Communication and Interaction

Question 1

What are the components of the Message Pyramid?

Answer 1

1. Key Message (top) - should be long-lasting and consistent statements, regardless of situation. They should create an environment and a belief system among your key audiences.

The two “proof layers” are proof points that back up the key message.

2. First Proof layer - The first proof point is a factual statement about the benefits of planning. Evidence.
3. Second Proof Layer - The second proof point amplifies the first, using, e.g., “a startling statistic, an anecdote, an endorsement of planning from an allied group, or an amplification of the core statement.” Where media typically gets their headlines and publications

Question 2

What is bridging?

Answer 2

Bridging is a technique that planners can use to reframe controversial issues, responding to opponents while also recasting how the issue is viewed. The trick is to use transitional phrases to stay on message when asked a question that could take you off topic.

Question 3

What are Sunshine Laws?

Answer 3

Public information laws - require that meetings and decisions of regulatory authorities be publicly available

Question 4

Resources and Limitations to Public Participation

Answer 4

about 27% of adults do not have broadband at home, and 9% of US residents (over the age of 5) have limited English. Another 19% can not read a newspaper (due to sight impairment and other reasons)

Question 5

What are the common ways to structure public participation?

Answer 5

1. A design charrette is an intensive collaborative effort that brings together citizens, stakeholders, and staff to develop a detailed design plan for a specific area. A charrette may be held over one or more days. This is an effective technique for quickly developing consensus. Typically, small groups are formed, with each group focusing on a design solution for an area. Each group has a facilitator who is usually a design professional. In many cases, the local chapter of the American Institute for Architects may be engaged to have members serve as facilitators. Note that charrettes are now being offered virtually, with significant success in terms of increasing the number of participants.
2. The Delphi Method, or Delphi Technique, is a structured process of public participation with the intent of coming to a consensus decision. The Delphi Method was created in 1944 for the U.S. Army Air Force. A panel of selected, informed citizens and stakeholders are asked to complete a series of questionnaires. The questions are typically written as hypotheses. After each round of questioning, feedback on the responses is presented to the group anonymously. Participants are encouraged to revise their answers based on the replies heard. Over time, the range of answers decreases and the group converges towards a single solution.
3. The Nominal Group Technique is a group process involving problem identification, solution generation, and decision making that can be used for groups of any size that want to come to a decision by vote. The Nominal Group Technique allows for everyone’s opinions to be considered by starting with every group member sharing their ideas briefly. Someone creates a list of ideas. Duplicate solutions are deleted. Participants then rank the solutions. The rankings are then discussed, which can lead to further ideas or combinations of ideas. The solution with the highest ranking is selected.
4. Facilitation uses a person who does not have a direct stake in the outcome of a meeting to help groups that disagree work together to solve complex problems and come to a consensus. The facilitator is typically a volunteer from the community who is respected by all groups. In some cases, a professional facilitator is hired to assist in running the meeting.
5. Mediation is a method in which a neutral third party facilitates discussion in a structured multi-stage process to help parties reach a satisfactory agreement. The mediator assists the parties in identifying and articulating their interests and priorities. The agreement typically specifies measurable, achievable, and realistic solutions. The final agreement is typically in writing. Mediation is a dispute-resolution process that is typically used to help resolve conflict without involving the court system.
6. A public hearing is usually associated with the Planning Commission, City Council, or other governing body. These meetings allow formal citizen input at the end of the planning process. Public hearings are often mandated by law. Hearings are considered ineffective at building public participation and consensus.
7. A visual preference survey is a technique that can be used to assist citizens in evaluating physical images of natural and built environments. Citizens are asked to view and evaluate a wide variety of pictures depicting houses, sites, building styles, streetscapes, etc. Aggregated scores can be used to determine resident preferences.
8. Brainstorming is an informal approach to gathering input in the initial stages of a project, or in trying to determine goals. Brainstorming usually occurs within a small internal group setting, such as planning staff, agency leads, or commission members.
9. A coffee klatch is an informal gathering at a neighbor’s house.
10. A planning cell is a randomly-selected group of participants who collaborate on developing solutions to a given issue

Question 6

What are the three evaluation design options?

Answer 6

1. Process - involves collecting data in (throughout) the planning and implementation phases, such as frequency and content of planning meetings, inclusiveness of process, and diversity/representativeness of planners. Process evaluations are done at the beginning and throughout the engagement process. Recognizing implicit bias - attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understandings, actions, and decision in an unconscious manner - involuntary without awareness
2. Outcome - assesses change resulting from community engagement, such as change in the way people engage with each other and change resulting from their engagement. Evaluation might involve collecting individual or community level changes in how people engage with each other. Outcome evaluation is conducted at the end of an engagement process. Outcome evaluation answers the question: To what extent are people in the community engaged? How has your process increased community engagement?
3. Impact Evaluation - seeks to establish evidence of causality. It requires random assignment of participants and the use of an intervention group and a control group. This evaluation can be more challenging to implement and costly to do because of the prerequisites needed to be able to conduct it effectively (having a long-standing community engagement program with a lot of data already collected, previous evaluations, and significant time, financial and human
   capacity to conduct the evaluation). This type of evaluation answers the question: To what extent can community change be attributed to community engagement? Intervention group v. control group

Question 7

What is Ripple Effect Mapping (REM)?

Answer 7

a method used in evaluation to engage key stakeholders in assessing the impact of community engagement. Participants look back over a period of time and create a visual map of direct or indirect impacts of community engagement.

Question 8

Charette Process

Answer 8

APA is promoting the use of charrettes

Build Trust
Embed people in design process
change perceptions via collaborative design
bring people together to solve problems
time-compression - sense of urgency - compels folks to participate
multi-day exercise (often)
third-party facilitation

Start with Stakeholder Analysis:
Primary stakeholders - elected officials
Secondary - non-govt agencies, businesses, citizens that are directly affected by project
General - everyone else

Question 9

Key Figures in Community Engagement?

Answer 9

1. Paul Davidoff - 1960s - Advocacy planning - right wrongs and correct social injustices by giving all participants equal footing in the planning process. Work with folks with special interests, not broad interests
2. Sherry Arnstein - Ladder of (Citizen) Participation -
   3 levels = non-participation, Tokenism (saying participation was included in the process just to check a box), and Citizen Power-Citizen Control
3. Saul Alinsky - Community organizer working in Chicago; active in motivate community engagement

Question 10

Types of Engagement?

Answer 10

Survey - understand perceptions of community - key is focused on gauging attitudes and preferences - different from demographic data. Not particularly good in getting public input and building consensus

Charrette - way for gathering community input - community visioning; help to build consensus through visioning; having planned concepts for folks to view; compressed work sessions, short feedback loops, work collaboratively, multi-day;

Brainstorming

Focus Group - important for building consensus

Neighborhood meeting

Large public meeting

Question 11

Engagement Rules of Thumb

Answer 11

more input is better than less; planners should be pro-active in getting stakeholder input; must be early on in the process, during the process; need to stimulate participation.

planners should not push their solutions; need public buy-in

Big public hearings are less effective as a means of gathering input for contentious social issues; build consensus first before big public hearings via focus groups

Question 12

Surveys

Answer 12

Good for understanding perceptions; gauge attitudes.
Not about consensus-building
internet-based surveys not a good way to reach elderly/poor
mail surveys can be convenient and cheap, but may not get strong response rate

Question 13

Focus Groups

Answer 13

if Strong neighborhood voices, planner needs to meet with as many groups as possible to get input; help to build consensus

facilitate sessions with small groups for controversial/sensitive issues

good for discussing plan concepts before drafting plan; civic engagement needs to be

early on and throughout the process

good for committee with a specific task

good when there is a specific issue that needs to be addressed or when the topic at hand is a bit more sensitive

Question 14

Delphi Technique

Answer 14

1950s; experts respond to questionnaire (anonymously); go through several iterations of questions to reduce the number of responses to get consensus; receive feedback as a group response to get to a solution

Question 15

Benefits of Public participation?

Answer 15

Breaks down:
Lack of trust
fear of change
exclusion
opposing views
specialty silos
endless, unproductive meetings

Question 16

Phases of Charrette?

Answer 16

Phase 1: Pre-Design - build trust in advance - may need facilitator - steering committee appointment, interviews, walking-tours; most important event is PUBLIC KICK OFF MEETING where you hear from well rounded set of participant - not special groups - creates draft set of project , values, goals and objectives to use a starting point

Phase 2: Charrette - public event to gather input on the public’s vision - Charrette team is tasked with gathering input and developing concepts

Phase 3 Plan adoption and implementation - charrette provides political momentum so the plan can be carried out and adopted

Charrette process takes forethought and planning - can take time to get set up

Question 17

Planning for/with diverse or underserved communitites

Question 18

Diversity

Answer 18

presence of difference within a given setting; numbers driven; exclusion;

Inviting others in

Question 19

Equity

Answer 19

rectify inequities; values driven; giving attention to advantages and disadvantages that exist among groups and individuals; correcting identified inequities and providing access to resources and opportunities where needed

modifying practice to make places more equitable;

APA wants planners to advocate for equity in all policies approach - equity lense -
Inequity is measurable - disproportionality - amplification of disparities - can lead to further impairment - institutionalized inequity - promotes systemic inequity - don’t use methods that further promote systemic problems - failure to acknowledge equity in planning policy is institutionalizing inequity

Question 20

Inclusion

Answer 20

Make people feel welcomed/valued/included/involved in process;

Question 21

Engagement

Answer 21

engagement is an ongoing process; if done well, they will arrive at more innovative and informed solutions; more efficient decision making; ability to mobilize and leverage resources

Planners need to work through a strategy where they:
Understand, respect, and engage a diverse set of stakeholders

Asset based approached v needs based approach - asset is better - where you understand communities have assets, which need to be identified and highlighted/promoted

Question 22

Spectrum of Public Participation

Answer 22

Increasing (downward) level of public impact
Inform
Consult
Involve
Collaborate
Empower (example - participatory budgeting - folks given the ability to spend money) could be represented by elite of the community which is not ideal - voice of everyone

Question 23

Engagement Barriers

Answer 23

Meeting location/access to transportation
language barriers; literacy barriers
competing meetings in community - be mindful of other events
Costs
trust
relevance - find out what folks are interested and what they want - may care about one subject more than others

Question 24

Implicit Bias

Answer 24

Recognizing implicit bias - attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understandings, actions, and decision in an unconscious manner - involuntary without awareness

Question 25

Weak Mayor-Council
Strong Mayor-Council
Commission Plan
Council-Manager

Answer 25

Strong Council - have executive authority; mayor has limited powers when it comes to city administration
Strong mayor - centralized power
Commission Plan - similar to weak mayor - each commission has domain
Council-Manager - appointed - common in large cities

Question 26

Oregon Model

Answer 26

Community Based Visioning - What is it that people really want?

Where are we now? Community Profile
Where are we going? Trend Analysis
Where do we want to be be? Vision Statement
How do we get there? Action Plan
Are we getting there? Implementation and Monitoring

Question 27

E-Government

Answer 27

Tools for information vs. tools for interaction

Question 28

Planning for Diversity

Answer 28

How do you increase diversity in planning process - big APA drive
use recruiters to identify and cultivate future leaders
have a presence in a local grocery store - try to get people involved
use community ambassadors to help spread the word about planning initiatives
link recruitment and outreach efforts onto other meetings and events

Social Justice - planning for diverse or underserved communities, elevating social empowerment

Making sure planning is inclusive

BEST ANSWER may include: be proactive and get out there to recruit in an effort to increase diversity in the planning process

Question 29

Developing an Engagement Plan

Answer 29

1. Define scope
2. ID stakeholders
3. Define objectives and metrics that are trackable/quantifiable

Design, monitor, and adjust

1. Define Scope - what decision will be made, what role will stakeholders play, and what is the timeline?

Understand your limitations/constraints - decisions that have already been made, budget, timeline, order of operation, available resources (staff time, community groups), ID jurisdictional/legislative barriers

2. ID stakeholders - Who will be most affected? Who needs to support it? What groups will be needed to get plan implemented? Who needs to be on board when plan goes forward?

Common stakeholders - residents, decision makers, biz owners, employees, spec. interest groups, low income comm, low edu comm, immigrant comm., disabled comm

Must prioritize resources based on stakeholders

3. Create objectives - where do you want to end up? Back-casting - decide where you want to be at the end - define the best possible outcome assoc. with the process

Choose metrics and targets that are quantifiable that can be monitored throughout the engagement process; metrics should be simple, easily tracked, and directly tied to objectives;

4. Create a timeline - layout a timeline with milestones and dates tied to the project; layout how you plan it to go with built in flexibility to account for setbacks or rethinking; target key audiences and give yourself enough time to process data;
5. Choose your channels - web, mobile, kiosks, ipads at events, pop-up events that are planned throughout community; add-on events; a mixture is necessary to reach all ID’d stakeholders; each group of stakeholders may have a preference to be engaged;
6. Craft a promotional strategy - think like an advertiser - how are you going to get the word out? Ramping promotional strategy as early as possible is key to success; develop brand so project will be noticed; reinforce community input/participation is valuable to results early on
7. Allow for flexibility - monitor engagement results early on and be prepared to adjust your strategies; always leave a buffer between phases/after milestones; may realize that certain groups aren’t being reached/underrepresented so you have to regroup on how to reach them;
8. Create a post-engagement plan - know how you will present results back to community; let community know how their input affected the decision; how input was used and what was learned using their engagement; use infographics to reinforce that community participation was valuable and they were heard.

Question 30

Promoting public participation

Answer 30

1. Craft a compelling brand - good brands get recognized and the word is spread; create consistent branding to use across entire process so people get used to seeing the items;
2. Create urgency - let people know there is a limited amount of time for public input; public input timeframe may be short for a long-term plan; use a count-down timer so folks know when participation will expire and motivate them to get involved so they take the time now rather than later; give concrete deadline to participate
3. Be hyper-relevant - critical to connect your project with issues that are experienced by the community today; traffic, affordability, taxes, etc.; leverage your project with current events/concerns;
4. Solicit earned media - without spending money on advertising you could get game-changing results; use existing media outlets/providers and people’s willingness to push your project; help others understand the story so they can include it in their own content; get on the news;
5. Leverage social media - get likes and retweets; provide an experience so folks share the idea/project; word of mouth holds more weight and value than agency pushing project; support and share; each social network has their own ‘flavor’; must develop strategy based on the social media outlet - different audiences
6. Use your existing contact list - sharing to people already in contact can help move your project forward as they share it with their contact list;
7. Try different calls-to-action - use the right language in order to motivate people to participate; how will you get different demographics to participate?
8. Offer incentives - have prizes and rewards for participation;
9. Leverage community groups - an invitation that comes from a friend or trusted group has added weight; helps get the word out; tweak and reframe issues to reach different community groups - how does an issue affect bicyclists or biz owners? Get the interest of different groups to help promote project to their own circle
10. use many different outlets - don’t rely on just one medium to get your message out; public relations groups, radio, TV, social media, websites, popular bloggers, anyone looking for content;
11. Make it easy to find - make a nice looking brand
12. Make it easy to share
13. Keep up the momentum - after doing outreach at the start, do 2 or 3 more pushes; follow through as the project progresses; how can you kickstart the promotional process?
14. Raise the bar high - concrete goals leads to real results; create buzz; let people know your progress getting to goal/numbers, etc.

Question 31

Developing a compelling brand

Answer 31

1. Clarity - explicitly communicate what is in it for them; what is the project/process offering;
2. Emotion - create a gut response that will drive people to get involved; what will motivate folks to get involved;
3. Uniqueness - your project needs to cut through the clutter/distractions in the world;
   create curiosity to draw people in;
4. Relevance - craft your brand and communication strategy around your community
5. Voice - create a brand voice

Question 32

Messaging and calls-to-action

Answer 32

1. Try different calls-to-action - critical to use the right language in order to motivate folks to participate; stakeholders thoughts on priorities may change throughout the process and important to reevaluate to retarget groups;
2. make it front and center - make it obvious to potential participants on what you want them to do; leave space around calls-to-action
3. be concise - be clear and use action-oriented instructions - don’t ramble on; what’s the most important part of what you’re trying to do
4. relevance + value = more participation

Question 33

Engaging Disadvantaged and Vulnerable People

Answer 33

Who are vulnerable and disadvantaged?
1. low income (limited access, different priorities)
2. Physically disabled (impaired vison, mobility)
3. Low education (limited understanding/reading)
4. Immigrants (other languages/cultures)
5. Isolated (not connected in community)
6. Busy people (limited time)

Design, monitor, and adjust

Use visuals as much as possible
support multiple languages

Challenges: availability of time, amount of reading, ease of reading, impatience,