Who We Are

As representatives of many different sectors of the broader Barrington, Deer Park, and Lake Zurich area, we have come together because of a common interest—connecting children with nature. While this shared interest plays itself out differently in each of our organizations’ missions, we share the urgency and importance of bringing the Leave No Child Inside theme to our communities.

The Consortium’s Goal

Our goal is to be able to say by mid-2010 that connecting children with nature is a core value of the communities within the geographic areas of School Districts 95 and 220. Our success depends on the participation of a diverse coalition of people with the power to implement their own recommendations. That is why we have come together as representatives of our communities’ families, children and public, private, non-profit, business, health care, education, and faith-based sectors. We are financially supported by a generous grant from the Barrington Area Community Foundation.

Our Initiative’s Process

We have come together as a consortium to educate area communities about the merits of connecting children with nature and engaging their support in making that connection a core community value. Our initiative’s three-phase process is based on the community action plan created by the Children & Nature Network. Much of the following text is verbatim from that plan.

Phase I: Engage the Community (July, 2008 through Early March, 2009)

This phase engages community interest in a joint strategic planning process. Two committees will be created and have goals to complete.Coordinating CommitteeThis committee is a core group of individuals who are able to commit a significant amount of time to the success of our initiative. During Phase I, it will map the community. Via the interviewing process, the committee will identify interested organizations within each community sector, interview leaders of those organizations regarding interest and potential partnership, and bring together key leaders to form a steering committee. Throughout all three phases, this committee will:

• Coordinate/Manage the initiative’s process
• Create an Internet-based communications vehicle to update the community on the initiative’s progress and to highlight the national, regional, and local dialogue on connecting children with nature
• Acquire resources (people, financial, thought leadership)
• Carry out the quantitative measurement of the initiative’s success

Steering CommitteeThis committee will be a group of diverse and credible community leaders who support our initiative’s goal. The activities it will perform during Phase I are:

• Review the scope of the initiative and its process, organization, and timetable
• Assist in finalizing the list of stakeholder group members
• Provide direction/guidance to the coordinating committee to ensure our initiative’s success

Phase II: Develop Strategy and Actions for Achieving the Goal (March–September, 2009)

This phase engages the interests of the community in creating a common vision for the initiative and a detailed action plan for accomplishing specified goals. To accomplish this, a stakeholder group will be created.Stakeholder GroupThis group will be made up of diverse community members who share our initiative’s goal and who are positioned to implement recommendations. At the beginning of this phase (mid-March, 2009), this group will attend a stakeholder kick-off event to:

• Learn details about our initiative’s goal and process, as well as the Leave No Child Inside premise (concepts/research)
• Review the catalogue of existing local community programs that help connect children with nature
• Vision what achievement of the goal will look like
• Identify gaps between the above vision and existing programming
• Establish priorities for addressing those gaps and create task groups to address the prioritized gaps
• Name the initiative

During the April through mid-May, 2009 time period, the stakeholder task groups will meet to develop a recommended action plan for their respective gap. Each action plan will:

• Assess the current situation regarding the gap
• Identify achievable short- and medium-term goals for addressing the gap
• Identify action steps and an associated timetable for achieving those goals
• Involve the broader community in the above

In late May, 2009, each task group will present to the consortium (steering committee, stakeholder group, and coordinating committee) their recommended action plan. At that meeting any needed consolidation and prioritization of the task group action plans will be discussed.During the June through August, 2009 time period, the coordinating committee will take the results of the May, 2009 meeting and develop a draft comprehensive action plan and timetable. This drafting will be done in consultation with the steering committee and stakeholder group, thus achieving consensus within the consortium.In September, 2009, the consortium will reconvene to formally adopt the comprehensive action plan and timetable. They will discuss any risks to its successful achievement and develop plans to address those risks.

Phase Three—Implement and Measure (September, 2009 and Beyond)

During this phase the consortium will implement their respective parts of the comprehensive action plan.In addition, the coordinating committee will:

• Organize bimonthly stakeholder committee update meetings
• Annually survey the community to measure the success of the initiative
• Provide for consortium success celebrations