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Current Projects
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Research and Projects Overview
Since its first meeting in November 2005, the Century Commission has been gathering knowledge to inform its thinking with facts about what Floridians want for their future; what threatens and what would help secure Florida’s future; and what sustainability really means. This body of work from commissioned experts forms a foundation for wise public policy-making and contributes new decision-support tools for envisioning, planning and developing a sustainable Florida.
There are links throughout this webpage to 19 different Century Commission research or project reports, which are organized under the following main topics:
1. Critical Lands & Waters Identification Project (CLIP), and the
Cooperative Conservation Blueprint initiative.
2. Citizen Visioning, Values, and Indicators for Growth Planning
3. Sustainability Science, including Energy and Climate Change
4. Sustainable Water Supply Planning
Information is now available on the
September 2008 Florida Water Vision Summit
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Projects and Publications
The Critical Lands & Waters Identification Project (CLIP)
CLIP is the Century Commission’s flagship project led by Thomas Hoctor, Ph.D., of the GeoPlan Center at the University of Florida and Jonathan Oetting of the Florida Natural Areas Inventory of Florida State University. CLIP uses science and the best available statewide spatial data to show Florida's critical environmental resources in a database that can be used as a decision-support tool for collaborative statewide and regional conservation and land use planning to envision and ensure the sustainability of Florida’s green infrastructure and vital ecosystem services. CLIP version 1 is now available in draft.
The initial consensus recommendations for Florida’s conservation priorities have been completed by the CLIP science team, which includes the large Technical Advisory Group whose members are named in the June 2008 CLIP report linked directly below.
- Report on the Completion of the CLIP Database Version 1.0
The science recommendations will be vetted with rural landowners, state agencies, Regional Planning Councils, and other stakeholders throughout 2008 via the Cooperative Conservation Blueprint (CCB) Initiative, led by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in partnership with the Century Commission and the CCB steering committee. The goal is to develop a strategic plan for land and water conservation in Florida, using a new and broader range of conservation incentives with a shared view of the priorities.
Click here to view or request a copy of the CLIP Database 1.0
Click here for the CLIP "viewing" ArcIMS
Both of the June 2008 CLIP products (the Report and Database) are marked “Draft” and will be finalized after the external review process.
The first phase of CLIP is described in the 2007 report linked below.
- CLIP Phase I Report
- PowerPoint Presentation: Critical Lands and Water Identification Project
The Cooperative Conservation Blueprint (CCB) initiative
The Century Commission and the CLIP team work in partnership with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on their CCB initiative, which uses the CLIP database. In addition to outreach, the CCB initiative is focused since April 2008 on developing bold new conservation incentives for private landowners through the efforts of three Creative Working Groups which are exploring opportunities related to water, energy or climate change, and land use planning.
Linked below is a two-page overview of the CCB initiative, including how it relates to CLIP and the Century Commission, and a two-page brief of the highlights from the first Creative Working Group meetings.
- CCB Creative Working Groups on Incentives
- The Cooperative Conservation Blueprint: Frequently Asked Questions
Conservation Incentives CLIP co-project-leader Dr. Hoctor and his colleagues prepared a summary report of existing conservation incentive programs, linked below, for use in the CCB initiative. The CCB is focusing on developing a set of innovative incentives for conservation on privately owned lands that will remain in private hands, as a complement to the CLIP database and as a supplement to the Florida Forever public land acquisition program.
- Conservation Incentives and Programs for Protecting Critical Lands and Waters
Citizen Visioning, Values, and Indicators for Growth Planning
Coordinated, Statewide Regional Visioning:
Coordinated, Statewide Regional Visioning: Overview of Project Parts I & II
Timothy Chapin, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chair of Urban and Regional Planning at Florida State University, has been investigating for the Century Commission how regional visioning can be better supported, coordinated and incorporated into the state’s growth management system.
Based on many months of thoughtful inquiry here and in other states, Dr. Chapin recognizes regional visioning as a planning tool that provides “a great opportunity for the state of Florida to reinvigorate its planning processes and comprehensive plans,” and that it can “more purposefully and effectively engage the future.” He has worked on this project in two phases, or parts:
Part I, resulted in a series of reports culminating in a suggested strategic plan for a Coordinated, Statewide Regional Visioning initiative in Florida. (See Part I reports # 1 – 3 further below.)
Part II, launched in May 2008, is in progress. Dr. Chapin’s June 13, 2008 draft report, linked immediately below, provides his recommendation with rationale as to how Florida should include regional visions into the state’s structure for managing growth. This draft is posted for review and feedback to Dr. Chapin.
- Incorporating Regional Visions into Florida’s System for Managing Growth
Part I Reports
Dr. Chapin’s first three project reports are linked below this summary. Report # 1 (October 2007) presents the project plan and includes a discussion of scenarios planning and visioning. Report # 2 (November 2007) includes a summary of significant visioning efforts in Florida and other states; lists conclusions drawn from that review; provides reasons why statewide coordinated regional visioning is potentially of great value; why Florida is well positioned for such an effort; and why Dr. Chapin concludes “the time is now” in Florida to do this. Report # 3 (December 2007) is a proposed strategic plan for a Coordinated, Statewide Regional Visioning Initiative in Florida.
- (Report #1): Reviewing State and Regional Efforts to Engage the Future
- (Report #2): Engaging the Future through a State-Sponsored Regional Visioning Initiative
- (Report #3): A Coordinated, Statewide Regional Visioning Initiative for Florida
- (PowerPoint Presentation): Engaging the Future through a State-Sponsored Regional Visioning Initiative
A Survey & Synthesis of Local and Regional Visioning in Florida
The Commission contracted with the Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. (JCCI) and the Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions (CUES) at Florida Atlantic University to collaborate on collecting and compiling the reports from all of the regional and more localized visioning efforts that have been conducted or were in progress throughout Florida as of the summer of 2007. The objective of this preliminary project was to determine whether there were common elements and aspirations among the various community visioning statements that would point toward a shared vision for the state. JCCI said yes, and offered as a straw man this synthesized citizens’ vision statement based on their initial assessment:
"We envision a better Florida, with sustainable prosperity, a sustainable environment, and a sustainable society, for today and for generations to come."
JCCI’s report, linked below, includes a sample of community vision statements, presents a series of available indicators to show how Florida is presently performing in three main areas of sustainability, and suggests other potential performance measures to consider. Summaries of and links to sustainability planning and visioning reports in four other states are also included. Report author Ben Warner is a founding member of the Florida Indicators Network, a group that is administratively supported by CUES.
- A Vision for a Sustainable Florida, by JCCI
- Regional Visioning in the State of Florida, by CUES
Tampa Bay Regional Values and Indicators (Pilot) Study
Harris Interactive, Inc. presents the findings from a 2007 field study conducted for the Century Commission in the St. Petersburg-Tampa Bay area, in partnership with the Tampa Bay Partnership, which elicited citizens’ core values and values-based indicators of progress toward the future Florida they want.
- Citizens' Values Pilot Study Report--May 2007
- PowerPoint Presentation of Value Study Findings
Assessment of Florida Citizens Attitudes and Values Re. Growth
Timothy Chapin, Ph.D., and Heather Khan, Ph.D., of the Florida State University Department of Urban and Regional Planning conducted an analysis for the Commission in 2006 of the existing studies, polls and surveys which addressed Floridian’s attitudes towards growth. Their findings in the report linked below include conclusions about what we do know and don’t know about citizens’ values—and should discover.
- FSU Survey On Citizen Attitudes
Sustainability Science, including Energy and Climate Change
The next four reports are by Stephen Mulkey, Ph.D., of the University of Florida, an expert in climate change and sustainable land use and the Science Advisor to the Century Commission from January 2007 through June 2007.
Climate Change and Land Use in Florida – Discusses the potential of the state’s participation in emerging carbon markets and explains why Florida is uniquely positioned to become a national leader in greenhouse gas mitigation through new opportunities using forestry, agriculture, and the state’s natural ecosystems.
- Climate Change and Land Use in Florida
Energy Wedges for Florida Reviews renewable sources of energy and discusses sustainable development and land use planning as strategies to reduce Florida’s vulnerability to climate change.
- Energy Wedges for Florida
Florida Dependence on Petroleum – Analyzes the state’s sources and uses of petroleum and emphasizes the need to reduce the transportation sector’s heavy demand for oil through better community design and land use planning. (Written with Mark van Soestbergen.)
- Florida Dependence on Petroleum
A Primer on Applied Sustainability —In 2006 Dr. Stephen Mulkey led a diverse team of 23 scholars from the University of Florida who discuss sustainability concepts as they apply to each of the 12 Essential State Interests the Century Commission identified in its first Annual Report (January 2007). This is a 100-page foundational report on the policy issues facing the state and some potential answers.
- Towards a Sustainable Florida
Climate Change, Sustainability & the New Technology Revolution: Forecasts for Climate Change Impacts on Florida and Emerging Sustainability Technologies, by the Institute for Alternative Futures – Provides an overview of the emerging advanced technologies that will be important for moving the state toward a sustainable future over the next 50 years. This Next Technology Revolution promises to be good for business and the economy, and also good for the quality of life and the environment in Florida.
- Climate Change, Sustainability and Technology
Florida’s Resilient Coasts: A State Policy Framework for Adaptation to Climate Change, by Nick Bollman, Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions at Florida Atlantic University – Proposes a preliminary framework, for the Century Commission’s consideration, to enable state government to assess the likely impacts of climate change and adopt the policies and programs needed to adapt to and manage those impacts.
- Florida's Resilient Coasts
Workshop on Building Sustainable Communities: This report by Anne Merrill is a summary of ideas and recommendations gleaned from an initial planning session on sustainable community design, held on July 2, 2007 at St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg, Florida. The meeting was attended by representatives from the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, the University of Florida, New College of Florida, St. Petersburg College, the Florida House Institute for Sustainable Development, and developers of sustainable and mixed use communities as both greenfield (vacant land) development and redevelopment. The intent of this workshop was to explore and identify major obstacles to sustainable community design; identify potential solutions, opportunities and incentives; and plan next steps, including more meetings with broader participation.
- Building Sustainable Communities - Developer Workshop Planning Report, August 2007
Sustainable Water Supply Planning
Water Resources Management for 2050 Plan, by Melissa Meeker of the Hesperides Group, LLC – Recommends a series of actions in the areas of water supply planning, integrated water resource management and land use development as the first steps in creating a long-range vision for water resources in Florida. This project led to the Century Commission’s Recommendation 1 in its Second Annual Report (January 2008): To jointly convene a statewide water summit to collect and discuss innovative ideas for a sustainable water supply.
- Water Resources Management for 2050 Plan
For more information, contact Mary Oakley, Director of Research for the Century Commission, at (850) 219-0082, extension 5, or e-mail OakleyML@Bellsouth.net |
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