Action Team Identifies 3 Action Priorities for 2023
As a participant in this work so far, you know that the Vermont Proposition is a proactive effort to drive common action for a successful and resilient future for the state of Vermont. The Proposition document lays out shared opportunities and areas for action expressed by thousands of Vermonters where transformative, positive change is possible by mid-century – if we take action now. Last year, the Future of Vermont Action Team, a diverse group of leaders from across the state, formed to translate these ideas and opportunities into action.
After reviewing Proposition input and meeting with leaders and experts, the Action Team has identified 3 action priorities for the year ahead.
These priorities include:
A Vermont Youth Opportunity Initiative to bring together youth, community, and expert voices from across the state to identify strategies to advance youth opportunity, engagement, and aspiration
A Proposition Scorecard to track progress, success, and areas of focus for each Proposition element
Convening experts, farmers, and foresters to explore models to compensate for land practices that help to reduce carbon emissions and protect soil quality over time.
Youth Opportunity Initiative
The strength of our democracy, the vitality of our economy, and the emotional and physical wellbeing of our population start with our youth and a shared belief in a positive future. In order to build strong communities and realize our vision for a thriving economy, we must adequately prepare our youth with the resources they need to establish and realize educational, career, and life goals and expectations; effectively engage in the economy of today and of the future; and seize opportunities here in Vermont and beyond.
The Youth Opportunity Initiative will be a major statewide conversation to engage voices across the state in identifying strategies to attract young families, create ways for youth to engage in their communities, and build opportunity and aspiration for Vermont youth. This initiative will bridge connections between key Proposition elements including civic engagement, education, economic opportunity, and equity. Together, we can build strategies to reframe the story that we tell our youth and help to foster connections to community, higher education, and career opportunities.
Purpose:
Through the Vermont Youth Opportunity Initiative, the Future of Vermont Action Team will embark on a deep engagement and policy process, coordinated and facilitated by VCRD. The process will draw on input from youth, community and municipal leaders, educational leaders, business leaders, policy experts, and more to build a set of policy and programming recommendations to achieve a future where our youth are more deeply connected to their communities and where they can thrive.
Structure and Outcomes:
Over the course of 2023, the Youth Opportunity Initiative will bring together a diverse “Youth Opportunity Advisory Group” to develop a public engagement process, review findings, and make action recommendations to best support and advance youth engagement, opportunity, and aspiration that we will need to sustain a vibrant democracy and thrive in the economy of today and the future. Members will include representatives of the Action Team, students and youth, parents, education practitioners and policy experts, youth organization leaders, education equity experts and advocates, municipal/community leaders, and business leaders. To learn how students can apply to participate in the Youth Opportunity Advisory Group click here.
Invite Vermonters across the state together for a series of regional and youth forums, as well as stakeholder interviews to gather input and ideas to strengthen, support, and advance opportunities for Vermont youth that best equips them with the skills and resources needed to meaningfully engage in their communities and the economy. Convenings will occur between March – September 2023. Convenings will include:
Gather together input and findings into a summary report. Engage the Advisory Group in reviewing findings from public engagement and developing a set of concrete policy or program recommendations to deliver back to the Future of Vermont Action Team for next steps and implementation.
Sign up here for updates and to hear from us when we come to your region. If you have thoughts or feedback regarding this work email info@vtrural.org.
The Proposition Scorecard
The “Proposition Scorecard” will serve as an annual report that tracks quantifiable progress across the ten elements of the Proposition over time, using a framework of data metrics within each Proposition element and prioritizing the lenses of economic opportunity, racial equity, disability, and civic engagement.
Over time, changes in the metrics the Action Team identifies will help identify areas of progress to celebrate as well as areas that need more attention. VCRD has partnered with the VT Futures Project to help collect data related to metrics identified by the Action Team. Each Proposition element covers a broad area with many possible metrics – so the metrics selected by the Action Team reflect the language of the Vermont Proposition. The Scorecard presents the data, but does not provide any interpretation of that data. Year upon year comparisons will help identify trends and future potential areas of celebration or increased focus. These metrics are drawn from public sources like the U.S. Census or by recommendation from expert data stewards in the various fields of the Proposition. For every element, there is also a “call to action” to help focus attention for the next year on additional data or activity that would help build toward a better future.
Working and Natural Lands
In reviewing areas that would yield a significant impact across several elements of the Proposition, the Action Team identified potential action around working and natural lands where issues related to climate change, working lands, racial equity, and economic opportunity intersect. In particular, the Action Team is exploring ways to provide compensation, incentives, or other benefits in exchange for land management strategies that provide ecological or environmental services or create benefits for a community – but how they are designed and structured is critical.
After seeking the opinions of many experts focused on agriculture, forestry, and other natural and working lands across both the public and private sectors, the Action Team is considering options in this arena including further convening to develop collective principles for future action, public education to raise awareness and understanding of this arena, and/or looking at creative models for fair and equitable compensation and recognition of land use best practices.
Each of these potential initiatives would require new partners in leadership roles, and each is a forward-looking effort to shape what could become a powerful community and economic development tool as well as an incentive for sustainable land stewardship. However, designing these programs to be effective and fair to the actual land stewards and the communities they impact is challenging and will take time and dedication to get it right.
The input from thousands of Vermonters resulted in a shared vision of a positive future. It takes work, and time, to build toward that future. Each of these initiatives helps in its own way to advance multiple components of the Vermont Proposition. We look forward to sharing updates and reaching out for your help and engagement as this work moves forward!