Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) Training Course
 Context
Sensitive Solutions, or CSS, is a collaborative process to achieve
solutions so that transportation projects are integrated with the
environment and communities they serve. CSS is an interdisciplinary
approach in which transportation professionals partner with regulatory
agencies, local governments, citizens and other stakeholders as part
of a solutions team. The guiding principles of CTE's training course
are that context sensitive solutions will:
- Address the transportation need
(w/solutions that are safe, functional, affordable and "doable")
- Be an asset to the community
(w/solutions that match community values)
- Be compatible with the natural and human environment
(w/solutions that are low impact and aesthetically appropriate)
"Context Sensitive Solutions: A Better Way," the CSS course that CTE developed for the North Carolina Department of Transportation,
is distinctive in both its range and depth. Course materials cover CSS approaches and tools from transportation planning, project development
and design, on through to right of way, construction, operations and maintenance. Special emphasis is placed on defining "quality of life,"
which is critical to understanding context.CTE has trained over 1,000
DOT employees, consultants, federal and state agency regulators and regional
and
local government
staff. Course
participants are benefiting not just from lectures and case study presentations,
but also from facilitated group discussions
and decision-making exercises. CTE will continue to provide training to NCDOT
employees and others through 2005.
CTE developed and customized this course to help implement NCDOT's vision
of excellence in design, environmental stewardship and customer focus. CSS
training introduces the concepts of flexibility in design and "altering the infrastructure to fit the environment" rather
than imposing a standard infrastructure upon the human and natural environments.
Training helps DOT staff and their partners to meet customers'
needs and expectations while fulfilling their responsibilities as environmental
stewards. The goal of CSS training is for this approach for achieving transportation
solutions to be an integral part of how everyone does business in North Carolina.
For more information on this course, please contact Leigh Lane, CTE senior research associate.
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