Health Department, a community/school activist, a business planning consultant, a parks and recreation consultant and Community Choices staff. Following this conference, the team reconvened in Clark County along with attendees from Portland to share learnings, discuss application to efforts underway in the community and explore the potential of building partnerships as a region.
This group will also make reports to the City Council of Vancouver and the Clark County Commissioners and the Steps Leadership Team.
As a result of this conference, the attendees have identified knowledge gaps for other Steps partners and an ongoing educational process will be developed to expand the knowledge of Steps partners so as to impact the future healthy growth of our community.
