1 day course on public engagement

7/29/2019 1 Day Course on Public Engagement

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PRE CONFERENCE COURSE ON PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT! 14 FEBRUARY, 2013

PREPARED BY TYLER KNOWLTON AND GRANT MACDONALD! PAGE 1

Agenda08:30 Arrivals & Registration

08:45 Find Seats

09:00 Introductions

09:15 Learning Objectives

09:30 Session Outline

09:45 Definitions

10:00 Case Introduction

10:15 Purpose or Perish

10:45 Report Back

11:00 Roles, Responsibilities

11:15 Past Approaches

11:30 Aligning Expectations

12:00 Lunch

12:45 Decision Making, Scope

13:00 Publics vs Stakeholders

13:15 Publics & StakeholdersIdentification Exercise

14:00 Report Back & Discussion

14:30 Break

14:45 Planning & the EngagementProcess Exercise & Discussion

15:30 Take-aways, Bike Rack &Wrap-up

ENGAGEMENTGround RulesThese ground rules are intended to serve asterms of engagement for the participants in this course.

Offer respect of different viewpoints and attention whenothers speak.

Share the responsibility of ensuring the success of the process

and the quality of recommendations. Make our best good faith effort to work towards reaching

an agreement.

Ask questions of each other for clarification and mutualunderstanding.

Acknowledge and try to understand others perspectives.

Stay focused on the task at hand and share airtime with others.

Refrain from distracting others through side conversations.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Gain a better understanding of the differencebetween public relations and public engagement

2. Understand the difference between stakeholdersand various publics

3. Understand the public engagement planningprocess

4. Understand the decision making process andwhere various publics/stakeholders fit in

5. Be able to define a the scope of a publicengagement initiative based on a numberof variables

6. Gain a better understanding of the varietyof tools and techniques available to publicengagement practitioners


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Agenda## # # # # # # # # # Page 1

Ground Rules# # # # # # # # # # Page 1

Learning Objectives# # # # # # # # # Page 1

7 core Principles of Public Engagement# # # # # # Page 2Public Engagement Models and Spectrum# # # # # # Page 3

Case Study# # # # # # # # # # Page 4

Purpose Model## # # # # # # # # Page 4

Aligning Expectations Exercise Table# # # # # # # Page 5

The Decision Making Process# # # # # # # # Page 6

Publics vs Stakeholders# # # # # # # # Page 7

Targeted Public Engagement# # # # # # # # Page 7

Planning the Engagement Process Exercise# # # # # # Page 8

Examples of Public Engagement Techniques# # # # # # Page 10Complete IAP2 Spectrum# # # # # # # # Page 12

These seven principles reflect the common beliefsand understandings of those working in the fieldsof public engagement, conflict resolution, andcollaboration. In practice, people apply these andadditional principles in many different ways.

1. CAREFUL PLANNING & PREPARATION

Through adequate and inclusive planning, ensurethat the design, organization, and convening of theprocess serve both a clearly defined purpose andthe needs of the participants.

2. INCLUSION & DEMOGRAPHICDIVERSITY

Equitably incorporate diverse people, voices, ideas,and information to lay the groundwork for quality

outcomes and democratic legitimacy.

3. COLLABORATION & SHARED PURPOSE

Support and encourage participants, governmentand community institutions, and others to worktogether to advance the common good.

4. OPENNESS & LEARNING

Help all involved listen to each other, explore newideas unconstrained by predetermined outcomes,learn and apply information in ways that generatenew options, and rigorously evaluate publicengagement activities for effectiveness.

5. TRANSPARENCY & TRUST

Be clear and open about the process, and provide apublic record of the organizers, sponsors,outcomes, and range of views and ideas expressed.

6. IMPACT & ACTION

Ensure each participatory effort has real potentialto make a difference, and that participants areaware of that potential.

7. SUSTAINED ENGAGEMENT &PARTICIPATORY CULTURE

Promote a culture of participation with programsand institutions that support ongoing qualitypublic engagement.

SEVEN CORE PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT


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INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION (IAP2)

IAP2's Spectrum of Public Participation was designed to assist with the selection of the level ofparticipation that defines the public's role in any public participation process. The Spectrum shows thatdiffering levels of participation are legitimate and depend on the goals, time frames, resources, andlevels of concern in the decision to be made.

The IAP2 Spectrum of Participation is a resource that is used on an international level and can be foundin many public participation plans.

htt ://www.ia 2.or

ARNSTEINS LADDER

Sherry Arnstein, writing in 1969 aboutcitizen involvement in planning processesin the United States, described a ladder ofcitizen participation. The ladder of citizenparticipation ranges from high citizenpower to low(as pictured). See Sherry R.Arnsteins A Ladder of CitizenParticipation, Journal of the AmericanPlanning Association, Vol. 35, No. 4, July1969, pp. 216-224.

This article is about power structures insociety and how they interact. Specifically

it is a guide to seeing who has power whenimportant decisions are being made. Theconcepts discussed in this article about1960s America apply to any hierarchicalsociety but are still mostly unknown,unacknowledged or ignored by many people around the world.

Here is how David Wilcox describes the 8 rungs of the ladder at www.partnerships.org.uk/part/arn.htm
http://http/www.partnerships.org.uk/part/arn.htmhttp://http/www.partnerships.org.uk/part/arn.htmhttp://http/www.partnerships.org.uk/part/arn.htmhttp://www.iap2.org/http://www.iap2.org/http://www.iap2.org/


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CASE STUDY - KEEPING OUR YOUTH, SECURING OUR FUTURE

The statistics on youth leaving the Nova Scotia to seek their fortunes elsewhere are startling and the news isespecially bad for rural communities. The Government has been under fire by the opposition parties andsome municipal leaders for ignoring the problem. The Caucus has asked you for a plan to engage the publicin coming up with a provincial strategy to combat the problem.

PURPOSE OR PERISH - EXAMPLES OF ENGAGEMENT PURPOSES

The following questions can help you think about what the purpose of engaging the public andstakeholders in your project really is.

1. What do you hope to achieve by involving the public in this initiative?

2. What does success look like?

3. Does your organizations initial view fit in the list below?

Gathering pre-existing opinions

Improving relationships

Generating new ideas

Building cultural change

Making a direct decision

Overcoming conflict

Gathering informed and considered opinions

Creating a shared vision

Creating opportunities for the public and stakeholders to talk to each other and to our organization

Building skills and capacity in reaching consensus and empowering participants


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ALIGNING EXPECTATIONS

Possible Internal Expectations Possible External Expectation


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DIVERGENT AND CONVERGENT THINKING

A DECISION MAKING CYCLE AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Convergent thinking is a style of thought thatattempts to consider all available informationand arrive at the single best possible answer.Convergent thinking is not, generally speaking,

particularly creative and is best employed whena single correct answer does exist and canbe discovered based on an analysis ofavailable information.

Divergent thinking is an approach to a situationor concept which focuses on exploring as manyaspects of the concept as possible. Starting with asingle idea, the divergent thinker allows his or hermind to wander offin many different directions,gathering numerous thoughts and ideas whichrelate to the concept. Divergent thinking can beused as a method of creative brainstorming in awide variety of settings, ranging from the researchand development department of a major company to the classroom.With divergent thinking, people startout thinking about a single concept, and develop many solutions and approaches to the concept.

For over a decade experts have warned ofthe deficit model of engagement where itis seen to be a one-way flow of informationfrom experts to a largely passive public,

with little real voice for people in decision-making. In response a number oforganisations have called for upstreamengagement i.e. engaging to explorepeoples attitudes and aspirations wellbefore major policy decisions are made.

Research has found that public engagementin national decision-making has sometimestended to be a reactive process, oftencommissioned by Government as a resultof public dissatisfaction or the failure of anational policy. Engagement commissionedin this way usually occurs late in the policycycle and is primarily seen as a way ofrebuilding trust in a discredited decisionmaking process. Upstream engagement aims to shape better policy decisions and to prevent the loss ofpublic trust, rather than trying to rebuild it after policy failure.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmpubadm/writev/publicpolicy/m04.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-brainstorming.htmhttp://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-brainstorming.htm


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PUBLICS VS STAKEHOLDERS

The involvement of stakeholders is crucial to manypublic engagement exercises because they frequentlybring special expertise or experience to deliberativeprocesses. Moreover their cooperation is often

instrumental in the successful implementation of anew initiative, policy or regulation. Indeed, whetherthey "represent" those for whom they speak may beless important than the contribution they can maketo a better decision.

Groups and organizations are especially importantin initiatives that require some negotiation. Sortingout the stakeholders in any consultative situation,and designing a process for including their voices, isoften a key task.

Public: Anyone who is interested in, involved withor affected by a decision.

Individuals representing themselves.

Much of the attention given to public engagementexercises has focused, and rightfully so, on theinvolvement of individuals in consultative anddeliberative decision-making processes

Stakeholder: Any identifiable group ororganization that is interested in, involved with oraffected by a decision.

Individuals representing the interests of themselvesand others

WHAT IS A TARGETED ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVE?

High Level TopicFocused Topic

SpecificStakeholders

GeneralPublic

TARGET INITIATIVES

A public engagement initiative can be targeted in two different ways.

1. Targeted in Topic : what is going to be discussed

2. Targeted in Participants : who gets to participate


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PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PLANNING EXERCISE

Timeline

Budget: $ ________________________________________

Engagement Techniques

Internal Communications -Your Own and Other Government Departments

External Communications


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Risks

Benefits

Advice

List of Available Techniques(all contracted

)

Public Meetings Province Wide - 1 meeting = $5,000

Online Survey-$10,00

Social Media Campaign - 10,000

Branded Web Site -$20,000

Telephone Survey-$12,000

Private Stakeholder Meetings - 1 meeting = $5,000


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TOOLS & TECHNIQUES: CITIZENS REFERENCE PANELS

What is it?

The Citizens Reference Panel brings togethera group of 24 to 36 randomly selected citizens froma pool of those who respond to a broad call to

service. This random selection process is calleda Civic Lottery. They meet for a series of day-longmeetings to work through a programme designedto establish public priorities and make clearrecommendations on an issue. The process includesthree main phases of 1. Learning, 2. Meeting thePublic and 3. Deliberation. This design process grewout of an examination of the British Columbia andOntarios Citizens Assemblies by founders of theadvisory firm MASS LBP. (Please, see additionalresources below.)

When would you use it?When dealing with a divisive issue or dividedcommunity.When you want to enhance transparencyand build institutional trust.

What do you need to know?

It is important to ensure that sufficient financialand time resources are allotted. Its also importantto draw information from various sources during

the learning phase.

Additional Information

Here is a link to the MASS LBP the advisory firmthat developed this technique.www.masslbp.com

What is it?

Sensemaker is an analytical software tool that is

used to analyze submissions for themes, trends andweak signals. A tool designed by Cognitive Edge,the notion is that unlike traditional surveys orpolls, Sensemaker collects and analyzes narrativesand stories. The analyzed data can then bemanipulated to help users understand meaningsbehind it.

When would you use it?

Sensemaker is an excellent tool for sifting throughlarge amounts of submissions. Sensemaker is alsoable to provide quantitative data alongsidequalitative data. The ability to provide quantitativedata and charts can be enriching to an engagementeffort. Sensemaker can be used in face-to-facesettings, however it most commonly used viathe Web.


Setting up a Sensemaker form should be done

by someone who understands how to selectquestions that will yield useable data. Severalindividuals within the Nova Scotia Governmenthave completed the Cognitive Edge trainingand have experience using the Sensemaker tool.

TOOLS & TECHNIQUES: SENSEMAKER

INFORM

CONSULT

INVOLVECOLLABORATE

EMPOWER

INFORM

CONSULT

INVOLVE

COLLABORATE

EMPOWER
http://cognitive-edge.com/http://cognitive-edge.com/http://www.sensemaker-suite.com/http://www.sensemaker-suite.com/http://www.masslbp.com/http://www.masslbp.com/http://www.masslbp.com/journal.phphttp://www.masslbp.com/journal.php


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TOOLS & TECHNIQUES: COFFEE KLATCHES

What is it?

A small group, informal meeting in someones home.One method of gathering the voices of communitymembers is through Kitchen Table Meetings.

Kitchen Table Meetings are small informalgatherings of community members who meet todiscuss an issue area or need in the community.At these events, each group follows a specific formator series of predetermined open ended questions.Kitchen Table meetings are an effective way toensure the voices of people who do not normallyattend larger community events, are heard. FromCARS, Communities Achieving Responsive ServicesTraining Resource 2008


When you want to have a relaxed and informalenvironment for conversation. These gatheringscan be recorded and broadcast or shared with alarger audience.


Although meeting atmosphere is informal,its important to capture/document input.

Additional Information

The Marsh Lake Local Area Planning Team inthe Yukon used Kitchen Table meetings to engagecitizens in the local area plan. Heres a link to theirdiscussion guide.http://planmarshlake.ca/planning-process

What is it?

As the name implies, the Fishbowl Process is a

meeting conducted so that members of the public,or group can surround and view deliberations andwitness how decisions are reached. There areclosed and open variations of the Fish Bowlprocess,with the latter allowing for observers, orthe bowl, to rotate sitting in with the decisionmakers or the fish and making contributions.


When you want to establish trust throughtransparency. When you want the public to learnabout decision making processes. When you wantthe public and stakeholders to see how their inputwas incorporated into deliberations and decisionmaking.


Be sure that observers are clear on the roles and

responsibilities of the decision makers or fish

TOOLS & TECHNIQUES: NEWSPAPER INSERTS

NO SHORTAGE OF TOOLS AND EXPERTISE

You will find that as you work through the public engagement planning process, the righttools and techniques will present themselves as needed. There is no shortage of creative andexciting techniques emerging all the time. However, it is important to note thatmismatching tools and purposes can be as bad or worse than doing nothing at all!

INFORM

CONSULT

INVOLVE

COLLABORATE

EMPOWER

INFORM

CONSULT

INVOLVE

COLLABORATE

EMPOWER
http://planmarshlake.ca/planning-processhttp://planmarshlake.ca/planning-processhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5E-Fe1kf_Ahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5E-Fe1kf_A


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1 day course on public engagement

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