Description

The Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy will host a workshop on "Public Participation in the Buffalo-Niagara Region" organized by the Environmental Stewardship Working Group on Monday, June 21, 2004. The workshop is open to all faculty and graduate students.

The purpose of this workshop is to gather together community leaders and public participation practitioners engaged in various regional participatory processes. The Buffalo-Niagara region has a long history of citizen participation and activism focused on environmental issues. Due to its industrial past, there are issues of toxic wastes affecting human health as well as environmental quality. A local concentration of landfills for toxic and radioactive materials also raises issues of human health, especially for people and schools located directly adjacent to these sites. The rivers of the region support a large hydro-power plant and it is currently engaged in securing a new operating license using a community participation process. Of course, there are also issues of environmental protection - habitats, waterways, greenways - with citizen involvement. There are issues of environmental management - dredging of the Buffalo River, regulating the flow of water in the Great Lakes, establishing a Peace Park on the Niagara River - that bring local citizens together for discussion. In all, our region has a tremendous diversity of types of local participation and types of agencies, local groups, national groups, and businesses involved. This makes it an excellent place to study the current practice of public participation and to develop strategies for improvement.

This workshop is intended to bring together citizen activists and some practitioners to discuss what they are doing, who they are working with, what some of the challenges are that they face, and what outcomes they would like to have result from their work in the public arena. Workshop participants have been asked to consider four questions which we will discuss in facilitated roundtables.

1. What is the status of your issues? Which government agencies are involved?
2. How do you understand the roles and responsibilities of these agencies?
3. Why do you believe that public input matters? What precisely caught the attention of individuals and local groups to the point that they decided to make the commitment to become involved?
4. How would you like your participation to affect the outcomes of your issues? What do you hope to gain as a result of your work?

The results of this workshop will provide the basis for a working paper on local experiences in public participation. This working paper will be used for a second workshop with local agencies and practitioners who are responsible for designing and organizing these local participatory processes. From these workshops, the organizers plan to develop a short report on the results that will be useful to citizens, practitioners and agencies.In addition, we expect to utilize what we learn in these workshops in our scholarly research and writing.

Roundtable Participants

Citizens and Practitioners

Rick Ammerman Hickory Woods
Judith Anderson Toxic Waste Lupus Coalition, East side of Buffalo
Peggy Bogucki Seneca Babcock Community Assn/Block Club
Donna Hosmer Cheektowaga Citizens Coalition, Bellevue
Jackie James Toxic Tonawanda (invited)
Russell and Diane Radder Hickory Woods
Ann Roberts Residents for Responsible Government, Lewiston Porter Schools
Mike Schade Citizens Environmental Coalition
Tom Sullivan New York Power Authority (invited)

University at Buffalo Faculty
Organizers

Joe Gardella UB Chemistry and CAS
Margaret Shannon UB Law
Barry Boyer UB Law
James Gardner UB Law
Errol Meidinger UB Law

Observers

Bruce Coleman Chair, Buffalo EMC
Richard Lippes lawyer for Hickory Woods, Lewiston, etc.
Jay Burney local environmental activist (invited)
Margaret Murphy lawyer for Seneca Babcock Community Assn/Block Club

Schedule

Monday, June 21, 2004 • 10 am to 3 pm • 545 O'Brian Hall

9:30 Morning refreshments

10:00 Roundtable 1 What is the status of your issues? Which government agencies are involved?
11:00 Roundtable 2 How do you understand the roles and responsibilities of these agencies?

Noon Lunch

12:30 Roundtable 3 Why do you believe that public input matters? What precisely caught the attention of individuals and local groups to the point that they decided to make the commitment to become involved?
1:30 Roundtable 4 How would you like your participation to affect the outcomes of your issues? What do you hope to gain as a result of your work?

2:30 Summary and Next Steps
3:00 Departures

 

Registration

To attend this workshop, please send an e-mail to Ellen Kausner, Baldy Center Events Coordinator, at ekausner@buffalo.edu or call the Baldy Center at 716.645.2102. There is no registration fee but we do require advance registration.  Registration includes a copy of any workshop materials and lunch.

Travel & Parking

By Car from Toronto
Drive south out of Toronto onto the Queen Elizabeth Way following signs to Fort Erie. Just after St. Catherines, exit the QEW onto Rte 405 to the Queenston/Lewiston bridge. After crossing into the U.S., take the interstate route I-190 south towards Buffalo. After passing through Niagara Falls you will cross over a toll bridge onto Grand Island and a second bridge off Grand Island. Immediately after the second bridge, exit onto interstate route I-290 East. Do NOT continue on route I-190 south to Buffalo.

After about 7 miles, take exit 5B Millersport Highway North. After exiting the I-290, turn right onto Millersport Highway itself (you can't go anywhere else). At the first traffic lights, turn left at the Marriott Hotel. At the next traffic lights (at the junction with Maple Road) go straight ahead.

You are now on the campus. At the first traffic light go straight ahead. The next junction is a four-way stop. Turn right and, very soon, first left into Jacobs A parking lot. Park as close to the buildings as possible. Walk up the path to the right of the lot, straight through the building (follow the signs) and follow the brick walkway, cross a road, and enter O'Brian Hall. Take the elevators to the 5th Floor. If you do not have a guest parking hang tag, park in the Center for Tomorrow parking lot and take the shuttle bus to the Flint Loop. Links to UB campus and parking maps can be found here.

By Car from Central New York
The University at Buffalo's north (or Amherst) campus is conveniently located off the Interstate I-290 only a few miles from the junction with the I-90. Take the interstate I-90 West to Buffalo. Exit the I-90 at exit 50 (Williamsville exit) and keep right and take the I-290 (Youngmann Memorial Highway). Exit off the I-290 at Exit 5B Millersport Highway North. You exit onto Millersport Highway, get into the left hand lane. At the first traffic lights, turn left at the Marriott Hotel. At the next traffic lights (at the junction with Maple Road) go straight ahead.

You are now on the campus. At the first traffic light go straight ahead. The next junction is a four-way stop. Turn right and, very soon, first left into Jacobs A parking lot. Park as close to the buildings as possible. Walk up the path to the right of the lot, straight through the building (follow the signs) and follow the brick walkway, cross a road, and enter O'Brian Hall. Take the elevators to the 5th Floor.   If you do not have a guest parking hang tag, park in the Center for Tomorrow parking lot and take the shuttle bus to the Flint Loop. Links to UB campus and parking maps can be found here.

Maps
Need a map? Go to Mapquest or Maps.com. Links to UB campus and parking maps can be found here.

Sponsors

The workshop organizers gratefully acknowledge the support of the UB Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy and the cosponsorship by the UB College of Arts and Sciences Community Linked Interdisciplinary Research (CLIR) program.

Baldy Center For Law & Social Policy
511 O'Brian Hall, Univerity at Buffalo Law School
PO Box 601100, Buffalo, NY 14260 716.645.2102

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