Since 2003, the UrbanPlan program has been involved with local public institutions, educating citizens on the benefits of knowledge in the sphere of real estate development. UrbanPlan creates engaged citizens who empathize with real estate developers in their cities, and now UrbanPlan wants to directly engage the public officials who work across the table from real estate developers.  We will be holding our first local UrbanPlan for Public Officials VIRTUAL workshop in December, and we are taking applications for volunteers to serve as Team Advisors, Team Facilitators, and mock City Councilors/judges. 

Volunteers are assigned various roles during the UrbanPlan workshop including:

• Team Advisors: help with the proforma financial model, act as guide throughout facilitation
• Team Facilitators: Through Socratic interaction, Facilitators challenge the teams to think more critically about the UrbanPlan issues and the specific responsibilities of their assigned “roles” (Marketing Director, Site Planner, City Liaison, Neighborhood Liaison, etc.).  After each facilitation, the teams have the opportunity to revise their proposals.
• City Councilors: Participants present their final proposals to a mock City Council at the end of the day. By challenging their work as if in an actual City Council meeting, the volunteers assess whether the proposals are responsive to the RFP, grounded in the facts of the UrbanPlan case, and consistent with reality. The City Council then awards the contract to the winning team.

As a volunteer for ULI Oklahoma’s UrbanPlan for Public Officials workshop, you will benefit in a myriad of ways:

• Build relationships outside of the work environment with public officials in your region
• Develop a common language around real estate development among public officials
• Reveal the difficulties of your work to public officials
• Encourage the reception of real estate development as a public benefit

If you are interested in applying to become a trained UrbanPlan volunteer, please email [email protected]

REQUIREMENTS:

• Active ULI member
• Minimum of 4 years of work experience in land use, real estate development, or a related profession
• Flexible schedule that allows participation on the following dates:
• Wednesday, November 18^th (8:00am-11:30am) – Virtual Volunteer Training PART ONE (3.5-hour commitment)
• Thursday, November 19^th (8:00am-11:30am) – Virtual Volunteer Training PART TWO (3.5-hour commitment)
• Friday, December 11^th (8:00am-3:00pm) - UrbanPlan for Public Officials Virtual Workshop (7-hour commitment)
• Special Note: Not all who train will work the workshop – we will train more than necessary so you’re prepped for the next round of workshops.  There will be the opportunity to observe if you’re not assigned a role this round.

Contact [email protected] for more information or reach out to one of our UrbanPlan Committee Chairs:

• AJ Kirkpatrick – [email protected]
• Mark Zitzow – [email protected]