Minnesota Statewide Pedestrian System Plan Community Event Toolkit Thank you for helping collect public feedback on walking in Minnesota! This input will be valuable as we develop the Minnesota Pedestrian System Plan. Contents This document tells you everything you need to know about community engagement activities for the Minnesota Statewide Pedestrian System Plan (SPSP). Additional information about materials, talking points, and tips for fostering an engaging experience are included in the attachments. There are two engagement activities about walking and a game board activity designed for children. Each activity is designed to be simple, easily replicable, and cost effective. They are also designed so that the boards could be stationed, un-staffed, at a variety of locations (e.g., libraries, community centers, and schools). The intent is that it is easy for participants to provide input, easy for you to record the input, and in turn, easy to use the input in the SPSP development. The activities are explained in the following pages, and include Description & Purpose, Set-up Instructions, Activity Instructions, Recording Instructions, and Materials List. When you finish facilitating the activities, please tally the votes from both activities and submit the information in an online survey, available here: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2256507/mn-ped-plan-engagement-documentation NOTE: these activities are also available in survey form ONLINE. Consider bringing ipads or tablets to allow people to participate that way. To access the survey, visit: www.minnesotawalks.org Community Event Toolkit 1
Attachments: Attachment 1: Activity #1 Printouts Attachment 2: Activity #2 Printouts Attachment 3: Activity #3 Childs Activity Attachment 4: Materials List Attachment 5: Email script for volunteer/staff (invitation, instructions, thank you) Attachment 6: Staff Schedule Template Attachment 7: One-pager about the project/talking points [source: MnDOT] Attachment 8: Walk This Way postcard Attachment 9: Sign-in sheet Community Event Toolkit 2
Activity #1 Walking Destinations Description & Purpose The intent of this activity is to learn what destinations are most important for people to be able to walk to. Participants will place sticky dots, or a written mark, next to destinations to indicate where it is important that they are able to walk. Participants will be able to choose from several different destinations, including: School Place of Worship Home Grocery Store Post Office Restaurant Entertainment Doctor Friends Fitness Library Park Bank Job Convenience Store Pharmacy Transit Other Destinations (Write in) Set-up Instructions 1. Print the Activity #1 PDF. 2. Cut out all of the destination icons 3. Tape (or glue) each icon to the foam core board (see example image). 4. Paste the title on the top of the foam core. The title should read: It is important that I am able to walk to. 5. If you are going to an event, cut out many sheets of sticky dots, with 3 dots on each sheet. This will make it easy to hand out 3 dots to each participant. 6. Label the dots on each sheet 1, 2, and 3. This allows participants to prioritize their top destinations. ** Alternatively to 5 and 6 (especially if this board will be un-staffed), you could print the instructions for the top of the board and place a marker next to the board so people could write 1, 2, and 3 next to their top three destinations. Below is an example of this activity board at a recent event. Example of Activity#1 board after an event. Community Event Toolkit 3
Activity Instructions 1. Provide participants with a sheet of 3 sticky dots, numbered 1 3. Ask participants prioritize their top 3 destinations and place dots at the three destinations that are most important for them to be able to walk to. 2. If there are additional walking destinations that are important to participants, encourage them to write them on the poster under Other Destinations. Participant at Activity #1. Recording Instructions 1. Count and record the number of dots at each destination. Be sure to separately count the amount of 1 st place votes, 2 nd place votes, and 3 rd place votes for each destination. 2. Record the number of votes for each destination in the online survey, available here: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2256507/mn-ped-plan-engagement-documentation Materials Needed Printed Activity #1 PDF Small sticky dots Easel Foam core Clear Tape and/or liquid glue Scissors Community Event Toolkit 4
Activity #2 Hey, that looks like my street! Description & Purpose The purpose of this activity is to discover characteristics of streets that make them easy and enjoyable places to walk, as well as characteristics of streets that make them difficult and unenjoyable places to walk. The activity consists of two large boards that have a total of 11 images of different homes or streets. Participants should identify which image looks the most like where they live; they should put a sticker in the table next to the image that looks the most like their community. Lastly, in the tables next to the image they identified, they should place checkmarks in whatever categories they feel makes walking in their community: a. safe, convenient, and desirable in their community AND b. unsafe, inconvenient, and undesirable in their community Set-up Instructions 1. Print the Activity #2 PDF. 2. Place the large poster boards in portrait orientation (48 tall, 36 wide). 3. Cut out the two titles of the activity ( Which picture looks the most like where you live? ) and glue them on the top left corner of each poster board. 4. Next, cut out the two rectangles that say Vote here. Glue these two pieces of paper to the right of the title on each poster board. c. Cut out the pieces of paper that say what about your community makes walking safe, convenient, and desirable? and what about your community makes walking unsafe, inconvenient, and undesirable?. Glue these two pieces of paper on the top of each poster to the right of the Vote here sheet. The question with safe, convenient, and desirable should be on the left side, and unsafe, inconvenient, and undesirable should be on the far right. 5. Cut out the 11 pictures and trim off the extra white paper on the sides. 6. Glue (or tape) the pictures onto the large poster boards. The first six photos should be on the far left side of the first poster (underneath the title), and the next five should be on the far left side of the second poster (underneath the title). 7. Next, cut out the tables that show the characteristics for walking in communities. Glue two tables to the right of each picture. a. First, glue the table with the characteristics that make communities safe, convenient, and desirable. b. Next, to the right of the first table, glue the table for characteristics that make communities unsafe, inconvenient, and undesirable. c. Repeat this process for all 11 pictures so that each picture has two tables to their right. 8. With a dark marker, draw lines that divide each of the rows on the poster (see examples on the next page). Community Event Toolkit 5
Which picture looks the most like where you live? Vote here What about your community makes walking safe, convenient, and desirable? What about your community makes walking unsafe, inconvenient, and undesirable? Which picture looks the most like where you live? Vote here What about your community makes walking safe, convenient, and desirable? What about your community makes walking unsafe, inconvenient, and undesirable? Community Event Toolkit 6
Below is an example of this activity board at a recent event. Example of an Activity #2 board after an event. Activity Instructions 1. First, instruct participants to identify which picture looks the most like where they live, then have them put a sticker in the column of the poster next to the number of the picture that looks the most like their community. 2. Ask participants to look at the tables next to the picture that looks the most like their community, and put a tally mark next to five characteristics that apply to their communities in each of these two categories: a. What about your community makes walking safe, convenient, and desirable? b. What about your community makes walking unsafe, inconvenient, and undesirable? 3. If a characteristic is not listed in the table, space is provided for participants to write-in additional characteristics at the bottom of the table. Recording Instructions 1. Take a photograph of the completed posters 2. Send photos to the project team (jasna.hadzic@state.mn.us). Community Event Toolkit 7
3. Tally the dots in each category 4. Please record the input in the online survey, available here: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2256507/mn-ped-plan-engagement-documentation Participants at Activity #2. Materials Needed 2 large poster boards (48 x36 ) Printed Activity #2 PDF Dot Stickers (or stars any small stickers) Pens/markers Glue or Clear tape Community Event Toolkit 8
Activity #3 - Child Activity: Help Taylor Find Their Way Description & Purpose This activity is designed to provide hands-on entertainment for children that are visiting engagement events with their parents. The activity includes a very simplified map game board (shown below) which has a small neighborhood with homes and a variety of different destinations. The goal of the activity is for children to help guide a fictional character named Taylor from their red house to destinations in the neighborhood, including to school and a local park, and then back to Taylor s red house. Home School Park Home The only rule is that Taylor must walk on the sidewalks or crosswalks at all times. Some of the streets in the neighborhood do not have sidewalks or they are disconnected or dead-end, making it more challenging for Taylor to get to their destinations. Not only does the activity entertain children during engagement events, but it can also help kids learn how to read a city map, demonstrate how they can safely walk different routes in a neighborhood, and most importantly, have fun! Community Event Toolkit 9
Set-up Instructions 1. Print the Activity #3 PDF (child activity game board, 11 x17 ). Print out as many copies as you feel necessary. This can also be printed at 8.5 x11 if needed. 2. Find 2-3 toys that can be used to play the fictional character, Taylor. This can be any type of toy figure that you choose. 3. Provide crayons or markers in case the kids prefer to draw on the game boards (optional). Activity Instructions 1. The kids should start with Taylor at the red house (#1), which is shown on the map. 2. Explain to the kids that Taylor must stay on the sidewalks or crosswalks at all times. 3. Ask the kids to help Taylor walk to school (#2), while staying on the sidewalk. 4. Then ask the kids to help Taylor walk to the park (#3), and then back to the red house (#4). 5. Alternatively, if the kids are not interested in the activity or are too young to understand the directions, they can use the map game boards to draw on and then take them home! 6. Encourage the kids to take the game boards home! Recording Instructions 1. No recording necessary! Materials Needed Multiple printed copies of Activity #3 PDF (neighborhood map game boards - 11 x17 ) Two Small toy figures to act as Taylor (i.e. Lego person, animal, or any toy character) Crayons (optional) Other ideas for Kids Sidewalk chalk Participate in the adults activities Community Event Toolkit 10
FAQs 1) How to pay for booth space? MnDOT and MDH do not have funds to pay for booth space, but some events allow non-profits or non-vendors to set up for no cost. It s worth asking the organizer! It s also possible to connect with local organizations and groups that might also have a presence at a gathering. Check with local groups that might be at an event to see if a partnership is possible. 2) How do I pay for printing? Efforts were made to create materials that could be printed by an individual and with minimal materials. It is greatly appreciated if partners are able to print materials and assist with leveraging project resources where possible. That said, if there are concerns or limitations with printing, MnDOT and MDH may be able to pay for printing materials if requested 10 days in advance: jasna.hadzic@state.mn.us 3) When does input need to be submitted? The sooner the better we want to hear from you while things are still fresh in your mind. Please submit input within one week of the engagement event. We re looking to collect information at events throughout summer and fall of 2015. Please consider collecting information at any location or event from August October. 4) What events is the Ped Plan team planning to be at? Events where there will be a presence from MnDOT, MDH and/or partners can be found at the calendar at minnesotago.org/walks. 5) Will each MnDOT district be asked to participate in an event? If so, what does that look like? All MnDOT Public Affairs Coordinators have been invited to participate in an event and they are invited to use this toolkit. 6) How will Regional Development Commissions participate? All RDCs and RDOs have been invited to participate in an event and they are invited to use this toolkit. Community Event Toolkit 11
7) Where would MnDOT and MDH like to see events happen? What are priorities? MnDOT and MDH are interested in hearing from all in Minnesota, but especially populations that are often underrepresented in engagement around transportation. As summarized in Minnesota Walks, the priority populations are: Small rural core communities American Indian populations Low-income urban populations Older adults Persons with disabilities Children and youth 8) How do I let the Ped Plan Team know I want to participate in an event? Send an email to jasna.hadzic@state.mn.us or call 651-366-4170. 9) Do the questions speak for themselves or does someone need to staff it? How does one provide minimal oversight? The activities can work either way! There are optional pages with detailed instructions for participants should you choose to leave the boards out unstaffed. 10) What do I do with the information that I collect? We ask that you submit the information collected from Activity 1 and 2 in an online survey. The project team has designed the survey to be formatted similar to the activities to make it easy to input the data you received. You will need to tally the votes from Activity 1 and 2, and when completed you can complete the survey here: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2256507/mn-ped-plan-engagement-documentation Community Event Toolkit 12