Sustainable Delmarva Brings Visioning, Action Planning, and Community Networking to the Delmarva Peninsula

Using community- building as a tool to address challenges and opportunities in the region. 

The Delmarva Peninsula, a rural enclave made up of parts of Maryland and Virginia, and all of Delaware and wedged between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, is the target of a new initiative aimed to help local communities plan and act upon a vision for their future - locally and regionally. The project, called Sustainable Delmarva, was launched at the beginning of this year, using the opportunity of a new decade and the challenges of an economic downtown, to offer resources for those who want to preserve and enhance the quality of life of the Delmarva Peninsula - a place that, in some ways, time has forgotten.

A favorite destination for its natural beauty, quaint small towns, extensive recreational opportunities, rich heritage, and iconic blue crab and poultry industries, the Delmarva Peninsula is loved by many. However, unchecked pollution, diminished economic development opportunities, poor land use choices, inadequate public services, and a weakened sense of place challenges both decision-makers and citizens alike. Sustainable Delmarva focuses on pro-actively addressing these challenges by helping communities build common ground and strengthen their social capital (the important social connections found within a community) as a way to truly understand and act upon what it is they want for their future.“Sustainable Delmarva honors the spirit of this special place by engaging diverse stakeholders in a democratic process to envision and build sustainable communities at the local level. Ultimately, the insights and the energy generated from these communities can be used to make thoughtful choices for the Delmarva Peninsula economically, environmentally, socially, and governmentally” explains Sustainable Delmarva project manager, Jennifer Hicks.

The project facilitates innovative and inclusive large group meetings like World Café and Future Search to help Delmarva communities build a vision for the future and get a real say in what it is they want for themselves. In addition, Sustainable Delmarva provides the resources for communities to take action on their vision and soon will mobilize an on-the-ground stakeholder networking program to allow learning through out the region.

Sustainable Delmarva projects include a World Café in Accomack County on Virginia’s eastern shore and a visioning conference for the Nanticoke river watershed, a region at the heart of the peninsula that transcends three counties and the Maryland/Delaware state line. And as recent as June 15, Sustainable Delmarva facilitated the Chestertown World Café, sponsored by the Town of Chestertown, MD and the Center for Environment and Society at Washington College, which brought together over 160 members of the greater Chestertown community for an evening of conversation which has begun a community-led visioning process for this historically significant town on the Chester River.

Communities who are interested in working with Sustainable Delmarva or who want to learn more about its current projects please contact Jennifer Hicks at jhicks@sustainabledelmarva.net or visit the website www.sustainabledelmarva.net