by Patrick Teese, CDR Program Associate

In the summer of 2022, an interagency team of land use specialists—in partnership with local governments and advocacy groups—developed an important resource in Colorado’s fight to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and enable smarter land use policies.

This resource, a report entitled Land Use in Colorado: A Research Report on Challenges, Outcomes, Benefits and Policy Tools, is the culmination of months of discussion and learning among various stakeholders and experts. CDR’s Jonathan Bartsch and Patrick Teese are proud to have facilitated the creation of the report, which is now available to planners, policymakers, and community leaders throughout Colorado and across the country.

At the direction of the state legislature’s House Bill 19-1261, the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) released the Colorado GHG Pollution Reduction Roadmap in January 2021 to outline strategies for meeting statewide emissions goals. Chief among these strategies was a mandate to engage stakeholders to “explore options for how best to incentivize smart land use decisions.”

In response, five major Colorado state agencies assembled a collaborative team to develop a report to the Colorado State Legislature that (1) would identify and share best practices in local land use planning and (2) highlight opportunities for the State to support communities in adopting those best practices.

The agencies convened a public stakeholder group known as the Colorado Land Use Stakeholder Group to meet from the summer of 2021 to the spring of 2022. Stakeholders represented five state agencies (CDOT, DOLA, CEO, CDPHE, DNR), 4 statewide local governance advocacy groups (CCI, CML, CCAT, SDA), 20 local municipalities, 7 county governments, and the Denver metro areas’s regional transit agency (RTD).

Jonathan and Patrick led the engagement of this stakeholder group by planning and facilitating discussions, introducing expertise from land use professionals, and building consensus around a series of promising land use and community development practices. Working closely with the representatives of the state agencies and local governance advocacy groups, the CDR duo facilitated agreement on a series of strategy recommendations that highlighted opportunities for grant funding, technical assistance, and outreach to local communities.

Stakeholders considered the effects of land use and development patterns on transportation-related GHG emissions as well as a myriad of related concerns, and each participant was encouraged to bring their community’s unique circumstances and priorities to the table so that the group could more deeply explore nuances across planning and policy approaches. The final Land Use Research Report highlights the complexity of these relationships, exploring concerns related to infrastructure construction and maintenance, housing supply and affordability, transportation affordability, public health, climate change, and wildfire risk.

Continued exploration of these ideas is timely and of increasing interest to many. Communities, organizations, and agencies throughout the country are wrestling with challenges related to conflicts in land use and transportation planning strategies, and the research report highlights efforts championed in other states—such as California, Nevada, and Nebraska—from which Colorado can learn. This series of stakeholder group meetings represented an important step in aligning local and statewide players’ understanding of these issues and a move towards meaningful, collaborative progress.

Find the culminating research report here, at the bottom of this Colorado Department of Local Affairs’ (DOLA) webpage. We encourage you to share your thoughts with Patrick (pteese@mediate.org).

NOW HIRING A PROGRAM ASSOCIATE

ABOUT CDR ASSOCIATES:

We are a collaboration and communications consulting firm in Boulder, Colorado. We’re facilitators. We help governments and communities make decisions on large, complex public projects. We provide facilitation, stakeholder engagement, communications, and dispute resolution services on transportation/mobility, public lands management, and water projects. Our role, as facilitators, is to represent all interests or all stakeholders and advocate for a collaborative process, rather than a specific outcome.

Our projects range from short term, which may be single day retreats we facilitate, to multi-year design or infrastructure projects. Our partners are often architecture and engineering design firms. Our clients are often local jurisdictions, Colorado state departments, and federal agencies.

We’re looking for an entry-level Program Associate to join our team. Our team of 7 full-time staff is a great match for professionals seeking values-based work, opportunities for growth, and a workplace culture that values individual perspectives and self-empowerment. There’s flexibility in where you work – sometimes you work from home, sometimes in the office in Boulder, sometimes in client’s offices, and other times wherever you like to hang your hat.

ABOUT THE POSITION:

As a Program Associate, you will support a range of stakeholder engagement, communications, problem solving, and conflict resolution projects. You will work on projects in the transportation, water, and public lands management fields in Colorado as well as in the regional West. Reliable personal transportation is required; as consultants we’re frequently traveling to meet clients and partners.

Roles and Responsibilities include:

• Administrative and Organizational Support
  • Manage organization email and phone accounts
  • Schedule and run organizational functions/internal meetings
  • Lead ad hoc special projects internally to support strategic growth
• Marketing and Communications
  • Support marketing efforts (e.g. develop presentations and outreach materials)
  • Coordinate proposals and graphic design
• Project Support
  • Manage meeting logistics and technology
  • Write, edit, and/or proofread project reports and meeting summaries
  • Develop meeting materials
  • Co-facilitate meetings and small group break-outs
  • Coordinate with clients

ABOUT YOU:

You have a master’s degree and one year of experience, or a bachelor’s degree and at least three years of experience, along with an interest in multi-modal transportation, community and regional planning, natural resource management, and/or environmental public policy issues. Fluency in Spanish is highly desirable but not required. We are looking for someone who is comfortable managing projects virtually. Adobe Creative Suite experience, particularly with InDesign and Illustrator, is strongly preferred. You are:

• RESULTS-ORIENTED: You are able to prioritize and multi-task to achieve great results. You value quality work, are able to manage short turnarounds, and can stay on time and on budget.
• ORGANIZED AND DETAILED: You manage your projects and information in an organized way to ensure nothing slips through the cracks, and you pay close attention to detail.
• CREATIVE AND FLEXIBLE: You can clearly and graphically communicate complex information in a creative way and are able to adapt to changing conditions easily.
• COMFORTABLE WORKING IN A STRUCTURED AS WELL AS AN UNPREDICTABLE ENVIRONMENT: You produce quality work independently and as a team. You take initiative and contribute to team dynamics by offering new ideas and creative solutions to unexpected or surprising challenges.
• SELF-STARTER: You have an entrepreneurial mindset and are interested in future growth opportunities.

COMPENSATION

CDR offers a benefits package to employees including health insurance and paid vacation. Compensation will be determined based on the experience of the selected candidate but is expected to fall into the $50,000 – $60,000 a year range, plus bonuses, with opportunities to advance.

WHAT’S NEXT

Send us (1) a one-page resume, (2) a tweet that describes what energizes you, and (3) a graphic you develop describing something important to you, by February 13, 2023. Please do not send any cover letters.

We’ll be reviewing and engaging with applicants on a rolling basis. Correspondence can be sent to careers@mediate.org. Please write “CDR 2023 Program Associate Application_[First Name] [Last Name] in the subject line of the email.

Research suggests that women and BIPOC individuals may self-select out of opportunities if they don’t meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage anyone who believes they have the skills and the drive necessary to succeed here to apply for this role.

NOW HIRING A PROGRAM ASSOCIATE

ABOUT CDR ASSOCIATES:

We are a collaboration and communications consulting firm in Boulder, Colorado. We’re facilitators. We help governments and communities make decisions on large, complex public projects. 

We’re looking for an entry-level Program Associate to join our team. Our team is the perfect match for professionals seeking values-based work, opportunities for growth, and a workplace culture that values individual perspectives and self-empowerment. There’s flexibility in where you work – sometimes you work from home, sometimes in the office in Boulder, sometimes in client’s offices, and other times wherever you like to hang your hat.

ABOUT THE POSITION:

You will support a range of stakeholder engagement, communications, problem solving, and conflict resolution projects. You will work on projects in the transportation, water, and public lands management fields in Colorado as well as in the regional West.

Roles and Responsibilities include:

• Administrative and Organizational Support
  • Manage organization email and phone accounts
  • Organize organizational functions/internal meetings
• Marketing and Communications
  • Marketing Support
  • Proposal coordination and graphic design
• Project Support
  • Manage meeting logistics and technology
  • Write, edit and/or proofread project reports and meeting summaries
  • Develop meeting materials
  • Co-facilitation of meetings
  • Coordination with clients

ABOUT YOU: 

You have a master’s degree and one year of experience or a bachelor’s degree and three years of experience along with an interest in multi-modal transportation, community and regional planning, natural resource management, and/or environmental public policy issues. Fluency in Spanish is highly desirable but not required. We are looking for someone who is comfortable managing projects virtually. Adobe Creative Suite experience is strongly preferred.

You are:

RESULTS ORIENTED: You are able to prioritize and multi-task to achieve great results. You value quality work, are able to manage short turnarounds, and can stay on time and on budget.

ORGANIZED AND DETAILED: You manage your projects and information in an organized way to ensure nothing slips through the cracks, and you pay close attention to detail.

CREATIVE AND FLEXIBLE: You can clearly and graphically communicate complex information in a creative way and are able to adapt to changing conditions easily.

COMFORTABLE WORKING IN A STRUCTURED AS WELL AS AN UNPREDICTABLE ENVIRONMENT: You produce quality work independently and as a team. You take initiative and contribute to team dynamics by offering new ideas and creative solutions to unexpected or surprising challenges.

SELF-STARTER: You have an entrepreneurial mindset and are interested in future growth opportunities.

CDR offers a benefits package to employees including health insurance and paid vacation. Compensation will be determined based on the experience of the selected candidate but is expected to fall into the low to mid $50k a year range.

WHAT’S NEXT:

Send us a the following by April 9, 2022:

1. Resume
2. A Tweet that describes what energizes you, and
3. Either a narrative text (less than a page) or graphic flier describing something important to you

We’ll be reviewing and engaging with applicants on a rolling basis – so get cracking! Correspondence can be sent to careers@mediate.org. 

Please write “CDR Program Associate Application_[First Name] [Last Name]” in the subject line of the email. 

If one thing’s for certain, it’s this: that relationship-building is really difficult in a virtual world. The importance of intentional, relationship-oriented agendas has risen in importance as teams, projects, and communities collaborate together online. And the effort of brainstorming new, fun questions has correspondingly increased in difficulty!

The following list is the CDR Team’s go-to icebreaker questions. We hope it helps you out in a pinch!

Assembled by Emily Zmak

You may already be familiar with our human staff, but we also want to introduce you to the ones who constantly kept us smiling, covered in fur, and apologizing for the barking sounds in the background of our virtual meetings. As the COVID-19 pandemic forced us out of the office, it was our dogs who helped us navigate the fear, uncertainty, and loneliness of a new virtual world. Our office space in Boulder has long been dog-friendly, but over the past year and a half, these colleagues have really stepped up to get our team where it is today.

ATHENA

• Nickname: There are too many to count, it’s so confusing. They call me Goober, Goob, Teeny, Athy, OG, Teeny Beanie Baby, Boo… there’s more, should I continue?
• Age: I feel and look younger than I am, but Mom says I’m 6. Is that old?
• Breed: Goober. But they think Black Lab and Great Dane.
• Three adjectives that describe you: Goofy, happy, and lanky!
• Your favorite toy: I love this yellow duck Dad got me for Christmas two years ago. Mom’s had to sew it back together a couple times because I love it so much.
• Your guilty pleasure: Licking lotion off people’s legs.
• Describe your perfect day: Mom’s home. Dad’s home. It’s cold outside and I can dive into the snow. Then cuddle under the blankets in the big bed.
• What’s your proudest accomplishment? Making it to Colorado from Georgia on a very long road trip while I had a broken leg. I love Colorado!
• Which famous actor would voice you in a movie about your life? Ellen DeGeneres.
• City, mountains, or beach? A beach in the mountains with some shade and some sun, maybe some water. I loved Tahoe!

Psssssst—Are you guys interviewing my sister Monarch too? I can’t get her to play with me, so I’m just wondering if you could ask her what she likes and let me know so I can become friends with her. She’s a little smaller. I’m not sure she’s a dog; I think she might be a “kat”—am I saying that right? Whatever she is, she seems pretty fun.

ECHO

• Nickname(s): None. I like “Echo” just as it is.
• Age: 5 years young!
• Breed: Golden Retriever/Border Collie.
• Three adjectives that describe you: Fun-loving, loyal, and kind.
• Your favorite toy: Seal Seal, my fluffy Alaskan seal.
• Your guilty pleasure: Sneaking off to meet my girlfriend, Dahliala.
• Describe your perfect day: Breakfast, running, treats, long nap, romp with some friends in the water, dinner, and then snuggle time with Seal Seal by a campfire.
• What’s your proudest accomplishment? My ability to make anyone like me.
• Which famous actor would voice you in a movie about your life? Michael J. Fox! He played Chance in Homeward Bound, so I think he could handle the challenge.
• Office, home office, or coffee shop? Office—preferably the CDR office—where there are good treats, lots of loving humans, and my canine co-workers!

COLFAX

• Nickname(s): Cole-flax, Quaqui, E. Colfax Avenue (full name when he misbehaves), Mensch of the Year, Captain Colfax, The Prancin’ Prince.
• Age: I’m 6-ish!
• Breed: Half-dog, half-cowboy, all-lover.
• Three adjectives that describe you: Tolerant, anxious, and professional.
• Your favorite toy: Anything the neighbor buys for their dog!
• Your guilty pleasure: KUWTK
• (Editor’s Note: This is an initialism for E! Channel’s hit series, Keeping Up With the Kardashians.)
• Describe your perfect day: Early morning run, mid-morning walk, human time, afternoon at the lake, watching 101 Dalmatians with the humans, sleepin’ on the bed… yup, that covers it.
• What’s your proudest accomplishment? Sometimes when my humans forget me outside, I just sit at the front door until someone notices me.
• Which famous actor would voice you in a movie about your life? Sir Ian McKellen, of course.
• Fetch, tug of war, or naps? Fetch! Fetch! Fetch!

OAK

• Nickname: Oakie Pokie, Oakie Girl, OP.
• Age: 7, but I’m not totally sure. I lived a whole life before I met Mom and Dad.
• Breed: Chocolate Lab, what else?
• Three adjectives that describe you: Loving (to people, not to puppies), resilient, and strong.
• Your favorite toy: The sunshine in my backyard.
• Your guilty pleasure: Eating my sister’s food when she’s not looking, or maybe stealing my dad’s pizza—ahh, yum… have you ever had pizza?—oh, or begging to be pet. Actually, I LOVE begging for pets.
• Describe your perfect day: Dad’s home. Mom’s home. Athena’s calm. We’re all lying in the sun on the grass in the yard, rolling around. Then we go swimming in the river. 
• What’s your proudest accomplishment? Swimming in Lake Tahoe.  I think it’s so cool my new mom and dad take me with them on vacation and I get to enjoy the woods. We’re not so sure about my life before my current family, but I think it was pretty rough. I love my family.
• Which famous actor would voice you in a movie about your life? They don’t let me watch movies, so I’m not sure. Maybe Meghan Fox, she’s pretty beautiful. I’m beautiful too, don’t you think?
• Hiking, swimming, or barking? Swimming’s first, then hiking. I HATE barking. Yuck.

YUKON

• Nickname(s): The Muppet
• Age: 5, or 35 in dog years—my Gotcha Day is October 31.
• Breed: Terrier Muppet Mix!
• Three adjectives that describe you: Fierce, faithful, and fluffy.
• Your favorite toy: Definitely my decapitated sloth stuffy.
• Your guilty pleasure: Raw goat milk soaked on my kibble. You have to try it.
• Describe your perfect day: I wake up at the crack of 10am; a dish of salmon skin miraculously appears on my bed. After a cuddle and scratch, I go for a 4-minute walk in 65-degree weather. Then I Lounge on the porch in the sun and finally catch that pesky squirrel. In 3-4 hours, after I’ve finished an afternoon nap, I go for another stroll around the neighborhood and scrounge for discarded chicken wings. After a brief cuddle on the couch, I assume my position below “the food-throwing machine”—you might call it a human toddler—and catch mounds of delicious human food as it floats to the floor and into my fur.  I then eat some of my own dinner and go out for a late night bathroom break before heading upstairs and into my king size bed for the night.
• What’s your proudest accomplishment? I am a huntress. In particular, wasps, flies, and other dangerous insects. I rarely notice a bunny or squirrel, but I can laser in on an ant from a 1/2 mile away. This takes an incredible amount of patience, some quick-twitch muscle movements, and a great willingness to grab insects between your teeth.  Not many are up for this challenge.
• Which famous actor would voice you in a movie about your life? Oh wow. I’d have to say Audrey Tautou playing Amélie Poulain.
• Bed, couch, or floor? BED, king size only.

MONARCH

(Editor’s Note: Monarch did not immediately respond to interview requests from CDR, and a representative has, on her behalf, declined to comment on her relationship with Athena. According to reliable sources, Monarch continues to ignore Athena and has since been spotted walking across her human’s laptop keyboard during virtual meetings.)

Written by Patrick Teese