Between 2003 and 2008, MetroFuture engaged more than 5,000 people in collaborative learning and decision-making about the future of the region. MAPC encouraged participants to look beyond today’s immediate challenges and take a long-range view.  Participants also had unprecedented opportunities to use tools and information to help explore regional challenges, understand tradeoffs, and create different scenarios for how the region might grow.

The MetroFuture process was guided by four Process Objectives:

• Development of a sustainable growth plan for the MAPC region, including implementation steps for state and local government, and recommendations for private sector stakeholders.
   
• Large-scale public education to increase visibility and awareness of regional issues related to the economy, environment, and quality of life.
   
• Region-wide civic engagement in the planning process, helping to build a constituency of knowledgeable and committed supporters who will work to translate the plan into reality.
   
• Institutional capacity building throughout the region, linking technology and information to community decision making for current and future planning processes.  

MetroFuture’s “plan builders” were not passive meeting attendees—their participation also guided the process along the way.  Participant input helped to define the scope of the analysis; in particular, to include education, health, food systems, and other topics not traditionally addressed in regional plans. Participants also pushed MAPC to expand its outreach and supported those efforts by organizing meetings and bringing the project’s message to their constituents. Most importantly, participants actively identified three alternative scenarios and voted on the scenario that they thought would help make a brighter future for the region.