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Created on October 18, 2024
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Transcript
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
"Our mission is to empower communities with data and tools to make more informed decisions."
A behind-the-scenes look
+Start
Workshops
Click "Start" to begin the journey through CHARM's Workshop ecosystem.
A behind-the-scenes look
Workshops
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Throughout this presentation, you'll see a "+" symbol. This is a button that you can click to reveal more information! Explore each section by expanding the details as needed.
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By the end of this presentation, you will learn:
- What a CHARM Workshop is and its impact
- The key processes involved in preparing for a CHARM Workshop
- The tools and resources we use to run workshops successfully
The purpose of this presentation is to introduce internal TCWP staff (especially new hires) to CHARM Workshops and the key processes behind them.
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CHARMWorkshops Overview
CHARM Workshops bring community leaders and decision-makers together to collaboratively plan for long-term growth and development. Using tools like weTable and CommunityViz, participants explore scenarios that address land use, hazard mitigation, and environmental impact. Divided into groups, participants discuss planning opportunities with the help of facilitators who calculate, in real time, the impacts of various decisions. No technical expertise is needed—just open conversation and collaboration. These workshops help communities see how today’s choices shape tomorrow’s environment.
+INFO
+Emergency Manager
+Advocacy Group
+Town Council
+CITY PLANNER
UseCases
With insights from CHARM technologies, participants can make informed decisions that shape local planning and drive positive community change.
CHARM Workshops can be used to help communities plan for disaster preparedness, population changes, development impacts, general land-uses and much more. Click on the buttons on the right to see some examples!
Local Advocate Age: 36
Reggie
+Emergency Manager
+Advocacy Group
+Town Council
+CITY PLANNER
I'm a member of a watershed conservation advocacy group. When I advocate for decisions that protect our natural spaces, I want to ensure that developments don't harm the ecosystems I value. I regularly visit a local watershed for bird watching and walks, and I am deeply concerned about development proposals that threaten to degrade water quality, habitat, and biodiversity. The CHARM Workshop allowed me to create a data visualization that clearly showed the long-term impacts of developments. This enabled me to be more effective in presenting the negative consequences to decision makers in my community. The data provided in the CHARM Workshop made me feel empowered to better advocate for protecting watersheds in my community.
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+Emergency Manager
I'm a board member on the town council. When I am making planning decisions, I aim to ensure the best outcomes for my community, even though I am not an expert on land use and development. I listen to experts and weigh their insights carefully. My role requires me to make decisions on land use proposals, but I often struggle to understand the long-term impacts of community developments. CHARM Workshops allow me to visualize those impacts and explore the different options available to us. With this new information, I can now make more informed decisions that better serve my community's interests. I am more confident that the choices I make will contribute to the greater good and align with my responsibility to my constituents.
+Advocacy Group
+Town Council
+CITY PLANNER
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Town Council Board Member Age: 45
Paula
+Emergency Manager
I'm an emergency manager. When I am making planning decisions, I aim to address risk by assessing hazards in my community. My city has faced record hurricanes each year, so I want to make sure I plan thoughtfully for risks that come with climate change. CHARM Workshops give me the opportunity to plan evacuation routes, predict flooding impact, explore maps in a centralized place and more. CHARM data allows me to plan better for my community and potentially save lives. So I am highly motivated to exhaust every possible scenario when it comes to emergency response planning.
+Advocacy Group
+Town Council
+CITY PLANNER
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Emergency Manager Age: 50
Jimmy
I'm a city planner. When I am making planning decisions, I aim to guide investment decisions, identify trade-offs and look at the big picture. My city is rapidly growing, so I want to develop plans that will help my city build local capacity. CHARM Workshops give me the opportunity to see my plans come to life and their impacts. I now have data visualizations included in my plan that I can share with local decision makers and residents. This will help me gain local buy-in, so I am highly motivated to see my plans come to life and explore alternate options for growth development.
+Emergency Manager
+Advocacy Group
+Town Council
+CITY PLANNER
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City Planner Age: 33
Georgina
+WETABLE
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+Communityviz
In CHARM Workshops, we rely on two powerful tools that help participants engage with data and develop actionable plans: weTable and CommunityViz (CViz)
As a core part of our workshop technology, CViz allows us to generate accurate, custom analytics. By owning and maintaining this software ourselves, we ensure that our technology remains flexible, up-to-date, and future-ready. This independence keeps our tools running smoothly and adaptable to new challenges.
CommunityViz
CommunityViz (also referred to as Desktop CHARM) is a GIS-based software used for urban analytics. It enables planners and analysts to create detailed scenarios, conduct suitability and impact analyses, and explore build-out potentials.
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+learn more
WeTable’s strength lies in its ability to bring everyone into the conversation, enhancing collaboration and allowing teams to explore complex data without the barrier of traditional computer setups. It’s particularly useful when identifying planning priorities and strategies.
weTABLE
The weTable uses Wii™ technology to transform any ordinary tabletop into an interactive computer interface. It allows workshop participants to engage with data, maps, and each other using a familiar setting—tables and pens—while the technology runs seamlessly in the background.
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+Learn more
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+Facilitators
+Stakeholders
Before a CHARM Workshop, we prepare both facilitators and stakeholders to ensure a productive and engaging experience
- Where the data comes from
- How to describe and explain the data’s relevance
- How the scenarios work and how to communicate them effectively
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We prepare facilitators by identifying who will lead the workshop discussions and train them on key aspects:
These stakeholders are then invited to participate, ensuring we gather a diverse group of voices to engage in meaningful planning discussions.
We prepare stakeholders by reaching out to communities and local representatives to identify individuals who would benefit most from the workshop
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Click below to explore how we tailor the workshop experience to the community's needs by transforming raw data into usable models and packages for scenario simulations.
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Now that you understand what a CHARM Workshop is, how participants use it, the two foundational tools that drive it, and how we prepare participants, we can dive into the data-preparation process behind the scenes
Click on each "+" to learn more about each step of the CHARM Workshop preparation process.
Application Package
Data Package
Behind the scenes overview
Source Data
Data Transformation Methods
The Grid
Reference Layers
Click on each "+" to learn more about each step of the CHARM Workshop preparation process.
Application Package
Data Package
Behind the scenes overview
Source Data
Data Transformation Methods
The Grid
Reference Layers
We begin by gathering open-source data from local, state, and federal sources—everything from population statistics to soil types and elevation data.However, there’s a challenge: each dataset is organized differently, with unique structures and values, making it difficult to combine them seamlessly.
(like boolean, integer, and float)
Click on each "+" to learn more about each step of the CHARM Workshop preparation process.
Application Package
Data Package
Behind the scenes overview
Source Data
Data Transformation Methods
The Grid
Reference Layers
Once we have the data, the next step is transforming it—what we call our "Methods." This involves a lot of meticulous work: cleaning the data by removing duplicates, aligning data types , and ensuring consistency across datasets.By cleaning, standardizing, and curating the data, we ensure it’s accurate and ready for use in the next phases of the workshop process.
Click on each "+" to learn more about each step of the CHARM Workshop preparation process.
Application Package
Data Package
Behind the scenes overview
Source Data
Data Transformation Methods
The Grid
Reference Layers
The Grid is where our data truly comes together. By organizing data into a table rather than spatial layers, we can automate the analysis more efficiently. The grid is made up of two key components: Core and Composite Attributes. Core Attributes are simple, essential data points that cannot be broken down further. They help identify an entity. Examples: Street Name, City, Zip Code, State, Country Composite Attributes combine multiple core attributes to represent more complex data. Example: A full address
Click on each "+" to learn more about each step of the CHARM Workshop preparation process.
Application Package
Data Package
Behind the scenes overview
Source Data
Data Transformation Methods
The Grid
Reference Layers
Reference layers are visual aids that provide important context to the data. They don’t calculate values but instead show where information spatially exists, helping users better understand the data’s real-world location.There are more reference layers than grid attributes, and they serve to enrich the visual experience. Examples include:
- Parcel maps overlaid on street maps to show property lines.
- National and State Parks, Roads/Railroads, and Streams & Rivers
Click on each "+" to learn more about each step of the CHARM Workshop preparation process.
Application Package
Data Package
Behind the scenes overview
Source Data
Data Transformation Methods
The Grid
Reference Layers
The Data Package is a combination of grid and reference layers into a comprehensive dataset that can be used to run models. By compiling and refining this data, we support our core products and programs—like CommunityViz, Online CHARM, and our workshops—while also offering it as a standalone product. It’s especially valuable for communities that may not have the resources or expertise to create such datasets on their own. Offering a data package as a product can help empower communities to run their own models and analyses, enabling them to make better-informed planning decisions.
Click on each "+" to learn more about each step of the CHARM Workshop preparation process.
Application Package
Data Package
Behind the scenes overview
Source Data
Data Transformation Methods
The Grid
Reference Layers
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While the data gathered so far represents the current state of the world, the next step is to explore potential futures. This is where the Application Package comes in. The Application Package builds on the Data Package by adding additional attributes and indicators—such as Paints and CViz Scenario Templates (more information on these in the glossary)—that allow us to model “what if” scenarios. This package is essential for CHARM Workshops, helping users—even those without technical expertise—visualize and understand how different decisions could shape the future.
Click below to find out what's next for CHARM.
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Now that you understands the behind the scenes process that goes into preparing for a CHARM workshop, let's look to the future of CHARM.
Using intuitive wizards in place of facilitators, this platform empowers non-technical users to explore data on their own and draw their own planning conclusions. Online CHARM will provide greater accessibility for engaging in planning dialogues within communities. Feel free to reach out to members of the product team to learn more about the latest on this tool.
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We are bringing the CHARM Workshop experience online with the launch of Online CHARM
The following slide will provide a glossary of commonly used words and phrases to help you navigate conversations and discussions with confidence. Click the button to learn more!
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Before we wrap up, it’s helpful to familiarize yourself with some key terms you may hear during CHARM Workshops or the preparation process
Click on each "+" to learn more about the following key terms.
Texas Citizen Planner
Glossary
Clip & Ship
Paints
CViz Scenario Templates
CHARM School
We extract data for specific geographic areas and package it for use, tailoring it to the user's requirements. This happens behind the scenes before workshop users have the opportunity to play with the data. It makes the workshop experience relevant to them.
Click on each "+" to learn more about the following key terms.
Texas Citizen Planner
Glossary
Clip & Ship
Paints
CViz Scenario Templates
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CHARM School
Hypothetical scenarios, or "paints," represent potential future developments, such as residential or commercial land use. During a workshop, the Paint Tool helps communities visualize and plan for various growth possibilities.
Click on each "+" to learn more about the following key terms.
Texas Citizen Planner
Glossary
Clip & Ship
Paints
CViz Scenario Templates
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CHARM School
A template can use any dataset within the data package and run an analysis from it. They are fully customizable, which allows us to tailor scenarios to communities' needs. We do this by populating in advance attributes, indicators, and assumptions to help visualize a scenario. We want to give users the experience of working with a plan and thinking through different scenarios.
Click on each "+" to learn more about the following key terms.
Texas Citizen Planner
Glossary
Clip & Ship
Paints
CViz Scenario Templates
CHARM School
+Continue
CHARM School is a training program that teaches GIS professionals and planners (aka Community of Practice) how to design and create their own interactive mapping exercises and analyses through ArcGIS Pro and the CommunityViz software. The goal of CHARM School is to teach technical skills to professionals so they can use CommunityViz on their own time. We want to enhance our students' data literacy so they can confidently use data to inform their local planning needs.
Click on each "+" to learn more about the following key terms.
Texas Citizen Planner
Glossary
Clip & Ship
Paints
CViz Scenario Templates
CHARM School
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Citizen Planner is designed to introduce a planning curriculum for elected officals, appointed officials, city staff/municipal leads, and people who are interested in being a planning advocate, in order to improve planning decision making. It offers online and in-person courses with instruction by planners, researchers and other leaders from across Texas. Its purpose is to provide learners with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about community choices.
Click on each "+" to learn more about the following key terms.
Texas Citizen Planner
Glossary
Clip & Ship
Paints
CViz Scenario Templates
CHARM School
+Continue
Planning Team GIS Team
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