Public Engagement

What does effective public engagement look like?

Public engagement involves the intentional effort to facilitate meaningful dialogue with the public and specific communities in policy and program work. A key goal of meaningful public engagement is to ensure that people who are impacted by an issue can participate in decision making and influence outcomes. Public engagement, when done well, creates tremendous opportunities for better public policy and stronger democratic processes.

Fostering trusting and collaborative relationships between community and government (or other groups) is the cornerstone of meaningful engagement. Beyond the specific issue at hand, it is important to understand deeper needs, concerns, and perspectives of all impacted groups. This leads to developing mutual respect and the ability collaborate effectively. In addition, working with the public will be more successful if communities are involved early and intentionally in planning, rather than reached only through a “one-and-done” communication process.

While it is not always possible to agree on all aspects a complex issue, it is possible to have a fair and respectful process that builds common ground, trust, and understanding. Public engagement is not always easy. Anger, frustration, and fear can come to the surface in engagement processes. And groups may have very different views about what can and should happen on an issue. The resources below will help you in your effort to create a fair and respectful process.

OCDR guides

Recommended resources

IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation: The Internal Association for Public Participation (IAP2) provides a visual representation of levels of public involvement.
IAP2 events and training calendar: This calendar includes in-person conferences and online foundational training in public participation.
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Public Participation Guide: This EPA public engagement guide helps planners craft meaningful and intentional engagements with their communities.
Nexus Community Partners’ Community Engagement Assessment Tool: Nexus Community Partners recommends using this assessment tool to systematically understand how your organization is working with communities.
Engagement Streams Framework: National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation’s community engagement framework includes a variety of facilitation techniques for public engagement and team settings.
Promoting Civility in Our Public Spaces: A Primer for Local Officials: This University of Nevado-Reno Extension's resource provides a very brief history of civility in public spaces and practical tips for implementing civility in government, including in public meetings.
Participedia: This website is a global crowdsourcing platform for researchers, activists, practitioners, and anyone interested in public participation and democratic innovations.
Assembling an Assembly Guide: Democracy Next published this guide for democracy advocates to facilitate a process called a "Citizen's Assembly," which is a structured deliberation process about important public policy issues.
Good Practice Principles for Deliberative Processes for Public Decision-Making: This brief guidebook by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development provides an easy-to-understand guide for citizen-led public policy decision-making very similar to OCDR’s collaborative problem-solving process. A more detailed OECD guidebook is also available to download.
Institute for Local Government Resources:
- What is Public Engagement & Why Should I Do it? This Institute for Local Government brief publication includes helpful definitions and a rationale for investing time and resources in meaningful public engagement.
- Ideas to Encourage Broader Public Engagement in Community Decision-Making: Another Institute for Local Government publication provides a step-by-step process to invite a diversity of community voices into a process.
- Principles of Local Government Public Engagement: This resource include tend considerations to keep in mind as you engage the public in decision-making.
- Dealing With Emotional Audiences: The Institute for Local Government’s brief publication helps leaders understand and effectively design engagements when working with the public on highly-charged issues.

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