Nashville's Agenda 2007
In the spring of 2007, more than 3,000 Nashvillians participated in a follow-up to the 1993 citywide goal-setting project known as Nashville’s Agenda to gauge again what Nashvillians think is needed to “make Nashville the best it can be.”
The original Nashville’s Agenda was extremely successful in identifying what people thought was most important for our city and in spurring action toward achieving those goals. The purpose of the 2007 initiative was to involve Nashvillians from every part of the city and all walks of life in updating what the city’s goals ought to be now, for the next decade.
Hundreds of possible action ideas were gathered through phone interviews, Internet surveys and a series of community meetings. No idea was lost, but Nashvillians talking together in community meetings simply ranked some ideas higher than others – identifying those that were most in need of attention by the community at large.
The ambitious list of ideas found in the report will serve as a foundation for action. The participation and leadership of volunteers will play an important part as Nashvillians begin to grapple with implementation of these ideas for action.
1993 Project
The original Nashville’s Agenda project in 1993 was organized by a broad-based group of Nashvillians who were brought together by the late E. Bronson Ingram. More than 2,000 Nashvillians participated in the 1993 process -- gathering in 26 public meetings over five months.
The 1993 process produced “21 Goals for the 21st Century”, a wide-ranging set of goals and action ideas for Nashville. The project was supported by a grant from The Frist Foundation.
The following March a Steering Committee of diverse community leaders was formed and initiated an array of volunteer action teams. These groups helped the city address the action ideas that had been identified.
1999 Follow-Up Study
A follow-up study five years later in 1999 determined that Nashvillians had achieved results on more than 60 percent of the recommended “ideas for action” through private efforts, public initiatives and, most often, through a partnership of the two.
A partial list of those accomplishments includes: