As planners we are often aware of what the problem is, and what our data is telling us, yet that doesn't always get us anywhere. EDDIT helped open our minds to try and un-learn some of what we have been doing and try a different way of doing things, based in the belief that we have the capacity to make positive change today so that we can get to a better future tomorrow.
A memorable insight from our time with EDDIT was when they [the EDDIT team] visited our community. It gave me a chance to tag along and visit the community assets we have in our neighborhoods, listen to conversations with stakeholders, and learn the passion and zeal these stakeholders have for their community. That was an "aha" moment for us -- to build our community engagement and engage every single aspect of our community stakeholders as we make decisions.
The team brought a dynamic way of looking at existing resources from different perspectives, including figuring out how to apply an equity lens to the data that we have.
Being part of the EDDIT cohort, I have learned more about how I can visualize and tell a story with the data that we have, and how we can reframe it to answer objective questions. I would say I'm confident in continuing to leverage the resources that we were provided through EDDIT.
My key takeaway from this training was to shift from a problem-based perspective to a solution-based one.
You really learn so much more about your project than you thought you were going to. EDDIT really gives you those tools necessary to make those big asks in the future and get the community involved in the future. And I would just absolutely recommend it to everybody.
A win that has come from EDDIT training is I feel like I can better verbalize my ask towards our audience, our target audience in the real world. I feel like I'm more comfortable talking about our project publicly, just generally speaking, whether it's to our community directors or whether it's to the community members. EDDIT has given me these tools to really feel comfortable in the way that I deliver the message.
EDDIT has expanded our understanding of equitable development and how to tackle that in other projects moving forward.
EDDIT has changed my approach to everything that we do. After every single session I would sit there and not only think about how it applies to the Rail Trail, but also how it applies to our Downtown Forward efforts and our other grant programs. I was like, oh my gosh, we can use this for absolutely everything that we're doing!
I feel more confident using data to support our call to action. I feel like I have a better sense of purpose for our data and a clearer sense of how I want to use it in order to make our case.
If you are considering working with the EDDIT team, do it. Do it. You will not regret it. You will learn a lot more than you thought you would learn.