WEBVTT

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 Good afternoon. My name is Paige Anglin and my partner is Rhett Evans.

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And together we have been working on
the project Peoria Community Forestry

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Program for the completion of our so
593 applied project course.

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In this presentation, we will briefly
discuss the problem definition and

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provide a quick recap of the project
as well as the guiding theory of

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change. Next, we will go into our two
main interventions, the matrices and

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benchmarking as well as the survey.
Then we discuss the challenges results

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and recommendations.

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After a quick synopsis of what we
learned, we will open it up for

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questions.

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The city of Peoria has identified
unmitigated rising temperatures as a

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risk to its urban environment, the
development of the urban heat island

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effect or uh I can have devastating
impacts on infrastructure, the natural

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environment, human health, social
equity and economic durability. This

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issue is wicked in nature as it cannot
be easily undone with one solution.

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It also fits weeks problem
identification steps. Urban heat in Peoria is

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significantly harmful over the long
term because it negatively affects

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ecosystem viability, human health,
livelihood, equity and interregional

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and intergenerational justice. It is
urgent as it has already claimed

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lives in the Phoenix metro region. It
has dispersed effects including

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higher costs of maintaining
comfortable lifestyles, reliance on automobile

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transport, biodiversity loss, and heat
related illnesses. Its causes are

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complex and include destruction of
natural desert landscapes, car centric

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urban design, urban sprawl and
Phoenix's climate in general. Finally, it

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is contested as people who can easily
afford to maintain their quality of

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life. Despite rising temperatures will
not feel the effects on the same

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level as individuals that cannot
afford higher air conditioning, bills,

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car maintenance and gas and so on.

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In the fall 2020 semester, the city of
Peoria Arizona approached project

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cities in the 2021. MS S cohort for
research on the feasibility,

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desirability and challenges of
adopting a community forestry program or

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CFP. This team was asked to evaluate
Peoria's potential for canopy growth

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and plant adoption by researching
forestry or shade programs in cities

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with similar climates as well as
reaching out to Peoria's citizens to

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determine the community desire for a
CFP. This process includes

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identifying the specific barriers and
opportunities regarding

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implementation to gain some
information on how other cities are tackling

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urban forestry. Our team created a
matrix analyzing the strengths and

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weaknesses of forestry programs or
initiatives in municipalities

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throughout Arizona and then
municipalities throughout the United States

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with exemplary plans. In addition, our
team sent out a survey to residents

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in Peoria with questions pertaining to
their knowledge of community

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forestry sustainability, ecological
services and what success could be

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defined as in a future CFP for Peoria.
This work was all done to assist

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Peoria in determining whether or not a
CFP can and should be developed.

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We used weeks problem identification
steps to determine whether or not

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urban heat and the need for a CFP was
a true sustainability problem in

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need of sustainability problem solving
weak solution strategy is a part of

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the larger sustainability problem
solving framework and it was used to

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conduct research and find best
practices for a CFP. Our theory of change

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was Peoria currently desires a
community forestry program to reduce

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inequalities between its districts,
reduce the urban heat island effect

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and promote safety and sustainability
within the city. However, barrier to

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ending this program have not been
fully explored by doing research and

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communicating with community members.
We can identify unknowns that can

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help shape a future community forestry
program. This will improve the

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equitable of the program if it is
created and maximize the city's impact,

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identifying best practices will allow
the city to make educated and

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sustainable decisions. Transition
management governance approach is more

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of a tool than a framework, but we did
use it primarily in the resident

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information gathering component of
this project. This approach has three

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main parts, visioning, learning and
experimenting transition management

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involves bringing multiple viewpoints
and approaches to a problem into an

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arena where participants such as those
surveyed are invited to explore

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potential CFP components and give
their opinion on how each may benefit or

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harm their livelihoods. And if doing
something to remedy the urban heat

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problem is truly better than doing
nothing to solve it. It encompasses

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societal values and beliefs,
identifies issues that may impact a range of

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people and takes a long term
perspective with short term objectives.

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In our team's first matrix. We
analyzed the cities of Peoria Chandler,

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Tempe, Scottsdale, Phoenix, Flagstaff,
Glendale, Gilbert, Avondale, Mesa

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Yuma, and Goodyear. All cities in the
general Phoenix metro area. Tempe

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and Phoenix were considered some of
the most advanced cities in Arizona

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due to their visible investment in and
commitment to community forestry.

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Both of these cities related urban
forestry back to their sustainability

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plans had clear achievable yet
aggressive goals for canopy growth and

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shade coverage because Peoria's
sustainability 3.0 survey was just

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collected. We think now would be a
great time to incorporate forestry

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action plans into the city's
sustainability plan outside of the Phoenix

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metro area. We studied Tucson, San
Antonio, Austin, San Diego, Portland

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and Albuquerque. The majority of these
cities are similar to the Phoenix

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metro cities in terms of climate or
population density. Tucson's million

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trees plan, Austin's 2034 urban Forest
vision and San Diego's push for 35%

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shade coverage by 2035 are ambitious
but dedicated goals and are supported

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by a variety of edu educational
programs and workshops, funding and

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citizen support. The main questions
asked when analyzing each program were

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, is there a designated forestry or
shade plan in this city? What are some

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tree education strategies the city or
interest city organizations use?

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What are some known? Next steps for
community forestry is the city in

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Arbor Day, Foundation tree city USA.
And is there any other relevant

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information that supports the city's
forestry actions? The survey was

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developed to provide the city with a
better understanding of residents

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preferences and concerns regarding the
development of a community forestry

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program, as well as observations about
the existing canopy, it will remain

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open for all of April and continue
collecting responses that can be used

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by the city. The responses that have
been recorded are very promising and

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provided insight into how residents
would like to see the program managed

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and for what and the threats and
concerns they have seen regarding the

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existing canopy.

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Additionally, these responses have
indicated strong support for the

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development of the community forestry
program with all responses

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indicating yes, they would like to see
it developed over the course of the

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project. We faced a few challenges
that were not insurmountable but did

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delay our timeline. Initially, there
were more approval processes that the

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survey needed to go through than
initially expected which has contributed

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to the limited responses that we have
at this time. However, responses

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will continue to be recorded and will
still prove useful to the city

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together. These have made much more
evident. The brief timeline of an

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academic project reverse a public
project put on by the city.

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The initial survey responses have
indicated a few general trends regarding

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management goals that residents would
like to see as well as threat that

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they have indicated.

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The management goals that received the
most responses were sustainability

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, increase shade reduction in heat and
improved sense of community and

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more trees together does provide a
pretty solid base for the community

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forestry program.

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Additionally, the threats that were
indicated where changes in climate

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increased city population, lack of
funds dedicated to tree management and

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the threat of habitat loss presumably
regarding urban sprawl

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as a result of creating our matrices,
our team has created a list of

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recommendations that we think could
help CFP creation to be the most

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successful in Peoria. First of all, we
recommend that the Peoria 311 app

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be made available in app stores like
Apple, Android and Google and have

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options available for citizens to
report beyond down trees. One possible

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feature could be the ability for app
users to place a pin on a satellite

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map of the city where they would like
additional shade concentrations of

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pins could help guide maintenance
crews on the areas where tree plantings

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are our biggest priority.
Additionally, Peoria does not have a citizen

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tree planting or forestry board.
Creating a board to advise tree

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maintenance, individuals and policy
decision makers on forestry topics

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would be a fantastic way of ensuring
community involvement and input in

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CFP development. If creation of an
entire board is not feasible at this

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time, then a sub-committee or
designated forestry board member could be

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added to the existing parks and rec
board to advise on urban trails in the

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intersection of shade and walk
ability. Adding public fruit bearing trees

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to the urban landscape would provide
benefits beyond shade provision to

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Peoria, advertising a citrus lined
walkway or corridor as a food forest

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could promote tourism and inspire
discussions about sustainable and local

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food production. Additionally,
whatever produce from the trees that is not

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picked and consumed by passerby could
be donated to local low income

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housing centers or shelters

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as hinted towards in the
sustainability 3.0 survey. There is a lack of

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public understanding of what tree
maintenance staff actually do actions

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such as removing trees can be
confusing to local homeowners or pedestrians

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if there is no explanation given as to
why that tree was removed. For

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instance, if it was diseased or
otherwise compromised, if Peoria Tree main

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and staff were to do social media
takeovers on a blog or have another

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method of creating transparency, the
community would would have a resource

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with which to become familiar with com
common city forestry practices.

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Although it may not be feasible at
this time, Peoria could hire an urban

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forester to work for or consult for
the city similar to Richard atkins'

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role in Tempe. While Peoria does have
arborists that are working on the

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forestry plan, a dedicated individual
whose primary focus is the

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development of an urban canopy would
likely shorten creation and

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implementation time of the CFP as well
as serve as a figurehead for tree

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related educational campaigns.

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Due to difficulties associated with
COVID-19. As well as our short

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timeline, we have learned that
flexibility is crucial for applied projects.

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The gant chart is more of a guide than
a set in stone document and being

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able to accelerate the pace of output
for deliverables is sometimes

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necessary. We also found that
municipal projects are very different from

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other projects we have both completed
before as zero bureaucratic

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limitations to what cities can
accomplish in a given amount of time. This

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could be detrimental to achieving
change on a strict timeline. But we now

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know to expect these barriers in the
future when working on city projects.

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Because of delays in our survey,
multiple deliverables had to be

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completed simultaneously in a short
period of time. This was stressful,

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but we were able to overcome the
difficulties we encountered. Finally, we

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learned how to communicate effectively
with project stakeholders when face

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to face communication wasn't an
option. If we were to redo this project,

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we would definitely change the timing
on our gant chart to allow for more

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delays in communication, make
deliverables not reliant on each other for

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completion and anticipate further
scope creep.

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Thank you to the city of Peoria
project cities and the School of

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sustainability at a su for sponsoring
this project. We appreciate the work

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that you've put into making this
project a success.