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outreach education of the type that NEMO offers can be an agent for real
change—not just “feel good” fluff. Helping
local leaders initiate new processes, or change existing ones, requires
the give-and-take of intensive education. The NEMO method creates
local ownership of new initiatives and gives institutional memory on these
issues a fighting chance, thereby making resultant changes in plans and
policies more likely to survive into the future.
Our experience has taught us that Connecticut’s communities can
do amazing things, given a little information and assistance—and
ideas for how to tap into the natural talent that resides in every town.
In this section, we profile towns, or groups of towns, that have worked
with the NEMO Program. These towns have embarked on a variety of
planning, regulatory, design and policy initiatives, assisted and
catalyzed by NEMO. Each town has taken a slightly different path,
and the profiles have been selected to portray the wide range of
approaches that can be taken. Taken together, we believe that they give
the reader a feel for how much can be accomplished by dedicated town
staff and volunteers when they are supported by the right education,
information and tools.
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