Public and community engagement, involvement and participation is what we are doing as consultants. It is also what we help others do most effectively. We work with teams, companies and agencies on reaching consensus through public participation and collaboration. We usually find ourselves bridging divides by creating spaces where people are willing to participate to build solutions. Community engagement builds consensus. And below you have some of the best of the news and tips that we have found about how to engage communities. Or what happens when you do not. The latest news handpicked by our public sector consultants, all wrapped up with a sometimes snarky – yet always informed – perspective. Enjoy!
Doing public participation has never really been easy. We’ve occasionally worked for organizations that truly believe and value the benefit of including citizens in their plans, but more often than not, clients tend to view public involvement as more of a necessary evil. Professionals rarely relish the idea of sharing ...
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Empathy has always been rightfully regarded as a key ingredient for successful community engagement and building trust. Craig Spencer said in the New York Times recently, “America’s leaders are increasingly casting aside empathy and compassionate care as dangerous liabilities. Elon Musk has called empathy ‘the fundamental weakness of Western civilization,’ ...
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Great questions get great answers. Like “Why is anything about Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs breaking news?” Answer: “BECAUSE PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE UNDERFUNDED!” (I apologize for shouting but some answers are too important for lower case letters.) The world of engagement revolves around questions; questions that stakeholders have about initiatives, questions ...
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When I first ran across this linked story, I felt equal amounts of recognition and frustration – reluctant resignation that the author, Robert Graboyes, is mostly right, and anger that Graboyes is mostly right. I debated even including it in this newsletter. But even though I don’t agree with everything ...
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In almost every community engagement effort there will come a time when at least some of the people involved will need to sit down and work out the details of whatever they’ve been engaging in. Everyone’s usually worked hard to get to the point where they’re willing to have a ...
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New renewable energy projects are booming and will continue to do so as long as the business benefits, demand and economics pencil out. But, a lot of large, utility-scale solar projects are running into community roadblocks in spite of their presumed squeaky clean image. People living near these proposed projects ...
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When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty.” This quote, often attributed to Thomas Jefferson, may sound harsh, but the new normal that we’re all experiencing under the current regime in Washington requires some thought about what it really means to be impartial. I don’t know how anyone can remain truly ...
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The idea of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is not just under attack in the U.S., it’s in the process of annihilation. It’s been repackaged and branded, along with the term “woke”, as vile concepts that have no place in society. And, as of this writing, the concept of empathy ...
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Gloom, despair and agony is pretty easy to wallow in for a lot of peple these days, but if you pay attention, there is light at the end of the tunnel....
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In working with one of the advisory type groups that I facilitate, there are frequent occasions when invited speakers are given a finite amount of time to present whatever information needs to be shared with our folks.
This often poses a challenge because: (1) experts love to talk at length ...
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