Learning Objectives for NHDOT CSS Training

Context Sensitive SOLUTIONS A Training Course for New Hampshire Department of Transportation Professionals and their Partners

Overall goals for the NHDOT CSS training program - Student will learn:  How to look at transportation projects holistically and define problems and solutions to incorporate environmental and community elements;  How to engage and partner with communities and other stakeholders to solve transportation problems in mutually beneficial ways;  How to use technical design and professional judgment to accommodate environmental and community values while preserving mobility and safety;  How to integrate the practice of context sensitive solutions into the project delivery process. Module 1: "How to Look at a Place" - Students will learn:  The concept of Place and how to apply it to a transportation project;  How to recognize the key elements of a place as the context for a transportation project;  How to work collaboratively with other stakeholders to identify the problems and opportunities of a place;  How to develop a problem statement that includes transportation, environmental, and community components and can be used as a basis for a statement of purpose and need. Module 2: "Respectful Communications, Consensus-Building, and Public Involvement" - Students will learn:  Communications needs underlying the qualities and characteristics of context sensitive solutions;  Listening and communication skills;  Public involvement techniques that help build partnerships;  How to identify and engage stakeholders;  How to build consensus around a problem statement and a project vision. Module 3: "Designing in a CSS Environment" - Students will learn:  How to create design criteria that will be used to evaluate alternatives and measure project success;  How to use design flexibility to provide for safety and avoid liability;  How to create a conceptual design that addresses the design criteria and provides a consensus solution. Module 4: "Putting It All Together: The CSS Project Delivery Process" - Students will learn:  How CSS relates transportation and land use decisions to create a balanced approach;  The six-step CSS Project Delivery Process;  Where and how the CSS techniques taught in Modules 1-3 fit into the six-step process;  Why to use a CSS process.