Kane County will be receiving a national award for the Kane County Planning Cooperative as one of the implementation strategies for the 2040 Plan, integrating health, transportation and land-use planning.

The county will receive an Award of Excellence in the Best Practices Category from the American Planning Association County Planning Division and the National Association of County Planners. The award will be presented at the APA County Planning Division annual meeting at the APA national Convention in Seattle, WA, on April 19.

Each year, the American Planning Association, County Planning Division and its sister organization, the National Association of County Planners give out County Planning Project Awards. There are two types of awards: Awards of Excellence and Awards of Merit, presented in seven categories: Planning Project, Comprehensive Plan – Large Jurisdiction, Comprehensive Plan – Small Jurisdiction, Best Practices, Grass Roots Initiative, Small Area/Special Area Planning and Special Focus Planning Initiative – Senior Livability.

Only one Award of Excellence and one Award of Merit may be granted per category each year. If the Awards Jury finds that none of the nominations in a particular category meets the desirable standards, they may grant no award in that category for that year.

The Kane County Planning Cooperative uses a “health in all policies” approach to planning since the adoption of the Kane County 2040 Plan and the launch of the Kane County Planning Cooperative in 2012. The KCPC’s implementation strategy, which is based on integrating Kane County’s Health, Transportation and Development Department planning efforts, has been ongoing and has had recent success in implementing the Kane County 2040 Plan.

The overarching theme of the 2040 Plan—Healthy People, Healthy Living and Healthy Communities—provides a unified vision for the county as they strive to achieve their primary goal of having the healthiest residents in Illinois by the year 2030.

This is the fourth award recognizing the Kane County Board for the innovative Kane County Planning Cooperative. In 2012, the American Public Health Association awarded a Policy Innovation Award, and in 2013, the Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association awarded a Best Practices Award. In 2014, Kane County was honored with a ULI Chicago Vision Awards for the nine-county Chicago region.