In 2017, community partners noticed there were goals in city plans around “embracing the Rio Grande River as a community asset,” yet no clear plan on what that meant, what that looked like, nor to what end. What value was a lofty goal without a clear plan to fuel action? Several key community non-profits and local government partners gathered the community to begin envisioning what an initiative centered around the river as a community asset might look like.

The Civic Canopy partnered with these local leaders to launch what became “Revitalize the Rio,” (RtR). The Canopy facilitated the development of a clear elevating vision, progress measures, and the collaborative infrastructure for success. Over time, RtR Committees have made progress on their action plans. For example, the Outdoor Rx Committee has promoted outdoor prescriptions at Valley-Wide Health Systems and San Luis Valley Health, two major health providers. They introduced health providers to new trail systems that can be part of prescribing walking time in nature and are part of building a customized Alamosa Trails WebApp. 

The Civic Canopy continues to provide coaching support to RtR to support their collaborative work. We are supporting them to think about how to embed equity, diversity, and inclusion values and approaches in all they do.