About the Promoting Active Communities Program

Getting Michigan Moving! Benefits of the Promoting Active Communities Program Design Guidelines for Active Michigan Communities Eligibility Recognition for Award Winners Award Levels Previous Award Winners Improvement of the Promoting Active Communities Assessment Acknowledgements Answers to Other Questions

Quick Facts 144 Michigan communities from 57 counties have completed the PAC assessment at least once 55 communities have earned an award more than once To date, no Michigan Community has earned a platinum level award, but many are striving to be the first!

Getting Michigan Moving!

Active living communities make it easy for people to include physical activity in their daily lives. The Promoting Active Communities (PAC) Program is part of a state initiative on physical activity to help Michigan communities make changes to their policies, promotion strategies, and the physical design of their communities to make it easier for community residents to be physically active. The PAC assessment is a web-based self-assessment tool that enables communities to examine their policies, programs, and built environments. The assessment, which requires teamwork between community leaders and citizens, generates ideas for community improvements. Upon completion, every community is eligible to earn one of five award levels from the Michigan Fitness Foundation, based on their assessment score.

Benefits of the Promoting Active Community Program

Recognition. The resulting award brings recognition to the community for achievements in removing barriers to make it easier for people to be active.

Planning. Personalized community reports enhance the community planning process by describing strengths and potential for improvements.

Partnerships. Local leaders develop new partnerships and enhance existing partnerships as a result of working together to complete the assessment.

Awareness. Media announcements increase awareness among community residents about the community’s vision and assets related to active living.

Marketing. Communities use their award as another mechanism for promoting their communities.

Funding. Communities that understand their needs and assets are well-positioned to be more competitive when applying for funding opportunities.

Design Guidelines for Active Michigan Communities

Design Guidelines for Active Michigan Communities: Imagining, Creating, and Improving Communities for Physical Activity, Active Living, and Recreation can assist Michigan community leaders, planners, transportation officials, parks and recreation professionals, bicycle enthusiasts, business owners, and neighborhood residents to create active communities. The Design Guidelines is a stand alone publication, downloadable from this website (click here to download the Design Guidelines) and is also linked to the online PAC assessment tool. Certain questions in the PAC assessment have an icon next to them, serving as a direct link to the relevant section of the Design Guidelines which describes how that topic relates to active living.

Eligibility

Any city, township, charter township, or village in the State of Michigan is eligible to complete the online self-assessment, which also serves as the award application. Communities are welcome to use the self-assessment to obtain feedback about what they are doing well to promote physical activity as well as areas where they might improve.

Recognition for Award Winners

Winners' names are published in statewide publications, posted on websites and displayed on the Michigan Fitness web page, www.michiganfitness.org. In addition, press releases announcing the honor are issued to the winner's local media.

Award Levels

There are five levels of the Promoting Active Communities Award (listed below). An Honorable Mention is given to communities who complete the PAC assessment, but do not score high enough to receive an award. Any community is encouraged to apply for a higher award level when improvements have been made.

Criteria for Award Levels:

Copper: Communities have made a commitment to becoming a healthier place to live and have begun to take steps toward removing barriers to physical activity.

Bronze: Communities have taken important steps toward making it easy for people to be active.

Silver: Communities have achieved significant progress toward making it easy for people to be active.

Gold: Communities can document outstanding achievements in making it easy for people to be active.

Platinum: Communities are models of commitment to healthy, active living.

Previous Award Winners

Improvement of the Promoting Active Communities Assessment

Since its inception in 2000, the Promoting Active Communities Award has been enhanced several times to reflect current best practices for supporting active living. The most recent improvement is this year (2013); for the first time the PAC assessment includes an Complete Streets score.

Please click here for a brief history of past PAC improvements.

Acknowledgements

Answers to Other Questions

To find answers to your other questions, read the Frequently Asked Questions — most of the answers can be found there. If your questions remain unanswered after reading the Frequently Asked Questions, please contact us.