Public Outreach Flashcards
Public Participation is used to
Actively involve communities in the design process
Provide a platform for citizens to offer input, thereby improving plans, decision-making, and services related to the built environment
Facilitate dialogue between public and private interests
Encourage exploration
Provide transparency in decision-making
Develop project goals
Establish performance targets
Goals
are general statements of intent for the overall design
Objectives
are specific statements that suggest how goals are going to be accomplished and are thus more action-oriented
Benefits of Public Participation
Engaging stakeholders
Creating an atmosphere of mutual respect
Creating a forum for meaningful discussion
Embracing a diversity of viewpoints
Sharing and receiving information
Incorporating public feedback into the design project
Saving time and money through all of the above (in short, mitigating conflict)
Stakeholders Groups Are
Members of the public
Special interest groups
Government agencies
Elected officials
Stakeholders should be selected on the basis of
Are directly impacted by an issue or project
Have jurisdiction or control over something relevant to the project
Possess specialist knowledge related to the project
Directly represent or are connected to influential social/community networks
Bottom line of stakeholder selection
although it may appear to be a conflict of interest—parties that are directly impacted by or have a stake in a project ARE considered to be stakeholders
Surveys work best when
They are preceded by pre-notification
Contain clear, non-technical language
Have a well-delineated purpose clearly stated in an introduction
Are concise and make use of graphics as needed
Are not overly difficult or time-consuming for the participant
Questionnaires
Questionnaires are a self-administered survey technique, and they allow respondents to complete the survey at a time of their choosing and with the benefit of relative anonymity.
Interviews
Interviews are a sequence of (scripted or unscripted) questions led by an interviewer. Because they are based on direct human interaction, interviews have the potential to be more flexible, both by introducing unscripted follow-up questions and by allowing the interviewer to skip specific questions if desired.
Visual Pref Surveys
Note that the CLARB-approved readings for Planning & Design do not include visual preference surveys as a type of survey. In other words, if asked what two methods of data collection are associated with surveys, the correct answer (based upon biases in the literature) would be “questionnaires” and “interviews.”
Components of Needs Assessment
Identification of target population for the study
Determining which survey techniques to use in the study
Developing content for public meetings and surveys
Collecting data through meetings and surveys
Interpreting data and making a summary of the findings
Data for needs assessment
Data for needs assessments may also be collected through site visits, as well as through quantitative techniques, including mapping and calculations to determine a specific level of service (e.g., frequency of a specific amenity per 1,000 inhabitants). Data collected during a needs assessment is used to establish a comparative relationship between existing conditions and ideal circumstances
Community Visioning-Visioning Should:
Reflect core community values
Draw from the whole of the community
Address emerging issues or trends
Promote local action
Envision a preferred future
Charrettes
A popular tool for high-stakes and complex projects, charrettes are an intense period of design activity in which a (multi-disciplinary) design team works closely with a group of stakeholders to develop elements of a plan.
Charrettes work best when
Are genuinely collaborative
Consider holistic solutions
Incorporate considerations across multiple disciplines
Compress work sessions into short periods of time
Consider the project across multiple scales/levels of detail
Produce feasible plans and actionable feedback
Take place on or near the project site
Presenting to the public: considerations
The general public has difficulty understanding plan view drawings, as well as general technical drawings (e.g., construction detailing)
Photographs and photo-realistic perspective renderings are the most effective way to communicate visual information to a generalist audience
Technical and specialist language should be avoided whenever possible, as it is difficult for most people to understand
When using graphics and other visual aids, ensure that they are written in clear language and that information is shown at a size such that it is legible by all members of the audience
No single presentation style fits all situations. Choose the best format to meet your objectives
When communicating project information with graphics: message
what is the message that the graphic is trying to communicate and was this message received by its intended audience.
When communicating project information with graphics: medium
Clarity is achieved by simplifying the message and by omitting extraneous information. Therefore, what is the correct type of graphic needed to communicate the intended message.
When communicating project information with graphics: audience
Project graphics should help orient and inform the intended audience, and an audience’s expertise and familiarity with planning and design should determine what—and how—project information is conveyed. This often requires emphasizing the most important information and omitting less important and potentially distracting information.
When communicating project information with graphics: setting
Setting should be considered when preparing and organizing graphic information. If a presentation will occur in a large meeting room, graphics should likely be projected onto a large screen. In a smaller setting, printed drawings mounted on foam-core presentation boards may be more appropriate and, therefore, effective.
When communicating project information with graphics: time
The amount of time available to prepare and present the graphic materials can help determine what graphic techniques are most appropriate. Although graphics should always be as simple and clear as possible, if the audience has the opportunity to spend a great deal of time with the work, then more detailed information can be conveyed.
