“Rebuilding Our Future” Kayutuuxtxin Tanagnangin Igayuusalix angagiimchin agnaxtxichin – St George Alaska Local Economic Development Strategy
Summary of Results
- An actionable economic development strategy and 11 working papers, housed on a public website
- Support for funding and implementation of key projects, such as the $164 million St. George Harbor.
- A feature write-up with the American Planning Association
- Awards for Excellence in Planning
- Canadian Institute of Planners – National Planning Award for Planning Excellence (July 2021)
- American Planning Association – Western Planners Award (August 2021)
Overview
Rebuilding our Future Kayutuuxtxin Tanagnangin Igayuusalix angagiimchin agnaxtxichin is a local Economic Development (LED) strategy, created by EcoPlan in partnership with the Unangan community of St. George, Alaska. Rebuilding our Future is far more encompassing than many municipal economic development efforts. The strategy blends healing, culture, Traditional Knowledge, and environmental resilience, while providing actions for the short, medium, and long term for economic vitality. Detailed economic analysis was integrated with the values and knowledge of the Unangan people to outline a creative, sustainable and economically diverse future.
One unique component of this project was the community engagement undertaken, which included 80% of the St. George households and 23 supporting organizations. Many methods were used to get the community involved, from one-on-one engagement such informal intercept interviews – basically meeting them in spaces they frequent – to bringing surveys to their homes. On-line engagement was also popular with on-line surveys and cell-phone friendly feedback channels.
