Ten Ways to Create More Meaningful Public Participation
Posted By HR Partnership on July 5, 2009
Ten Ways to Create More Meaningful Public Participation shared at the first Civic Engagement Summit on April 4, 2009:
|
Move Away From… |
Move Toward… |
| Positions – where people dig in to narrow representations of what they want | Values – where people can forge common ground and envision solutions that meet a variety of needs |
| Usual Suspects – where participants represent a small segment of the total stakeholder community | Full Spectrum of Stakeholder Voices – where a balanced understanding of community values, interests, and concerns is ensured |
| Argument – where everyone seeks to get their own individual way | Dialogue – where people seek to understand each other before coming to firm conclusions |
| Buy-in – where we seek to convince others to adopt our decisions | Real Input – where others’ opinions are used to shape decisions |
| Events – where people get one shot at a decision or project | Processes – where everyone is integrated into decision-making and put on a shared learning curve |
| Late Involvement – where others are informed after decisions have basically been made | Early and Continuous Involvement – where stakeholders have input to issues that matter |
| Opinions – where they’re taken only at a point in time | Conclusions – where they’re arrived as through shared learning and dialogue |
| Individual Demands – where the loudest stakeholders are heard | Shared Responsibility – where the total community finds sustainable solutions |
| One Size Fits All Meetings – where the same approach is always used to work with the public | Custom Designed Processes – where the needs of the problem and the stakeholders are met |
| Arms-Length Interaction – where stakeholders are kept at “arms length” | Functional Relationships – where stakeholders are allowed to know, understand and trust each other |
Adapted from The Perspectives Group
Provided by the Hampton Roads Center for Civic Engagement
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