At the County Board’s New Years meeting in January, new Board Chairman Mary Hynes announced a new initiative called PLACE, which stands for Participation, Leadership and Civic Engagement.

The initiative has resulted in weekly “open door” meetings with County Board members, civic engagement training for county staff members, and the new PLACE Space “community networking” web site.

PLACE Space allows Arlington residents to engage in online conversations about community issues and to join “circles” for specific neighborhoods or interests. There’s a circle for cyclists, hikers, church-goers, and even for “fig aficionados.”

In the video above, the county’s television channel takes a look at the progress on the PLACE initiative so far.