To engage stakeholders and build community support, it is crucial to clearly communicate the vision for the project and earn community trust through the planning process. By reaching out to key stakeholders early and often, you increase your chances of securing their support as the project progresses.
Public engagement is a two-way process that involves project leaders working to better understand the needs, values, and goals of the community. This process can generate excitement, improve the project design, and ultimately increase community support for implementation.
Strong coordination between all invested parties is key to the success of any project. To ensure all perspectives are taken into consideration, it is important to identify key stakeholders and understand their roles, needs, and concerns. This will help tailor your outreach efforts and address the issues that matter most to them.
A community engagement plan outlines the vision and goals of the engagement efforts, target audiences, and outreach techniques and tools proposed for your project. Having an engagement plan promotes follow-through and ensures that the right stakeholders and public involvement processes are included throughout the project. The plan should include:
Transparency is now a community expectation for public projects, making traditional community engagement practices insufficient. Equitable engagement must reflect the demographics of the community and place emphasis on engaging those who will be most impacted by the project. It recognizes these past engagement limitations and supplements them with strategies to engage those who have been historically left out. Understanding the impact of a project is crucial in determining the level of community engagement needed. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s EJscreen tool helps identify areas with disadvantaged populations, potential environmental quality issues, and a combination of environmental/demographic indicators greater than usual. The greater the impact on at-risk or underrepresented populations, the higher level of engagement needed to ensure inclusive, fair, and equitable implementation.
Effective engagement is achieved by using a range of different tools. From in-person and virtual meetings to project blogs, newsletters, and beyond, there are numerous possibilities for communicating information about your project. When choosing engagement tools, it is important to consider the demographics, facilities, and technology available to help ensure that communications are clear, concise, and effective.
Building relationships with stakeholders and listening to their ideas can help establish trust and foster a sense of collaboration. A few examples include:
Engaging with stakeholders and the community early in the process can help shape public perception. Each stakeholder’s expertise brings a different piece of the vision to the project. This involvement can shed new light on a situation and help resolve conflicts before the project plan has been developed. Waiting until the end of the project to involve stakeholders can lead to redoing certain aspects of a project or, worse, needing to start the engagement process over.
Stakeholders want consistency and transparency, so it's essential to provide regular, accurate project updates to build trust. It is also important to foster a sense of ownership and pride. Find ways to engage stakeholders in hands-on activities, such as site planning/modeling, volunteering with additional project outreach, or assisting with fundraising efforts, to help them feel connected to the project. Recognize and celebrate stakeholders' contributions to the project's success throughout the process.
Stakeholders feel empowered, and team collaboration is most effective when stakeholders have a seat at the table. To facilitate collaboration, provide opportunities for them to participate, such as committee involvement, personal visits, workshops, and interactive tools. This ensures all stakeholders are feeling listened to, involved in planning the project, and engaged in the design and implementation process.
The success of a redevelopment project is a result of effective community communication and stakeholder engagement. By identifying key stakeholders, understanding their needs, and involving them early on, the project can ensure community support and achieve success. With a focus on equitable engagement and the use of different engagement tools, the project can communicate information effectively and increase community support. Developing a project vision or a visual representation that documents results from the engagement process and helps create excitement and a shared community vision for the project.
If you'd like more information on how to effectively involve stakeholders in your next project, we’d love to connect.
Nancy Dosdall, AICP, LEED Green Associate, is a senior planner and project manager with 35+ years of experience in land use planning and entitlement. Nancy is proficient in public engagement and finding common ground amongst stakeholders to develop community-supported plans.
Brea Grace, AICP, NCI is a certified urban and land use planner with 25 years of experience in both public and private sectors. She specializes in urban and waterfront redevelopment and is highly adept at public outreach, project financing, grant writing, and economic development. Brea is passionate about building better communities and leveraging funding sources to help communities achieve their project goals.