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  1. Action Lab Blitz Monday, July 12, 2010

    On July 16 and 17, local organizations, initiatives, businesses, and individuals are partnering to present Action Lab Blitz, a collaborative community effort to reduce crime and increase public safety for our city in which there is a unique place for every kind of active citizen—from the most humble visionary to the most eager problem solver.

    Through a series of City Share luncheons and strategic meetings, local citizens, leaders, and advocates have identified key crime and safety issues in our area that need to be addressed in order to make significant change.  Planning groups have formed around shared goals and visualized what it would look like to work together to reach them, thereby demonstrating the key element for increasing public safety in Chattanooga: individual responsibility.

    But Action Lab is about more than already established ideas and plans.  Because everyone has ideas worth listening to, we want to give each Action Lab participant a voice. Anyone with an idea about how to make Chattanooga communities safer is invited to bring their idea to the Action Lab table, discuss it further, and get other people involved.

    It all starts with ideas, but concern can only be transformed into action when great ideas are paired with individual talents and skills.  After ideas are announced at the beginning of Action Lab and become chosen focus points, teams will be formed based on the skill-set needs of each project. These teams will then spend the rest of Action Lab building a plan together. Carpenters, lawyers, writers, gardeners, actors, librarians, social workers, designers, landlords, doctors—everyone has something to contribute.

    Action Lab teams will set out to spend the Blitz’s two, four-hour sessions in intensive, facilitated conversations developing their idea into a workable plan. Through the ongoing City Share series, Action Lab teams will continue to report progress of their efforts to a broad audience and promote opportunities for citizens to take individual responsibility through action. 

    So be thinking: What is your idea—big or small—for making this community a safer place to live, work, and play?  What resources, skills, and time do you have that could assist in planning, incubating, and implementing the ideas brought to the Action Lab table?

    Individual responsibility is the core idea behind Action Lab Blitz—and we need your help to see it through.

    Please join us from 1-5 pm on July 16 and 10 am - 2 pm on July 17th at Tennessee Temple’s Lee Roberson Center (at the intersection of Orchard Knob Ave & Kirby Ave). For more information about how to get involved, email participate [at] createhere [dot] org or check out the Action Lab Blitz Facebook page.

    Posted by Phillip in Safety