Jan. 24—ELKHART — Vibrant Communities, a community movement launched in 2016 to advocate for community building, unity, and quality of place initiatives and promotion, has announced dates and locations for upcoming community conversations to unveil Action Agenda 2.0 here in Elkhart County.

The open house-style public meetings will kick off Jan. 29 at the Nappanee Public Library, 157 N. Main St., as a way for residents to learn about what is in their specific community’s Action Agenda, hear from community leaders and share to input, according to a news release from the Elkhart County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Topics of discussion will revolve around six main themes identified by the Action Agenda 2.0 campaign — a follow-up to Vibrant Communities’ original Action Agenda from 2016. The six themes — downtowns, parks and trails, arts and cultural activities, volunteerism/community involvement, neighborhood projects and programs and environmental and natural resources — were identified through outreach and community surveys conducted by Vibrant Communities throughout 2022 and 2023.

“The new Action Agenda represents the collective voice of Elkhart County residents telling us why they love where they live, and what they want more of,” said Vibrant Communities co-chairs Arvis Dawson and Suzie Weirick in a joint statement. “We are excited to move forward with this new Action Agenda. By continuing to invest in well-crafted, placemaking projects we can continue to build more vibrant communities for residents of Elkhart County.

“The upcoming, open house public discussions are an important step in shaping our next five years of growth, and we invite everyone to come join these conversations and learn about how they can be more engaged.”

Action Agenda 2.0 — Community Conversations schedule:

—Nappanee, Jan. 29 from 4-6 p.m., at the Nappanee Public Library

—Goshen, Jan. 30 from 4-6 p.m., at the Goshen Theater, 216. S. Main St.

—Middlebury, Feb. 1 from 4-6 p.m., at the Middlebury Public Library, 101 Winslow St.

—Bristol, Feb. 7 from 4-6 p.m., at the Bristol Opera House, 210 E. Vistula St.

—Elkhart, Feb. 8 from 4-6 p.m., at the Elkhart Public Library, 300 S. Second St.

—Millersburg, Feb. 12 from 4-6 p.m., at Millersburg Town Hall, 201 W. Washington St.

—Wakarusa, Feb. 13 from 4-6 p.m., at Doc’s Pavilion, 400 N. Washington St.

“In 2022, alone, more than 3,200 ideas were submitted by Elkhart County residents to help us identify ways we can improve our communities,” said Jon Hunsberger, executive director of the Elkhart County Convention and Visitors Bureau in the release. “People are clearly invested in our Vibrant Communities mission, and really have been since we launched in 2016 with our original Action Agenda. The best way for us to begin our Action Agenda 2.0 campaign — for which we compiled an enormous amount of data, including a 2023 online survey we conducted with the help of Indiana University South Bend — is to go to each community and gather feedback from the folks who matter most.”

To learn more, visit vibrantelkhartcounty.org.