What is New England Futures

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What is New England Futures?

• New England Futures is a marketplace of ideas for
  the future of New England engaging an open and
  growing collaboration of citizens, businesses,
  academia, government, media, foundations and non
  profits. The goal is to ensure that the region is
  thriving in the 21st century.

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Phase 1 Citistates Interviews Articles
Phase 2 Public Dialogue Agenda-Setting
Phase 3 Implementation of Action Projects
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PARTNERS Institute for Sustainable
Communities Citistates Group New England
Council New England Initiative UMass
Lowell NEARC Mt. Auburn Associates Orton Family
Foundation
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FRIENDS ADVISORS Northern Forest Center N.E.
Bd of Higher Education RI Economic Policy
Council ME Compact for Higher Ed Funders Network
for Smart Growth Surdna Foundation Lincoln
Inst of Land Policy N.E. Health Care
Institute Capital Region Council of Govts.
(Hartford)
Lyme Timber Co Blue X Blue Shield of MA Northeast
Utilities Bank of America Found. Annie E. Casey
Found. The Boston Foundation N.E. Community
Foundations Trust for Public Land Grow Smart
Maine Orton Family Foundation Archdiocese of
Hartford, CT Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston
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• Phase 1 Citistates Interviews Articles
• Over 500 interviews completed
• Partners, advisors and funders have met on
  numerous occasions to discuss the project and
  strategies
• Other related studies have been completed
• A.T. Kearney report on Sustainable Prosperity for
  New England, NEC
• Boston Unbound, Citistates Group
• Communities, Economy Land A Regional Strategy
  for the Northern Forest
• Six States/One Destiny New England Initiative

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• First 2 Articles Released in 27 Papers 3rd
  Article to be Released Today!
• E-newsletter Mailed with over 1000 Subscribers!
• Website Redesigned as Hub!
• Radio and TV Stations Programming Begun!
• Strategic Alliance Formed!

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• Articles Series
• Six Teams Or One? - October
• Take the Offense on Energy - November
• Playing the Education Card - December
• Growth Gamble - January
• Connect to Compete - February
• The Consumer as Captain - March

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• Six Teams Or One?
• Are we too divided to compete nationally
  globally in the 21st C?
• How do we bring our enormous human, intellectual,
  and natural resources to bear on the problems we
  face?
• Is there/can there be a distinctive New England
  brand ?

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• 2. Take the Offense on Energy
• New England is the 2nd most oil-dependent region
  in the country
• Bio-fuels, wind farms, conservation, new green
  buildings and retrofitted old ones could keep
  more at home and increase air quality, bolster
  local agriculture with energy crops, and produce
  a new wave of jobs
• Add up the initiatives going on across the six
  states and link them keep more dollars at home

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• 3. Playing the Education Card
• New England is facing stiff competition from
  Chapel Hill to Bangalore
• Tuitions soaring attendance is static public
  universities are undernourished
• Our children are not able to take advantage of
  our education assets
• Can New England be one great campus, inviting
  students to tailor their own New England
  education in classroom or on line?

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• 4. Growth Gamble
• We are greying fast we lost 20 of 20-34 yr
  olds in the 90s.
• Towns resist families with kids
• Sprawl ruins our world-signature countryside
  while housing costs soar
• Older, industrial centers languish
• Family friendly policies, affordable housing,
  channeling development to our centers, state
  incentives offer promise and already evidence of
  success

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• 5. Connect to Compete
• To compete New England needs border to border
  broadband soon.
• For successful business and quality of life,
  glaring deficiencies in the regional
  transportation system need early focused
  attention.
• Can the six governors take the lead starting
  with the imperiled Northeast rail corridor
  organizing New England to set strategies and act
  like a single state?

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• 6. Consumer as Captain
• New England has imminent teaching hospitals and
  laboratories. But high tech medicine isnt
  delivering healthy lives error rates, system
  waste the numbers of uninsured are way too
  high.
• Rx consumers armed with information to share
  health decisions with their doctors
  computer-based scorecards showing which providers
  give best results focus on public health and
  healthy lifestyles

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Communications Outreach

• Capitalize on high profile articles and media
  coverage
• Build awareness discussion of key New England
  issues for 21st C.
• Utilize multiple outlets and state of the art
  technology
• Focus media on regional issues that connect the
  dots
• Establish an agenda for action that promotes New
  England as an outstanding place to live, work and
  play in the 21st C.

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• 27 Newspapers printing articles, including
• Hartford Courant - CT
• Metro West Daily - MA
• Daily Hampshire Gazette - MA
• Springfield Republican MA
• Portland Press Herald Maine
• Lewiston Sun Journal Maine
• Nashua Telegraph NH
• Laconia Citizen NH
• Newport Daily News - RI
• Rutland Herald VT
• Times Argus - VT

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• Newsletter informs subscribers monthly of latest
  article, best practices, and events
• Next newsletter on Education scheduled for today
  (handout)

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• Broadcast Media
• NH Public Television monthly series
• New England Cable News - 3interviews and monthly
  series
• Vermonts CCTV monthly series
• WGBH under discussion
• Connecticut Public Television special interview
• Maine Public Radio TV special interview

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• Strategic Alliance
• Madeleine Kunin, Paul Choquette, Bishop Rosazza
  conveners
• Other Members Angus King, Jerry Greenfield,
  Michael Dukakis, Lew Feldstein, Mark Snelling,
  Jeanne Shaheen and more!

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• Indicators
• To be developed by Umass-Lowell, New England
  Initiative
• To be based on outcomes developed from a public
  dialogue on each of six issues
• To measure progress in addressing issues that
  confront New England and to measure success on
  action agenda

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Outcomes from Project

• There is sustained support for a shared vision
  for the future of New England that is focused on
  innovation, ideas, education and authenticity of
  place
• New England meets more of its critical needs by
  capitalizing on its assets and regional solutions
  to problems
• Young people chose to build their future here.