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!
It’s helpful to find hopeful signs during an often frustrating period of trying to engage communities that appear so separated by politics and culture. Philanthropic organizations are putting resources into mostly rural places where seeds of democracy can be planted and accomplishments are real....
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I’ve been working on one particular client project for nearly a decade and a half. The project is (obviously) long-term, the stakes are enormous, and so are the community challenges. The public/stakeholder group that I facilitate recently crafted and finalized a formal Good Neighbor Agreement that spells out enforceable ways ...
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Repeat almost anything often enough and people will start to believe it. Like, for instance, the idea that we’re a hopelessly divided nation. Fact is, we’re probably not, at least not as much as most people think. The loudest, extremist voices on either side of politics might say so, but ...
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The National Civic League is proposing to eliminate the current public comment processes – hearings and traditional public meetings. On face value, that sounds radically provocative, but in fact, they favor better, deliberative processes that allow for real public participation in the decisions that public officials grapple with. We’ve agreed ...
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Sarah Palin once said that “polls are only good for strippers and cross country skiers.” That’s a little harsh, but given the state of public opinion polling, she might not be the only person who thinks that these days. The public opinion measuring business has changed and continues to try ...
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People pay closest attention and respond to the things that scare them; we’re just wired that way. So, the people who want to get your attention and keep you responding to whatever they’re selling will continually tell you things to make you believe you’re going to lose something or get ...
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Meetings get a bad rap and I confess that I’ve sometimes been guilty of piling on. Traditional public meetings are often the least effective way to engage a community, in light of all the other options and formats. But it’s not necessarily the meeting itself that’s the problem, but how ...
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Somebody said to me recently, “You must be a real extrovert to do what you do.” As a guy who has always avoided large social gatherings, that made me laugh until tears ran down my leg. But I’ve discovered that I might very well be an ambivert. Until recently, I ...
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If people can’t or find it uncomfortable to come to you, go to them. Yo, Philly!...
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The us against them mentality is no clearer than in local planning and zoning issues. As the price of real estate keeps home buying out of reach for more people, housing alternatives are struggling to find traction. The mere suggestion of “affordable housing” sends a lot of adjacent, existing homeowners ...
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