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Subjects › Governance › Effective Communication and Public Participation › Communication and Citizen Involvement Techniques
Published 10/2012

Communication and Citizen Participation Techniques

Contents

Introduction

Our communities are increasingly made up of diverse groups that have diverse interests and obtain information in different ways. A rapidly changing world means that traditional approaches for gathering feedback may be less effective today. Busy schedules mean that citizens will appreciate convenient, comfortable, and quick ways to stay informed about government services and community issues, and also to register their views on them. Technology offers new opportunities for quick and cost-effective ways to distribute information, as well as reaching out and involving citizens. New variations on public meetings and other improved outreach tools can allow a more thorough vetting of issues and exchange of information that results in better (and more widely embraced) plans and projects.

Local governments will have different communication needs and a varying need for citizen comment or involvement depending on the particular type of situation. At times, local governments will simply want to get the word out to citizens about a new service or program, an upcoming event, a temporary service disruption, or other information about something happening. Similarly, local governments may want to make educational or issue background information available. At other times, communities may want to gather information or opinions from citizens, or even recruit citizens to study issues in depth and provide advice. At other times, it will be desirable to work directly with the public and even partner with citizens to develop alternatives, creative ideas, and solutions to community-wide concerns. There have been several interesting efforts to categorize a "spectrum" of participation levels and to develop matrices that can be helpful in considering which type of participation technique is best fitted for specific participation needs and specific situations. Probably the first and still one of the best frameworks is the IAP2's Public Participation Toolbox (Adobe Acrobat Document) prepared by the International Association for Public Participation. The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation built on this framework to develop its Engagement Streams (Adobe Acrobat Document) spectrum and tools matrices with increased emphasis on techniques involving higher levels of engagement. Finally, a draft Portland (OR) Public Involvement Tool Kit (Public Participation Spectrum, and Public Involvement Tools by Category) is a useful local government-developed aid for choosing the right tool for the right participation need.

The most effective community involvement programs use a combination of approaches to reach a wide cross section of the community. This Page highlights some of our favorite ideas for getting the word out, for obtaining public feedback and for involving citizens in shaping the plans and programs that significantly affect their lives.

Public Meeting Formats that Facilitate Public Participation

Public hearings are required in many situations and assure, at a minimum, the rights of interested citizens to attend and/or testify. Even so, formal city hall and courthouse settings can be intimidating, and hearings can sometimes be dominated by those who are more comfortable with public speaking. Such hearings may not be the best way to encourage comment from a wide cross-section of community residents and may not fit into citizens' busy schedules. The format of hearings often leaves little, if any, room for reasonable discussion, give or take, or response to prior testimony. Instead, it is important to conduct a thoughtful public process in advance of the public hearing. Local governments are trying new approaches to meeting with citizens and make it easier for citizens to express their opinions and for local officials to understand citizen needs. Scheduling convenient times and providing comfortable settings encourages participation. Opportunities for face-to-face exchanges can facilitate understanding and a balancing of diverse interests.

This section highlights a number of meeting approaches to supplement required hearings that can be tailored to fit a variety of situations. A combination of these approaches can generate a better understanding of issues, attract a wider spectrum of participation, and involve citizens in shaping better decisions for the community as a whole.

Open Houses, Workshops, and Forums

  • Issaquah Public Participation - The City held several workshops and open houses in 2007 and 2008 to receive public input regarding future development and the Central Issaquah Plan. See especially Workshops 1, 2 and 3 for discussion topics, materials, photos and results related to the 3 workshops.
  • Jefferson County Open House Series and Road Show to update citizens on Shoreline Master Plan progress, 03/2007 - Impressive series of community outreach meetings around the county. Each drop-in open house event featured poster displays, a repeating slideshow, an interactive digital mapping station, and a comment form. Earlier road show meetings included audience participation activities.
  • Mountlake Terrace Town Center Planning Gets Citizen Involvement Award (Adobe Acrobat Document) - Mountlake Terrace is the winner of a Citizen Involvement Award from the Washington State Chapter of the American Planning Association to recognize the City's Town Center multi-pronged planning and citizen involvement process. The process included neighborhood roundtables, a developer forum, 3 design workshops and 3 open houses in addition to public hearings.
  • Planning Public Forums: Questions to Guide Local Officials, Terry Amsler, Institute for Local Government, 2007 - Useful questions to ask and design considerations for deciding what type of forum will best provide feedback and information that decision-makers need
  • Redmond Overlake Design Charrette, 05/06/2006 - Two-day workshop utilized visual preference survey, map exercises, developer forum, and small group roundtables to develop a preliminary concept plan for an urban center.
  • Redmond Livable Redmond: A Community Conversation about Sustainability, 11/03/2010 - The widely publicized Livable Redmond Event included an open house with displays, keynote speaker, dinner buffet, small group discussions, and a wrap-up session. See especially the final report. There is also a video of the event.

Focus Groups/Small Group Processes

Focus group meetings provide particularly fertile ground for understanding the unique needs and interests of various community or business groups. They are designed to get at the unique perspectives/opinions of specific groups, to benefit from the groups' shared knowledge, and to understand how various groups would be affected by programs or policies. Participants are selected based on what they share in common. Other types of small group approaches may involve a broader cross-section of members. They generally encourage free expression and interaction. The back-and-forth exchange of information can lead to a creative combining of ideas and balancing of interests to refine alternatives or create entirely new solutions. Some communities break a larger audience into small "roundtable" discussion groups to focus on specific issues following a presentation to the entire audience. In either approach, the small group setting offers a more comfortable setting for speaking freely, listening, and interacting to others.

Focus Group Articles

Focus Group Examples

  • Boulder, CO Community Sustainability - Community Dialog, Phase 1 Results - See Summary Report and Meetings-in-a-Box: Appendices, 01/2008 - Includes materials and discussion guide, verbatim responses
  • Olympia Solid Waste Focus Group Summary (Adobe Acrobat Document), 08/2006 - Olympia devised a particularly fruitful application of this technique. The city convened three focus groups consisting of representatives from three different industrial sectors with different types of waste streams (food, paper, and construction waste) to examine business waste generation and recycling practices and the challenges and possible strategies for reducing waste.
  • Sammamish Community Center Focus Group Research Executive Summary (Adobe Acrobat Document), 06/2011 - Presents results from small group process on community center with clearly defined objectives
  • Spokane Meeting in a Box (Adobe Acrobat Document), June-July, 1996 - The ultimate in comfort and convenience - a unique, and award-winning self-guided growth management plan workshop designed to be held in living rooms, community clubs or whenever and wherever convenient! Still a great outreach idea!
  • University Place Resident Focus Group 2011 Report (Adobe Acrobat Document), 04/24/2011 - Professionally designed small group process to gather citizen perceptions on University Place and gather feedback for developing an effective city performance measurement and communication program. Includes meeting materials.

Task Force/Advisory Committees for Specific Plans or Issues

Citizen advisory committees are appointed to study and provide comments and advice on a (sometimes ongoing) program, project or set of issues. Members meet regularly to provide ongoing input and advice over the duration of the project. They may represent a cross-section of the community, or may be a set of people with knowledge or concerns about a particular issue. A task force is similar in some respects, but is assigned a specific task, often with a time limit for reaching a conclusion and resolving a difficult issue, subject to ratification by official decision-makers. Tasks forces are sometimes rather large groups in an effort to include representation from a variety of affected interest groups. The task force is often charged to work toward consensus.

  • Issaquah Task Force Background & Past Meetings - City appointed 12-member task force that included property owners, citizens and representatives of environmental groups, the business community and the Planning Policy and Development Commissions to develop recommendations on key topics such as transportation, housing, parks, open space, public investment and urban design related to the Central Issaquah Plan.
  • Stevens County Planning Councils and Workshops (rural) - The county appointed three planning councils, one from each district to hold public workshops throughout the county to receive public input and make recommendations on comprehensive plan development.

Making Meetings Fun

  • Community PlanIt, posted on Orton Family Foundation webpage - This online, interactive game, built by Emerson Professor Eric Gordon, brings people together over the course of several weeks to complete planning-themed missions. Players walk away with a better understanding of planning, more interest and capacity to change their communities, and great ideas for their communities.
  • Photography Contests, posted on Orton Foundation webpage - Photography contests invite submissions from residents for photography on a certain topic — usually character of community or special places. Generally disposable cameras are distributed to participants. The sponsoring jurisdiction can offer prizes for best/most popular series, but the main objective is to stimulate interest, ideas and broader attendance, particularly for efforts like community visioning.
  • Port Angeles Farmer's Market - Opportunity for citizens to visit with City Council at their table at the Farmers' Market on the first Saturday of each month
  • Snoqualmie Town Hall Encore at Cascade View Elementary June 30, News Release, 06/14/2010 - Root Beer Floats are part of the attraction!

Outreach for Diverse Representation at Meetings

  • Bridgeport Participation Plan for a Multi-Cultural Community, 04/2008 - Describes a community fair designed to both provide information about governments services (information booths and give-away items from various agencies) and to involve the community in planning for the future by gathering input about current and long range planning issues
  • Seattle Neighborhood Planning Outreach and Engagement (Adobe Acrobat Document), Governor's 2010 Smart Vision Award - Seattle's planning outreach program (engaging over 1200 people) included use of bilingual or bicultural liaisons to host and facilitate workshops in its ethnically diverse and historically underrepresented neighborhoods.

Polling Devices

Hand-held polling devices or "pulse pads" allow citizens to register their opinions and see the instantly tabulated responses of all participants. It is equally easy for any participant to register an opinion, without being in the spotlight. As one city official noted, in an AWC brief: "It seemed to defuse the very vocal minority in the audience." The polling device can feel empowering and add an element of fun. It is a better tool for gauging reaction to various alternatives or choices, rather than suggesting changes or new ideas. Even so, it can provide useful feedback on specific questions and can be combined with other exercises.

  • Keeping In Touch: Take the Pulse of Your Community (Adobe Acrobat Document), AWC - Using individual keypads, audience participants can respond to questions, rank priorities and see automatically tabulated answers displayed immediately in PowerPoint format.
  • Olympia Special City Council Meeting (Adobe Acrobat Document) (Community Meeting Regarding 2012 Budget Hosted by the Finance Committee), 06/09/2011 - City offered opportunities for the public to discuss with Councilmembers their concerns about the budget. After initial presentation, staff used a set of forced pairings to identify preferences. Using the pulse pad technology, those voting could immediately see how their votes compared to others.
  • Sequim Citizens help to shape Sequim 120, Mathew Nash, Sequim Gazette, March 14, 2012 - Sequim conducted a visioning open house and equipped participants with pulse pads to provide instant response to a 53 question survey. The pulse pad polling supplemented a variety of interactive activities including futures mapping exercises; a take-home "word cloud" questionnaire; and an activity focused on transportation values/priorities.

Telephone Town Hall

The telephone town hall (TTH) technology allows a city or county to efficiently call tens of thousands of residents to invite them to participate in a call-in meeting. The TTH technology can connect people from all corners of the community to the public meeting, so, it's a particularly useful way to hear from a cross section of the community on issues that affect people throughout the community. It makes it easier to hear from those who don't always speak up, since all have equal opportunity to speak without the glare of a spotlight. Although there won't be time for everyone to speak, and there isn't much opportunity for give and take, all who call in may leave a comment, and receive a reply later. It's also common to intersperse some polling questions to get a response from all listeners on some important questions.

  • Spokane Still Time to Provide your Input on the 2013 City Budget, City News, August 6, 2012 - The city used technology that allowed the city to call thousands of residents to ask if they wanted to participate in a telephone town hall meeting on the budget. About 3800 citizens accepted the invitation to the one-hour meeting where they could learn about the budget and comment.
  • Telephone Town Halls Gain Popularity, Brian Tumulty, USA Today, March 7, 2012 - Telephone town halls use technology that allows vendors to call tens of thousands of people in minutes. Over the course of an hour-long telephone town hall, hundreds of thousands of calls can be placed, inviting people to listen in on a live discussion and ask questions. The format allows for prescreening of questions. And it's a convenient way to reach thousands of people instead of the dozens who might show up at a municipal building. Used by Obama administration, members of Congress, AARP, American Lung Association.
  • Longmont, Co Focus on Longmont - City took the priorities that emerged from focus groups to the public through a telephone town hall meeting and had an opportunity for people to participate a Spanish-speaking focus group.
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL Share Your Visions! - Telephone Town Hall Meetings (Results) - The city held three citywide visioning telephone town hall meetings with a fourth meeting scheduled. Approximately 9000 residents participated in each of the first three meetings. This webpage offers podcasts of the city presentations that initiated each meeting.

Virtual Meetings

Videoconferencing, webinars and other technological tools allow citizens to attend and even participate in meetings without leaving home.

Charrettes

Charrettes bring together citizen and stakeholder groups with a team design professionals and other experts in intense, creative work sessions over a short time period. They can kick start a planning or design process and lay the foundation for the ultimate plan or project design. Ideally, charrettes provide a climate that stimulates an exchange of ideas, information, and opinions about needs and solutions. The information exchange serves to educate participants about the needs of other groups, design challenges and the pros and cons of many options. The process promotes consensus-building toward a common vision. The process harnesses the talents and energy of design professionals (as well as citizen participants) to help participants visualize alternatives and to recommend design solutions.

Charrette Articles and Resources

  • An Introduction to Charrettes (Adobe Acrobat Document), Bill Lennertz and Aarin Lutzenhiser, Planning Commissioner's Journal, Summer 2008 - Nice overview
  • Charrette Resources, Planning Commissioner's Journal webpage
  • Charrette Center - Includes definition, case studies, explanation of charrette process, and visualization tools
  • National Charrette Institute - Offers Webinar and in-house training sessions, and other training resurces
  • The Charrette as an Agent for Change, article by Bill Lennertz, for New Urbanism: Comprehensive Report & Best Practices Guide, 3rd Ed., 2003 - Provides brief, useful description, including nine principles
  • What is a Charrette?, National Charrette Institute - Three minute You-Tube video defining charrettes and describing their use. Also video of a charrette in process.

Charrette Examples

Effective Meetings

This section offers articles with information and helpful tips for the effective planning and running of public meetings and hearings, meeting facilitation, and dealing with emotions and conflict at public meetings.

  • Basic Facilitation Skills (Adobe Acrobat Document), published by: The Human Leadership and Development Division of the American Society for Quality, The Association for Quality and Participation, and The International Association of Facilitators, 05/2002 - Although older, this is a nicely organized, highly readable guide even for new practitioners.
  • Be a "Meeting Hero" (Adobe Acrobat Document) - A Guide to Conducting Better Meetings, Kevin Richie, Alaska Municipal League - Although older, this brief guide offers many insightful tips about getting the most out of meetings.
  • Effective Meeting Facilitation: The Sine Qua Non of Planning, by Miranda Duncan, National Endowment for the Arts - This brief guide offers particularly thoughtful tips about planning and running a meeting from start to finish.
  • Getting the Most out of Public Hearings: Ideas to Improve Public Involvement (Adobe Acrobat Document), Institute for Local Government, 2005 - This excellent pamphlet provides practical ideas for making public hearings more effective forums for participants and public officials alike - more inclusive, more informed participants and better results.
  • Group Facilitation Primer (Adobe Acrobat Document), Tree Bressen - Very useful and clear discussion of roles, guiding principles, methods, and dealing with conflicts
  • How to Lead Effective Meetings, edited by Nancy Thayer-Hart, Office of Quality Improvement, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2007 - Brief, but very useful articles, tools and templates, best practices, and meeting problem help - See "how-to" guides, especially Facilitator Toolkit: A Guide for Helping Groups Get Results (Adobe Acrobat Document), Office of Quality Improvement, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 09/2007 - A comprehensive guide about facilitation including the role of facilitation, group dynamics, useful techniques and decision-making tools
  • Meetings and More, Planning Commissioners Journal - Series of excellent articles on successful public meetings (Available through MRSC library loan or for purchase from Planner's Web)

Dealing with Emotions and Conflict at Public Meetings

Guides to Help Citizens Participate Effectively in Meetings

  • Bellevue How to Participate in a Land Use Decision (Adobe Acrobat Document), 07/2006 - Clearly written guide in question and answer format
  • Clark County Citizen Participation Guide - A concise online guide on how to participate and where to get information. Drop down menus provide links to information on participating in land use planning (hearing examiner and planning commission) meetings, and county commissioner meetings. Also includes tips on effective presentations and other information.
  • Mason County Public Participation: How to Testify Effectively - Succinct guidelines hit on the key points for effective testimony.
  • Pinellas County, FL 2012 Citizen's Guide to the Board of County Commissioners Meetings (Adobe Acrobat Document) - Particularly well done brochure makes it easy to find information about county commissioners meetings as well as offering clear, sound guidelines for addressing the board
  • Spokane Citizen Resource Center - Easy-to-understand summary of planning and land use processes in Spokane including information about planning commission and design review board, links to planning and development documents, and links to informational presentations including an overview of planning and development services. Also provides specific staff contacts.
  • Woodland Citizen Participation Guide (Adobe Acrobat Document) - Land Use and Growth Management Information, 11/02/2007 - Simple two page guide to participating at hearing examiner and planning commission meetings and appealing a decision

Speaker's Bureaus, Presentations to Existing Groups, and Tours

A number of communities have established speakers bureaus with staff, or other effective speakers, that are available to make presentations on local government programs or topics. Since many service organizations, school classrooms, and other community organizations need short programs or speakers on a regular basis, it is a great opportunity for local jurisdictions to get the word out about some great services and programs, emerging issues, or to discuss plans on the horizon. It is also a great way to stay connected with the community in a positive way, and often, to learn of interests or concerns of the community groups. Other communities have brought in experts to speak on various topics to provide inspiration, new ideas and perspectives, and to provide increased understanding of issues of concern to the community. Guided or self-guided tours are also an excellent way to increase citizen understanding of important government services, to visualize design choices, and to show off examples of quality development.

Speakers Bureaus

Tours

  • Fort Collins Plan Van - A set of van tours highlighted various projects including recent urban design winners, 1950s neighborhoods, Mountain Vista Subarea, ghost signs, South College Corridor Plan, and the evolution of neighborhood planning. Although this award-winning approach is longer offered for budgetary reasons, the city encourages self-guided tours of these examples.
  • Spokane, WA created a nifty self-guided infill tour (Adobe Acrobat Document) of local examples to demonstrate how well-designed infill projects can fit different types of areas. The examples may not all fit your community, but it's a clever approach.
  • The Town Center Bus Rolls Again, City Views @ Sammamish (Newsletter), 2006 - Bus tour of neighboring cities helped citizen committee members visualize town center types and city design issues
  • Virtual Tour of the Proposed South Cowlitz River Trail Loop via Google Maps, Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments

Newsletters, Columns, and Flyers

Citizen Surveys

Citizen surveys have frequently been used to gather citizen feedback and gauge public opinion. As these articles and examples illustrate, it is essential to assure a representative sample and careful study design to obtain meaningful results.

Articles

Citizen Surveys

  • Bellingham Opinion Surveying - Biennial service priorities and citizen satisfaction surveys
  • King County Public Survey Findings: Shoreline Master Program Update, 2010 - Key findings at a glance plus the full survey results
  • Olympia Imagine Olympia: Citizen Survey, 12/2009 - Survey citizens' opinions of the strengths and weaknesses of the city, as well as their suggestions for the focus of the City's Imagine Olympia program. Also opinions about citizen involvement
  • Pasco The National Citizen Survey: City of Pasco, WA 2011 - Collaboration between the International City Managers Association (ICMA) and the National Research Center to assess community and services strengths and weaknesses in eight dimensions: community quality, community design, public safety, environmental sustainability, recreation and wellness, community inclusiveness, civic engagement, and public trust
  • Redmond 2011 Survey - Questions cover quality of life, top issues, satisfaction with services, city government communications, plan for the future and budget priorities. Appendix has alternative budget priorities.
  • Sammamish Parks, Recreation, & Open Space (PRO) Plan Preliminary Survey Results (Adobe Acrobat Document), 07/20/2012 - Questions to provide information to guide development of six-year park, recreation and open space plan and potential development of aquatic center, including preferences regarding programs and facilities, willingness to walk, and others
  • Seattle Information Technology Residential Survey Focus - Focus Group Reports (Adobe Acrobat Document), 2009 - Focus groups composed of different ethnic groups to gauge access to and use of computers, cell phones and other technology.
  • Spokane Valley Community Preference Survey, 2004 - Although it is not current, this is a good example of a survey that gathered representative community input on a variety of future growth and development-related issues.
  • Vancouver, WA Strategic Assessment Survey (Adobe Acrobat Document), 2007 - Surveys livability factors, satisfaction with government services, challenges and funding

Online Citizen Surveys

Online surveys on websites allow citizens to communicate with city hall or other city departments, provide a way for local governments to get feedback, and give citizens a way to submit comments about specific policies and plans. Here are a few examples of online surveys being conducted by Washington cities and counties.

Community Image/Visual Preference Surveys

The Visual Preference Survey (VPS) was developed by architect Anton Nelessen and is an effective tool for educating and involving community members in land use planning. The process involves members of the community in ranking images of a community or region, including photographs of streets, houses, stores, office buildings, parks, open space, and other key civic features. The tool helps citizens to visualize, compare and react to various design treatments, which is a difficult topic to communicate in words. The results of the VPS are particularly useful in developing comprehensive plans, redevelopment plans, and other plans and projects that relate to future development.

Overview Articles

Community Image/Visual Preference Surveys

Reaching Citizens through Technology

Local Government Education for Youth

Citizen Education

  • Alachua County, FL Civic Education Series - The program is designed to explain and clarify the complex nature of County government and to show citizens how their tax dollars are spent. The goal in this effort is to foster an informed citizenry. Ambitious agenda, although daytime hours may limit who can attend.
  • Bellingham, WA
    • Planning Academy I for Neighborhoods - Multiday workshop with presentations, hands on exercises, and homework assignments to facilitate understanding of planning, land use issues, and regulation, and to develop skills for effectively participating in the process
    • Planning Academy II: Green Bellingham - Achieving Infill, Enhancing Character - Explores alternative housing types that may be integrated into appropriate areas of existing and new neighborhoods
  • Citizen Academies, Citizens Police Academies, MRSC
  • Citizen Academies, University of North Carolina School of Government - Clearinghouse of information on citizens' academies, information and innovative practices culled from dozens of successful programs across the country.
  • Green for All Business Engagement - Free business academy has heightened business community awareness of green practices and energy savings. Green For All has partnered with the University of Phoenix to convene a series of Business Academies hosted by Denver, Portland, San Jose, Seattle and others.
  • Hamilton County, OH Programs and Initiatives - Certified Planning Commissioners' Program - The Hamilton Regional Planning Commission in collaboration with the University of Cincinnati-School of Planning developed a curriculum to fit the specific needs of commissioners. Highly qualified professionals volunteer time for the five-session award-winning evening program.
  • Olympia Neighborhood University Workshops - Opportunity for neighborhood residents to learn and share information about improving neighborhoods. Residents can request a workshop on a variety of topics including neighborhood safety, land use planning and dispute resolution, or suggest a topic.
  • Sumner University - Originally established to provide orientation for members of multiple boards, it has now been opened to any interested citizens. Includes "freshman" track on the basics and several advanced topic tracks.
  • The Short Course on Local Planning, Planning Association of Washington and Washington State Department of Commerce, 07/2009 - Three hour workshop which covers the legal basis for planning in Washington, comprehensive plan and development regulation basics, and role of the planning commission
    • Land Use Boot Camp - Basic Training, 02/29/2012 Agenda - More intensive workshop designed for cadet elected and appointed officials, planning professionals or those seeking a refresher in core planning essentials on legal issues and processes encountered in local land use permitting.

Need more information?

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