Overview of the Co-Learning Lab

The Purpose

The overall purpose of the co-learning lab is to provide a space that is open to all members of the cepa community to discuss and share experiences and knowledge. It is the hub for developing a community of people dedicated to sharing successes, challenges, and working together to make a difference on a larger scale.

Organizations, neighborhood associations, or collaborative groups can use gather and the co-learning lab to explore local issues, host meetings and discussions, propose projects or initiatives, vote on proposals, and co-create reports and plans. Gather includes many different features that residents can use to organize their neighbors and organizational partners around efforts that will improve their communities.

We are inviting you to participate in these initial processes for two reasons. First, we want to test the features so that we can ensure the platform is as useful and easy to use as possible. Second, we believe neighborhood-level food system development and walkability in suburban neighborhoods are topics that are often overlooked in urban planning and design. Without clear solutions, we want to gather and discuss new ideas from the cepa community. We hope to aggregate strategies informed by diverse perspectives and experiences into a co-created document that can help support other communities.

How to Participate

1. Use this link: https://gather.cepa-planning.coop/en/users/sign_up to create an account.

2. You will receive a confirmation email in your inbox. If you don’t see it, be sure to check your spam or junk folder.

3. Once your account is confirmed, you can visit the co-learning lab assembly and choose a process to participate in: Ideas for More Walkable Suburban Neighborhoods or Ideas for Strengthening Local Food Systems (or you can join both!)

4. Move through the process by following the steps in the pink box on the right side of the page. Each process begins with some introductory information and then moves into more interactive steps where participants can share more about their experiences, perspectives, and ideas related to the topic.

5. As participants work through the process, new phases will open up for engagement. Participants will receive emails letting them know when new phases are active.

6. Once we have thoroughly explored the topic, we will co-create a document detailing the strategies developed by the participants. All participants will be named as authors of the collaborative document and it will become available on cepa planning cooperative’s website to help support the efforts of other communities interested in these topics.

7. Participants will work with cepa staff to share feedback on the process to help inform future co-learning processes. Please keep track of both good and bad experiences using gather. We want to know what worked well but also where it was difficult to navigate the site, when you had trouble following instructions as listed, when the interface was not user-friendly, or where elements of the process just didn't feel useful or meaningful for your learning and engagement. You can contact us with feedback as you work through the process and/or share in a survey that we will make available at the end of the process.

If you have thoughts or questions along the way, don't hesitate to email us at gather@cepa-planning.coop.

 We're glad you're here! Thanks for being part of the cepa community!