Designs on Minnesota’s Past & Present –Design and planning played a significant role in Minnesota’s economic and social development over the past 150 years. These disciplines and the foresight they give us are even more essential today as we take the bumpy ride into a complex but wide-open future.

• Welcome – Jane Leonard, Minnesota Sesquicentennial Director & Madonna Yawakie, Chair, Minnesota Rural Partners
• Keynote – “An Overview of Community Design & the Changing American Landscape: Social, Political, and Economic Forces”  

• Dr. Arthur Mehrhoff, Washington University, St. Louis, MO.
• Learn more about Dr. Mehrhoff's book

Designing Minnesota, 1783-1858: Lessons for the Community Enterprise in the 21st Century– The State of Minnesota evolved out of the contribution’s of many people over a long period of time. It was a long process, not an overnight event based on the Stillwater Convention. Minnesota’s development was more of an evolution, a design influenced by great vision, natural conditions, happenstance and good fortune. Throughout the talk we will draw lessons applicable to community and entrepreneurial development of today.

Jim Ramstrom, Decision Support Coordinator, Land Management Information Center, Minnesota Department of Administration

Minnesota’s Present & Future. Everything Relates: An Afternoon of Truth (the Present) & Consequences (the Future)  Several panelists will present the current realities and future trends in key areas for Minnesota. If Minnesota, especially rural Minnesota is to thrive in the future, we must understand how these forces act and relate to one another. Moderated by Jane Leonard.  

• Economic and Demographic Changes – Tom Stinson, State Economist & Tom Gillaspy –State Demographer; introduced by Dan McElroy, Commissioner, MN Department of Employment & Economic Development
• Agriculture and Energy – Ron Monson, AgStar Financial Services
• Transportation – Lee Munnich, University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute

Everything Relates. Panel presentations continue: Moderated by Bernadine Joselyn, Public Policy Director, Blandin Foundation

• Information & Communications Technology – Joy Gullikson, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Onvoy  & Rae Montgomery, Extension Professor, University of Minnesota Extension
• Health care – Linda Norlander, Office of Rural Health & Primary Care, Minnesota Department of Health
• Housing – Chip Halbach, Executive Director of the MN Housing Partnership
• Education – Joe Sertich, Northeast Minnesota Higher Education Alliance

Reception, Exhibits & Networking – It’s almost Fishing Opener! Let’s cast out for ideas! Sports Center

• Recognition of Thriving by Design Competition Winners

Supper – Dining Hall   (Please wear your name badge)  -- Please stay in the Dining Hall for post-supper presentations that you won’t want to miss.

Post-Supper Presentation I: “Downtown as an Economic Development Strategy - Entrepreneurs, Innovation, Workforce Attraction and Local Identity in a Global Economy.” -- Gary Becker, Vierbicher Associates, Inc. & Wisconsin Rural Partners Board Member.  Introduced by Denise Pfeifer, Acting President, Minnesota Rural Partners.

Registration desk opens; all sessions in the Sports Center

8:45 a.m.

Community Based Design
A panel of community members who have hosted the Minnesota Design Team will share their experiences. Facilitated by the Minnesota Design Team chair, Lori Lippert.

Thriving by Design – A Minnesota Sesquicentennial Kickoff

• One-Year Countdown to May 11, 2008 - Welcome and Invitation to Participate in Minnesota’s 150th Anniversary Commemoration: The Honorable Mark Ritchie, Minnesota Secretary of State & Dr. Reatha Clark King, Vice-Chair of the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission
• Introduction to Final Sessions: Jane Leonard, Executive Director, Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission

10:15 a.m.

Sesquicentennial Design & Planning: A Brief Overview of Projects to Help Minnesota Communities Move Into the Next Generation. Can we connect the dots to build a Sesquicentennial Plan for the Future?

• Minnesota 2058 – Thriving by Design – Using the community-based design strategies of the Minnesota Design Team, this project will conduct regional design charrettes to provide each region of Minnesota with a blueprint for managing transformative change in the economic, demographic, social and physical landscapes. Local communities will participate with teams of multi-disciplinary design and development professionals. The collaborative planning and design process harnesses talents and energies from across disciplines and from local knowledge to create and support a feasible plan to help communities thrive. Dewey Thorbeck, Director, UM Center for Rural Design

10:45 a.m.

Final panel assembles -- Facilitated by Joyce Hoelting, Asst Capacity Area Leader, Community Development & Vitality Capacity Area,  University of Minnesota Extension

• Meadowlark Leadership Laboratory on the Future of the Northern Great Plains. The Meadowlark Project Leadership Laboratory is a cutting-edge collaborative planning effort to build demonstrable examples of the northern Great Plains as a place of opportunity. It is bringing together committed, influential leaders who care deeply about the economic, social and environmental future of the northern Great Plains, and who want to work together to cause long-term systemic change in the region. These leaders - representatives of business, government, and NGOs - all have a stake in the future of the region and have come together to address opportunities and challenges that are more complex than they can address alone.  Hear a progress report on the Project, with a focus on the planning scenarios that have emerged to date, and some thoughts on the implications for our corner of the northern Great Plains region. – Jerry Nagel, President, Northern Great Plains Commission
• Minnesota 2050: Pathways to a Sustainable Future. This project is currently underway to develop multiple scenarios of Minnesota's future by exploring the many and complex interactions between humans and the natural environment, and projecting the trends and impacts of these interactions into the future. The research team will focus on several areas critical to sustainability: patterns of energy use, built environment (housing, transportation etc); and food and fiber production. Kathy Draeger, Statewide Director, Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships
• MAP 150 – Minnesota Citizens League. This project has been engaging Minnesota citizens in discussions about policy issues that Minnesotans will need to consider well into the next generation. Sean Kershaw, Executive Director, Citizens League
• Community Development and Vitality – University of Minnesota Extension. These programs enhance the economic strength, civic empowerment, technological literacy and social capital of Minnesota's citizens and communities as they face rapidly changing dynamics in population demographics, technological capacity, globalization and social change. Dick Senese, Associate Dean, UM Extension
• UMore Park – Updates on Minnesota’s extraordinary opportunity to study, demonstrate ideas, and create a thriving community of the future today. Greg Cuomo, Director of Operations, UMore Park

 Wrap-Up Remarks: Jane Leonard

Lunch – Box Lunch to Go (Sign up on Thursday at Registration Desk)