Photo by Sarah Clark Stuart
On November 14th, members of the Circuit Trails Coalition held its semi-annual meeting at the AIM Academy in Conshohocken to understand the Coalition’s strategic planning process, purpose, timeline and next steps as we look ahead to 2025. In 2021, the Coalition published its strategic plan to build on the Coalition’s successes and guide its agenda for the next three years, beginning in April of 2022, a period in which the public’s interest in trails has never been higher and the prospects for increased funding have never been brighter as a result of potential significant federal investment in infrastructure. The next stages include developing an engagement strategy among members and partners, gathering feedback and beginning to implement the updated strategic plan by March of 2025.
As we look back to 2021, the strategic plan identified the following three goals to reach its short-term campaign goals by 2025:
- Expand the Circuit Trails network, adding miles and making it more accessible and inclusive
- Expand the Circuit Trails community, increasing the diversity of trail users
- Expand the Circuit Trails Coalition, making it more relevant and representative
Successful completion of this ambitious strategic plan requires a significant investment of time and talent by members of the Coalition. The return on that investment, however, is huge, resulting in:
- Increased trail access within under-resourced communities and progress toward the goal of 500 miles of trail by 2025
- Trail spurs that create connections between under-resourced communities and Circuit Trails
- Increased and more stable funding for trails, especially for trails in under-resourced communities
- Increased awareness of the Circuit Trails network, particularly within under-resourced communities
- Increased diversity of users on Circuit Trails, including community-based groups that incorporate OpinionWorks research findings in their programming
- Creation of a learning community of trail professionals and advocates benefiting from information sharing
- More diversity and inclusion on the Circuit Trails Coalition and Steering Committee in terms of organizational and individual members
- Active, sustainable partnerships with organizations and individuals based in and representative of the wide array of communities that may be adjacent to or that will benefit from Circuit Trails
- Wide awareness of and celebration of the achievements of the Circuit Trails Coalition and its members
- Satisfaction of having more diversity of all types on Circuit Trails and knowing that together we have made progress in advancing the belief that Circuit Trails are for the use and benefit of everyone
To begin the evaluation process of the strategic plan, members of the Circuit Trails Coalition began by taking a deep dive into the three major goals and listing achievements and lessons learned related to the strategic plan initiatives to create a shared understanding of progress towards accomplishing the 2021 strategic plan.
What’s next in the planning process? The strategic plan update coordinating group will review feedback provided by the members of the Circuit Trails Coalition for the remaining half of November and into December before finalizing plans with the Circuit Trails Coalition’s Steering Committee. If you were unable to attend the Semi-Annual meeting, please contact Patrick Monahan at patrick@bicyclecoalition.org to provide your feedback on the major goals of the strategic plan.
For more updates from around the Circuit, be sure to check out the latest from the Coalition’s members, partners and others who are moving the Circuit forward through trail development and programming to activate the network: Updates from Around the Circuit!
A special thank you the AIM Academy for hosting and to each and every member of the Coalition, as well as our partners and supporters, who are moving the Circuit forward! Interested in learning more about the Circuit Trails? There are many ways to get involved in your area to help the coalition advocate and accelerate the development of our regional trails network.