CUES and Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. hosted the fifth meeting of the Florida Indicators Network (FIN) on March 7, 2007 in Jacksonville, FL in conjunction with the Fifth International Conference of the Community Indicators Consortium. It was the largest FIN meeting yet with over 25 participants representing 17 different organizations. Since its inception the network has grown to include almost 50 people from over 20 organizations around the state, and continues to expand its reach. There are representatives from South Florida, Central Florida, Tampa Bay, Southwest Florida, Northeast Florida, and Northwest Florida, along with state agencies such as the Florida Department of Transportation and the Florida Chamber Foundation.

Since 2006 CUES has tried to coordinate its FIN network with the needs of the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida to implement the use of indicators to measure progress at the state, regional and local levels. The recent meeting provided a wealth of new ideas and fresh perspectives from new members and Steve Siebert, Executive Director of the Century Commission, affirmed the Commission’s commitment to using indicators to measure Florida’s progress toward sustainability. The Network has developed a working list of common indicators along with data resources and it has identified critical issues for which data is not available, but the highly informative discussion in March reinforced the fact we must engage even more practitioners and stakeholders throughout the state before indicators can be implemented at the state level. The organization is always seeking new members interested in how regional indicators can mark progress in the Sunshine State. For more information, visit www.floridaindicators.org. If you would like to participate, please contact Lindsay Walker at 954.762.5656 or lowalker@fau.edu.

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Under the sponsorship of the Asian Development Bank, CUES Senior Fellow Frank Schnidman is advising government officials in the Republic of Palau on economic development and planning issues that will be the basis of efforts at further  sustainability, and efforts to address concerns of the United States as Palau prepares for January 2009 review meetings over the terms of the joint Compact with the US. Frank's initial effort was to review existing laws, rules, regulations and customs, and to propose incentives to induce private sector investment in Palau.  His next effort will be a series of training sessions for elected and appointed officials on land planning and land development review and approval procedures.

CUES Senior Fellow Frank Schnidman addresses legislative leaders in Palau on February 25th.

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CUES worked with the Palm Beach County Economic Development Office to produce the 21st Century Palm Beach County Strategic Economic Development Plan. The plan is aligned for implementation with the emerging State of Florida Strategic Economic Plan, Palm Beach County’s five year Capital Improvement Plan and the Business Development Board’s five year performance contract. At the March 13, 2007 meeting, the Board of County Commissioners unanimously adopted the Plan. Five strategic directions are outlined: Prosperity, Sustainability, Quality of Place, Equity and Education and Positioning. The Plan recognizes that Palm Beach County is on the tipping point of change with an economy that is linked to national and international trends. It also recognizes that to compete and thrive, the County will have to adopt economic development strategies and actions that are flexible, innovative and sustainable. This Strategic Economic Plan is a roadmap to effectively compete within these new realities. To review the plan, see http://www.co.palm-beach.fl.us/PubInf/EDO/pdf/PBC_EconPlan_Adopted-031307.pdf.

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On March 15th, CUES staff Lindsay Walker and Fabio A. Naranjo presented and facilitated at the Leadership Broward Foundation's (LBF) Youth Leadership Summit. This intense, weekend-long program engages high school juniors and introduces them to the issues and resources of Broward County and seeks to empower them to take responsibility for shaping the future of their community.

CUES' most recent indicators report, Charting the Course: Where is South Florida Heading?, was used as the Summit's "primary textbook and guiding curriculum." Thus, it was distributed prior to the session, which allowed Lindsay and Fabio an opportunity to engage the nearly 40 participants in a discussion of regional issue/indicator identification and to facilitate a SWOT analysis of the region's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as observed through their young eyes.

As designed by LBF staff, participants were expected to chart their own course for South Florida over the weekend as they learned about challenges and opportunities in the region. Using CUES' indicators report, students discussed and examined sustainability and social issues using the themes in Charting the Course: People – Place – Prosperity.

CUES Staffers Fabio Naranjo and Lindsay Walker lead discussion at Leadership Broward’s Youth Leadership Summit.

On March 16th, CUES staff George Gadson also addressed the Youth Summit participants. He led a session titled: The Light from Within (Culture Arts and Recreation). In addition, George developed the curriculum for a Saturday session titled: Educating Our Community, which was led by LBF staff.

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The sixth annual Florida Environmental Ethics Conference was held on March 16, 2007 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. The daylong conference, co-sponsored by the University of Miami Ethics Programs, Florida Atlantic University, the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, and the Florida Bioethics Network, focused on ethical considerations in environmental policy, urban design, and community building. Assistant Director for Research Lenore Alpert participated in a panel entitled, “Development in Florida: Regional and Statewide Trends.”

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The Regional Leadership Council, a partnership between the South Florida Regional Resource Center), in conjunction with Leadership Palm Beach, Leadership Broward, Leadership Miami and the Urban Land Institute Southeast Florida/Caribbean, is planning its 4th Annual Regionalism Summit. To insure timely topics, the Regional Leadership Council met with members of the South Florida Legislative Delegation and the League of Cities to identify the ‘hottest issues’ facing the region. Results from this meeting were used to develop the agenda for the upcoming conference. A number of expert panelists of state, regional and local prominence will convene on FAU’s Boca Raton campus to explore solutions to the issues of housing and insurance costs, taxes, traffic and more. For additional information, please contact Anne Hotte Berry, Executive Director of Leadership Broward, at anne@leadershipbroward.org.

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