What is the GNAR Academy?
The GNAR Academy is an online course library that seeks to fill in the gap between what community leaders and practitioners have the capacity for, and what their communities need, by providing accessible training around critical topic areas to help communities better understand and advocate for their own needs. We hope to keep adding courses to this library as resources become available, and we also welcome partnerships and/or sponsorships to help design future courses. If you are interested in sponsoring or supporting future GNAR Academy courses, please email Elizabeth Sodja at liz.sodja@usu.edu.
Who is the GNAR Academy Designed For?
Our target audience for the GNAR Academy are community and organizational leaders with limited capacity in rural gateway and natural amenity communities across the West. That said, we hope any community leaders who are seeing growth, development, and/or planning challenges, regardless of geographic location or size, could benefit from this course.
The Academy is designed so that no formal training in community planning is needed to understand the content. We try to convey topics in a high-level, easy to understand way, so that anyone who has a desire to learn how to better help these places can benefit from it. This could include:
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Community leaders (mayors, city council members, county commissioners, etc.)
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Community staff (clerks, city managers, economic development/tourism, planning)
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Local leaders (planning & zoning boards, local NGO leaders)
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Practitioners who work with gateway and/or GNAR communities
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Academics who study these communities
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University Extension professionals
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Federal or state land management agency staff
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Anyone passionate about these communities!
Our Courses
Planning for Resilient Communities Land Use Policy & Disaster Risk Management.
This course was made for gateway community leaders, planners, and anyone seeking solutions for rising disaster risks and the impact they have on communities. Our goal is to equip participants with foundational knowledge for understanding wildfire and flood risks while highlighting strategies and policies used by real-world communities across the West to minimize risk, reduce insurance costs, and support sustainable growth.Lessons in this course include:
- Lesson 1: How Did We Get Here? Understanding Development Patterns, Disaster Risk, and Land Use
- Lesson 2: Wildfire - Understanding Risk and Mitigation in the WUI and Beyond
- Lesson 3: Flooding - Understanding Risk and Mitigation for Floods
- Lesson 4: Understanding Insurance & Affordable Housing Challenges
- Lesson 5: Governance and Collaboration for Mitigation and Resilience
- Lesson 6: Foundations of Resilient Land Use Policy
- Developing with Mitigation in Mind
- Lesson 7: Moving Forward with Confidence: Implementing Solutions and Measuring Impacts
Understanding & Managing Short-Term Rentals Maximize benefits, minimize impacts.
This course was designed to help gateway community leaders learn about the short-term rental industry, its trends, and how to navigate developing balanced policies and regulations with their community. Lessons stem from research on gateway communities, the STR, lodging, and housing industries, and in-depth interviews with 30+ gateway community leaders and STR industry insiders. To help ground content in the real world, we also highlight experiences and resources from gateway communities across the West.Lessons in this course include:
- Lesson 1: Introduction to Short-Term Rentals
- Lesson 2: Start with Data – Finding, Understanding, & Utilizing Local STR Data
- Lesson 3: Community-Driven Policy Development: The Groundwork for Success
- Lesson 4: Developing & Implementing Effective Policies & Regulations
- Lesson 5: Easing Compliance & Enforcement
- Lesson 6: Enhancing Benefits – STR Tax Base, Economic Development, & Tourism
- Lesson 7: How to Stay Engaged with Emerging Trends
Gateway Community Leadership 101 Foundations for gateway community leadership and planning
This course consists of seven lessons, each of which introduces key concepts and principles that are important for anyone who wants to exercise leadership to help gateway and natural amenity region (GNAR) communities effectively navigate challenges and thrive. The lessons in this course stem from our research on GNAR communities, as well as our experience living in and working with these places. They also highlight experiences and resources from specific GNAR communities.Lessons in this course include:
- What is a GNAR Community?
- Finding and Following Your North Star – Turning Values into Vision
- Navigating Conflict Part I: Fundamentals of Conflict and Collaboration
- Navigating Conflict Part II: Assessing What the Situation is Ready For
- Empowering Community Engagement
- Working Across Boundaries
- Charting Your GNARly Future
