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 [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
Increase engagement and save time and money with higher returns Public engagement budgets seem to be shrinking while expectations are heading in the other direction. Now that some of the online engagement tools have reached maturity, they can be the most cost-effective way to meet your community engagement targets. It’s no secret that traditional public [...]
The next generation of community engagement: blending high-tech and high-touch public involvement We need to rethink our entire approach to public engagement. The 1st generation of public engagement, version 1.0, was dominated by traditional public meetings. Rent the hall, buy the muffins and see who shows up. The issue with these is that you just [...]
The five benefits of engaging a larger, broader audience Online public engagement tools are giving project leaders even more ways to reach out and gather public input. With so much change happening it’s useful to take stock and ask ourselves why we do this. What’s the payoff of better community engagement? What does ‘better’ engagement [...]
How Online Outreach to Seniors Has Changed The online landscape has changed so significantly in the last 5 years that we have had to drastically readjust how we engage seniors through the internet. Historically this 65+ demographic has been the hardest to engage, but recently they are becoming one of the most accessible groups online. [...]
Engaging people online can be one of the fastest, easiest and most cost-efficient methods for collecting community input. Unfortunately a few missteps in the process can negate any benefit. Knowing “best practice” for engaging online is only half the battle. You also need to watch out for some common misconceptions that can steer you wrong. [...]
21 Tips for Project Leaders Agencies' expectations for broad and inclusive participation are on the rise and many are turning to online engagement tools as a key part of the solution. As a result, there are an increasing array to tools to choose from. Go to any planning conference and planners will be talking about [...]
