Can online engagement help reach the Environmental Justice and traditionally underrepresented populations? The EPA’s Environmental Justice (EJ) requirement calls for the meaningful involvement of people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income. At the same time, technology is changing the way we communicate. In response, the use of online public engagement is rapidly expanding, whether it’s on your laptop at home, kiosks in the...
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Strategies to Drive Engagement for Your Project The movie ‘Field of Dreams’ got one thing wrong. When it comes to public participation, the adage “if you build it they will come” is terribly naïve. In the online world, many people think if they launch a web tool, everyone will come flocking. Veterans in the business know that it isn’t that easy. In order to compete with...
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VIA Metropolitan Transit is using MetroQuest in support of “Vision 2040,” a planning process to update the agency’s Long Range Comprehensive Transportation Plan for the greater San Antonio region. Using MetroQuest for their engagement process will let the community have their say in the future of public transportation in their area. “Vision 2040 is a community-driven process with many opportunities for members of the public to...
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The Smart Cities and Sustainability Task Force continues the focus on sustainability by addressing recent advances in technology and innovation to cultivate cities which are smarter, more resilient, and sustainable. The Task Force, which is a collaborative initiative between the Sustainable Communities, Technology, and Transportation Planning Divisions of the American Planning Association (APA), seeks to research and report on how technology advances are changing the...
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8 Tips to Help You Reach Targeted Populations It’s no secret - the best public involvement is inclusive and increasingly it is being enforced as a requirement of planning efforts. Agencies around the world each have their own way of describing inclusiveness. In the US the EPA’s term is Environmental Justice (EJ) or Title VI. This requires the “fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people...
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I think we can agree that the types of people who show up to public meetings are not very representative of the general population. This observation raises an important question. When we design our public engagement process, who should we be targeting? The keenest and most motivated participants are easy. They will show up no matter what. Unfortunately, there’s few of them and they usually hold...
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