ARISE: The Alliance to Re-Industrialize for a Sustainable Economy
InCommons Collaboration Challenge
ARISE: The Alliance to Re-Industrialize for a Sustainable Economy
The Alliance to Re-Industrialize for a Sustainable Economy (ARISE) began in 2007 as a broad range of organizations working together to respond to the closing of the Ford Plant. This closing meant the community would lose over 2,000 jobs and given the prevailing development pattern of de-industrialization, we felt it was unlikely many would be brought back with redevelopment. The coalition rallied around this challenge of how to design community development that is economically and socially sustainable demonstrating that diverse groups can truly come together around unique and innovative visions.
Early on, the coalition create a detailed design plan that would create green jobs to replace those lost at the plant, produce clean energy on-site, and create an accessible community through affordable housing, transit-oriented design, and local food production. Then, uncertainty and repeated delays over whether and when Ford would close the plant made it difficult for many coalition members to justify active involvement. In the interim, Grand Aspirations has continued to work with Lynn Hinkle to prepare for the eventual closure date while preparing to replicate the ARISE vision through new partnerships with community groups across the Twin Cities. Earlier this Fall, the closure of the Ford Site was officially announced despite the combined strong efforts of the state, city, and union to provide a basis for Ford to maintain production. We are working to reconvene the ARISE coalition around this vision while rallying new support from across the region.
About You
About You
First Name
Timothy
Last Name
DenHerder-Thomas
Country
United States
About Your Organization
Organization
Grand Aspirations (hosting ARISE)
Organization Website
Organization Phone
646-670-1682 (Timothy)
Organization Address
c/o Dendros Group, 413 Wacouta St. Suite 400, St. Paul, MN 55101
Organization Country
United States, MN, Ramsey County
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Your Story
Collaboration Title
ARISE: The Alliance to Re-Industrialize for a Sustainable Economy
Country your work focuses on
United States, MN, Ramsey County
Describe your locally-based collaboration and the problem it sought to address
The Alliance to Re-Industrialize for a Sustainable Economy (ARISE) began in 2007 as a broad range of organizations working together to respond to the closing of the Ford Plant. This closing meant the community would lose over 2,000 jobs and given the prevailing development pattern of de-industrialization, we felt it was unlikely many would be brought back with redevelopment. The coalition rallied around this challenge of how to design community development that is economically and socially sustainable demonstrating that diverse groups can truly come together around unique and innovative visions.
Early on, the coalition create a detailed design plan that would create green jobs to replace those lost at the plant, produce clean energy on-site, and create an accessible community through affordable housing, transit-oriented design, and local food production. Then, uncertainty and repeated delays over whether and when Ford would close the plant made it difficult for many coalition members to justify active involvement. In the interim, Grand Aspirations has continued to work with Lynn Hinkle to prepare for the eventual closure date while preparing to replicate the ARISE vision through new partnerships with community groups across the Twin Cities. Earlier this Fall, the closure of the Ford Site was officially announced despite the combined strong efforts of the state, city, and union to provide a basis for Ford to maintain production. We are working to reconvene the ARISE coalition around this vision while rallying new support from across the region.
Tell us about the community in which this collaboration took place
The Ford Site is located in the Highland Park neighborhood of Saint Paul. It is a rare industrial area located within an affluent neighborhood offering an opportunity to promote diversity. Furthermore, ARISE is composed of groups focused on environmental justice and green development across the metro area and the mission of ARISE is to make its vision replicable in communities around the country.
Issue Selector
n/a
Partnership
Who was involved in co-creating or implementing your collaboration (other organizations, leaders, community members, etc.)?
The ARISE coalition was started through a partnership between Lynn Hinkle, a local United Auto Workers representative interested in green manufacturing, Russ Adams at the Alliance for Metro Stability, and students at Macalester College who later founded Grand Aspirations. The alliance grew to include the Sierra Club Northstar, ISAIAH, Transit for Livable Communities, and more.
To what extent does your collaboration involve partnerships that are outside or cross traditional organizational or sector boundaries?
The heart of ARISE is green manufacturing, which crosses traditional environmental, labor, and industrial lines. ARISE expands this vision to integrate affordable housing, transit-oriented development, faith-based social justice, carbon reduction, and youth empowerment groups. By advancing holistically designed communities, ARISE unites partners that had never before worked side by side.
Innovation
What makes your locally-based collaboration innovative and unique?
Frequently, redevelopment focuses on single goals, whether affordability, sustainable design, transit access, job creation, or economic development. ARISE broke through this zero-sum approach to design goals by starting with an ambitious and unifying vision – to de-carbonize, equalize, and re-industrialize our society. This approach forced all participants to see each aspect as integral to a holistic, community-based, sustainable redevelopment project. At the Ford Site, we integrate green manufacturing, affordable housing, public transportation, on site energy production, on site food production and open space emphasizing a re-localization of community. Through this approach, ARISE transforms the traditional “Not-In-My-Backyard” (NIMBY) of community reactions to top-down dirty industrial development into a bottom-up YIMBY approach that brings industry back in a way that serves and sustains local needs. ARISE has approached its mission concretely yet expansively. Its work is grounded in an actual place where we seek to create immediate and consequential impact. It also looks much broader to connect with and empower similar collaborations across the Metro Area and nationwide.
Did you take risks in establishing this collaboration? Explain
At first, success seemed unlikely; partners took a risk by signing on. ARISE challenged each partner to step outside their comfort zones; Lynn had to look beyond short-term job protection and students had to leave the campus bubble. Seeking unity meant tough choices – one open space group felt that industry was incompatible with their goals and left ARISE after many of their ideas were included.
How did this collaboration differ from the normal way of doing your work?
ARISE shifted the innovation space from developers and planning experts to local leaders, allowing new ideas to build legitimacy among local government and the community. By doing so ARISE is shifting the normal development pattern from “condos and coffee shops” that de-industrialize and suburbanize our communities towards a low-carbon strategy that brings jobs back and builds community.
Impact
How do you know your collaboration has been effective?
ARISE quickly developed an integrated vision for the site along with an effective way to communicate that vision. We used this vision to create a concrete layout and design for the site and have modeled expected outcomes based on our designs. This includes the tax base created, increases in employment opportunities, on-site energy consumption and possible on-site energy production. Throughout this process we have built collaborative relationships with the city planning department and other community organizations. We now have connections to other communities with similar development opportunities as well as an invitation to present our design to the City of St. Paul. These concrete results highlight our ongoing effectiveness and advance our goal of integrative community development.
What progress or impact has been made?
ARISE began with a set of principles and built a specific design that can be compared with other plans for the site. We have built relationships with the city’s planning task-force who are now supportive of our ideas. We have begun developing a guide on integrative community development and have secured interest from three other community groups.
Next Steps
How would you go about continuing, expanding, or replicating this collaboration?
As the coalition reconvenes, ARISE will advance the design plan we have created to implement it at the Ford site in coordination with developers, manufacturers, and the city. Second, ARISE will replicate this success by networking with other community organizations looking to bring integrated green industrial development to other sites in the Twin Cities. We are discussing how to develop similar projects with the East Side Neighborhood Development Corporation in St. Paul, the Harrison Neighborhood Association in North Minneapolis and University United in the Central Corridor. In addition to local implementation, we will broaden participation in ARISE through an interactive online presence and intentional outreach to relevant groups like New Urbanism Minnesota. Finally, we will expand ARISE’s impact nationwide. We will reach other community coalitions through national networks including the Summer of Solutions, a youth green economy innovation and leadership development program supported by Grand Aspirations in 11 cities nationwide. These local relationships will be integral in connecting with communities who wish to pursue ARISE-style green manufacturing redevelopment.
Describe the current stage of implementation and desired next steps
Currently we are reconvening the active members of ARISE through the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability. As the Ford Site will close in 2011, our immediate focus is redeveloping the Ford Site. First, we must finalize Ford Site research to demonstrate the win-win impacts of our scenario. This includes income generated by jobs created on-site, ground-source heating potential, and public transit options. This information will then be compiled into a presentation before the St. Paul planning committee that will allows us to advance this option and solidify the case for our site design.
In addition to working with the city, we will engage the local community to shape the design and implementation of the Ford Site. Some of this has been done as community meetings were held early in the planning process (2007 and 2008). Throughout this process there was widespread support for sustainable design, minimizing traffic, and local job creation, and we expect to find similar support again. Finally, we will elicit and pursue potential developers who may be interested partners and who can leverage the capital necessary to buy and redevelop the site in partnership with manufacturers. By integrating the community, the city and developers we can successfully implement our Ford Site design in a way that satisfies all parties, builds community and supports the environment.
While the Ford Site planning process is being completed, ARISE will work with already established connections with other local organizations in the East Side of St. Paul, the North Side of Minneapolis and University Avenue. Our approach within these communities will be similar to the steps taken for the Ford Site. Begin with community visioning, develop designs for site redevelopment, calculate expected outcomes and work with developers and cities to implement designs. Through this process, we will work to perfect our template, which generalizes how to go about doing these steps. Once this template is finalized, it will allow us to share our vision and expertise with other communities around the country online, through conferences of green manufacturing and job creation practitioners, and through networks like the Summer of Solutions.
| 133 weeks ago Timothy DenHerder-Thomas updated this Competition Entry. | |
| 133 weeks ago Timothy DenHerder-Thomas submitted this idea. |
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