At the Denver meeting, three main themes were considered:
- Decision Support Tools for States and Communities Grappling with Rapid Growth
- Needs and Opportunities for Establishing Regional Resource Center
- Techniques for Enhancing Civic Participation through Decision Tools
Ninety-two people attended the Denver meeting. Those in attendance included planners from Denver Metropolitan cities and counties, students and faculty from the University of Colorado at Denver, federal agency staff, and employees of not-for-profit organizations. In addition, there were numerous participants and presenters from companies who are developing tools for community design and decision-making.
On the first day of the workshop, participants had the opportunity to tour the University of Colorado's BP Visualization Center housed in the College of Engineering and Applied Science, and the modeling facilities at the National Center of Atmospheric Research.
The second day opened with welcoming remarks from Patricia O'Leary, Dean of the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado at Denver, Jack Hoopes from the Denver Regional Council of Governments, and Bill Becker, with the US Department of Energy. The keynote address was given by Colorado State Senator Ed Perlmutter, who discussed the topic, "Grappling with Growth in Colorado."
A plenary session followed, where panelists discussed "Past Successes and Tribulations, Future Trends and Opportunities, and Where Do We Go From Here?" The panel of speakers included David Chrislip, author of Collaborative Leadership; Eliot Allen of Criterion Inc.; Paul Patnode of the Environmental Simulation Center; Dave Crocket, former Chattanooga City Councilman; John Lambie with the Florida House Institute; and David Harris of the MacArthur Foundation.
On Saturday, tools providers demonstrated their products, which included GIS and modeling programs, impact analysis and visualization tool and presented examples of their tools in use. Tool providers who participated in these demonstrations included: Visualization Technologies; Impact Analysis Tools; GIS/Land Use Spatial Analysis Tools; Indicator Tracking; Predictive Models; Groupware and Decision Tools; Interactive Internet; Electronic Town Meeting Tools; and Sustainable Communities Models.
