Windham Regional Commission

05/24/2026

UMass Amherst scenario planning grad students presented the Ready or Not board game they created as part of our 4-town flood adaptation project and charrette in the Deerfield Valley. The presentation was at the Southern VT Economy Summit. Great fun and learning was had by all! To learn more visit the Deerfield Valley RISE website https://www.deerfieldvalleyrise.com/.

05/24/2026

This semester a group of three graduate students with The Conway School: Graduate Program in Sustainable Planning and Design did a fantastic job working with us and the planning commissions in Grafton, Newfane and Wardsboro to develop a flood adaptation guide focused on historic villages that explores concepts like infill development and evolving up and away from risk. Thanks to the School and students for taking this on!


https://windhamregional.org/wp-content/uploads/Historic-Village-Flood-Adaptation-Guide.pdf

05/18/2026

WRC to Host Land Use Planning Online Workshops for Municipal Officials in May and June

The Windham Regional Commission will be hosting three Land Use Planning workshops in May and June 2026 focusing on strategies for implementing Town Plans, what towns can do to support housing development, and the land use decision making process for municipal boards. The workshops will be recorded and posted on WRC’s website.

Implementing the Town Plan – Regulatory & Non-Regulatory Strategies: Tuesday, May 19th from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. via Zoom

What Can Towns do to Support More Housing? Wednesday, June 10th from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. via Zoom

Land Use Application Review and Decision-Making Process:
Tuesday, June 16th from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. via Zoom

For more information, including how to log in, follow the link!

WRC is hosting three Land Use Planning workshops in May and June 2026 focusing on strategies for implementing Town Plans, what towns can do to support housing development, and the land use decision making process for municipal boards.

05/18/2026

We're holding a virtual public meeting on Wednesday, May 20th at 6 p.m. to discuss Act 181 updates to the Windham Regional Plan.

For login information go here:https://windhamregional.org/wp-content/uploads/Draft-Windham-Regional-Plan-Update-Public-Meetings-flyer.pdf

For regional plan update information go here: https://windhamregional.org/act-181/

2026 Regional Plan Update Overview WRC is updating its current 2025 Regional Plan to comply with the Act 181 legislation passed in 2024. Act 181 reformed Vermont’s framework for coordinating state, regional, and municipal land use planning. The focus of this Regional Plan update will be on the L...

05/14/2026

WRC Senior Planner Susan Westa, as part of the organizing committee of the Vermont Planners Association, brought the spring planning workshop to Brattleboro. Thank you to the Stone Church for hosting a large group of planners in this beautiful space.

05/06/2026

Upcoming Public Meetings on Draft Regional Plan:

Thursday, May 7th at 5:30 p.m., Winston Prouty Center, Holton Hall, 4th Floor Conference Room, 209 Austine Drive, Brattleboro, VT

Wednesday, May 20th at 6:00 pm, Remote Meeting via Zoom

For more information, including the Zoom login, visit our plan update page https://windhamregional.org/act-181/.

04/14/2026

Recently WRC staff had a chance to play a new board game called "Ready or Not," developed by students at the UMass Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning program. The game is a fun way to help engage in conversations surrounding flood risk and scenario planning. This game rose out of a project where students were working in collaboration with WRC in the Deerfield Valley.

04/09/2026

WRC staff are attending the 5th Annual Capital Planning Forum hosted by the Vermont Bond Bank and the UVM Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships today. We want to build our capacity to help towns make better use of capital planning and budgeting as tools to better inform their budgets, funding v. financing strategies, and become more self-reliant as federal and state funding for hazard mitigation projects and disaster recovery becomes more scarce.

03/11/2026

NOTICE: Due to the lapse in federal funding, portions of this website may not be updated and some non-disaster assistance transactions submitted via the website may not be processed or responded to until after appropriations are enacted.  Click here for more information.

03/07/2026

Land conservation statewide has a large impact on land use on the local level as well as across the region. Join Windham Regional Commission in a Listening Session to learn more about and share your thoughts on the new Vermont Conservation Plan Framework of Objectives, Pathways and Actions. Engage in discussion, ask questions, and share your perspectives on helping Vermont prioritize an actionable plan for land conservation in the future.

In-Person Vermont Conservation Plan Discussion hosted by Windham Regional Commission
Thursday, March 12, 5:30pm – 8pm
Bellows Falls Opera House, Lower Theater (7 The Square, Bellows Falls, VT)
Heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served
RSVP at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdXdcvRIHihL6MhImYYjpHTl7TSeFxLvyGRBH4UsTcOFrSC7Q/viewform