In order to meet the charge of leading a citizen-driven process, Penn Praxis held public forums in three centrally located neighborhoods in the project area. These forums were called Values sessions because they were intended to surface what residents values abuot their neighborhoods and the waterfront. The sessions were highly facilitated by a team of moderators led by Harris Sokoloff through the Penn Project on Civic Engagement. The values which emerged from each of the sessions are linked below.
On Dec. 11, an exercise in civic engagement began in earnest as more than 200 neighbors, businesspeople, developers, professionals, laborers, and public officials came together in cavernous St. Anne’s Social Hall in Kensington to kick off the first of a series of public forums and share what they value most for their neighborhoods and the Central Delaware River waterfront.
The facilitators for this open and transparent process, PennPraxis, of Penn's School of Design; Harris Sokoloff, an expert in civic engagement with the Penn Graduate School of Education; and the Philadelphia Planning Commission, see the public meetings as a way to capture and use the voice of the people to help lay the foundation for creating a lasting vision for that waterfront. full story
We also invite you to submit your own Value Statement.
The second of three public forums took place Wednesday, Dec. 13 at the George Washington Elementary School, 5th and Federal Sts., 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. full story and video1 and video2
The longshoremen's hopes and dreams for the waterfront ... full story
We also invite you to share your own Value Statement
Nearly 350 people take part in the third riverfront value session Dec. 14 at Independence Seaport Museum ... full story, video
How participants from Society Hill worked through their value systems ... full story
Old City residents come to a consensus ... full story
We also invite you to make your own Value Statement