Engaging the Public for River Sustainability

Civic Engagement – A Definition

Civic engagement engenders collective action to identify and address issues of public concern, instilling a sense of personal responsibility to uphold obligations as part of a community.

Civic Engagement is not…

• Consensus-building

• Collaboration

• Communication or

• Public advocacy

Rather it collects from and uses all these forms of engagement.

The Need For A Constituency

Overarching Question –

Who do you represent?

Seven Principles of Civic Engagement

• Careful planning & preparation

• Inclusion & demographic diversity

• Collaboration & shared purpose

• Openness & learning

• Transparency & trust

• Impact & action

• Sustained engagement & participatory culture

Careful Planning and Preparation

• Inclusive oversight

• Data and science

• Factual and values framework

• Common lexicon

Role of Careful Planning and Preparation

• Information authentication

• Trust

• Informed discussion

Inclusion & Demographic Diversity

Representation of diverse opinion as much as ethnic or geographic

• Important for voices in the room

• Varying perspectives make new ideas

• Legitimizes outcomes

Inclusion & Demographic Diversity

How does this apply to public policy for rivers and their communities?

Discussion

Collaboration & Shared Purpose

• Useful in complex, multi-party issues• Process to obtain goals that cannot be

reached by one single agent• Based on principles of local

participation and ownership• Goal – jointly develop and agree on

common objectives and directions• Share responsibility• Work for the achievement of the

agreed-upon items

Collaboration & Shared Purpose

• How does this apply to public

policy for rivers and their communities?

• Discussion

Shared Purpose – Attitude to Action Continuum

Collaboration & Shared Purpose

• Important in today’s interconnected

society where issues affect diverse groups with different interests and perspectives

• Allows future orientation• Leverages resources• Fosters exploration of joint gains and

integrative solutions• Permits stakeholders to deal with

interrelated issues in a single forum• Shared risk builds trust and minimizes

turf issues• Avoids duplication

Collaboration & Shared Purpose

• How does this apply to public policy for rivers and their communities?

• Discussion

Openness & Learning

• Mindset allows purposeful

collaboration• Fosters new ideas• Fosters trust by allowing

questioning• Allows individual and group

evaluation for on-the-ground solution/evaluation

Openness & Learning

How does this apply to public policy for rivers and their communities?

Discussion

Transparency & Trust

• Role of neutral convener/process

in building trust• Fairly refereed game vs. unfairly

refereed game• Openness and its relationship to a

participant’s willingness to contribute

Transparency & Trust

• How does this apply to public

policy for rivers and their communities?

• Discussion

Impact & Action

• Concrete goal setting• Agreed-upon measurement• Public policy – agenda,

constituency, strategy• Who do you represent?

Sustained Engagement & Participatory Culture

Theo Brown

AmericaSpeaks