Civic Stewardship, Part I - ATX Equation & Method Is Job One
24 Pages Posted: 25 Sep 2009 Last revised: 11 Aug 2010
Date Written: October 22, 2009
Abstract
Few are the cities lacking in civic pride-making it curious that so few have taken steps to promulgate awareness of the essence or character of that spirit, far less to examine it with the object of delivering upon its fullest potential. Still rarer is the community foresight able to appreciate that such a project must presuppose the principles of stewardship.
In Austin, Texas, a pair of innovators sought to embrace their common experience with community outreach, expressing the result as an equation adding up to ‘scene’-by which the latter idea would reflect much more than its usual connotation. What was wanting was a way to frame that meaning whereby the citizenry might embrace it with tangible and lasting results.
Through an intermediary, one of them met up with the present author at a conference, whereat the connection with stewardship was raised, subsequently addressed and ultimately consecrated. My task was to interpret the spirit of ‘scene’ in terms amenable to a sustainable stewardship of the city’s considerable human and material resources.
Keywords: Stewardship, civic pride, ATX Austin
JEL Classification: A14, D64, D71, D92, L20, L32, O20, Z10
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation