Study Guide Ch. 2 Public Outreach

Question 1

Public participation is used to:

Answer 1

- 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
- provide transparency in decision-making

Question 2

Public outreach process
Goals

Answer 2

General statements of intent for the overall design

Question 3

Public outreach process
Objectives

Answer 3

Specific statements that suggest how goals are going to be accomplished and are thus more action oriented

Question 4

Seven steps for planning and execution of public outreach activities

Answer 4

1. Identify individuals or groups that should be involved in public participation process
2. Decide where in the process the participants should be involved (from development to implementation to evaluation)
3. Communicate the participation objectives to all participants
4. Identify the methods and resources necessary to accomplish the objectives
5. Select an appropriate method to achieve each objective (noting that these methods can all be the same if appropriate)
6. Initiate participation activities
7. Evaluate methods and activities to determine if they achieved the desired goals and objectives

Question 5

Collaboration and participation can be facilitated through group activities including:

Answer 5

- developing project goals
- determining performance targets
- integrating the input of team members and the public
- diagramming the overall design process
- creating feedback loops at each design phase, encouraging exploration
- providing for additional time (buffer) in the project schedule

Question 6

Core benefits of public participation

Answer 6

- engaging stakeholders
- creating an atmosphere of mutual respect
- crating 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)

Question 7

Stakeholder

Answer 7

Person, entity or organization with an interest or concern in a specific activity, action or outcome.
1. Members of the public
2. Special interest groups
3. Government agencies
4. Elected officials

Question 8

Stakeholders should be selected on the basis that they:

Answer 8

- 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

Though it may appear to be a conflict of interest - parties that are directly impacted by or have a stake in the project ARE considered to be stakeholders

Question 9

Strategies by which stakeholders can be selected

Answer 9

“Convener-picked”

Selection committee

Self-nomination

“Snowball”

Question 10

“Convener-picked”

Answer 10

The most common choice, in which the convener, or person/party organizing the public participation process (often the landscape architect) selects the relevant stakeholders

Question 11

Selection Committee

Answer 11

A committee established for the express purpose of selecting stakeholders. Although it requires dedicating additional time and resources to the selection process, this strategy can be effective for complex or politically sensitive projects.

Question 12

Self-Nomination

Answer 12

A somewhat imprecise and open-ended strategy in which invitations are sent to a wide range of potential stakeholders, and any interested parties decide to attend the public outreach events

Question 13

“Snowball”

Answer 13

This strategy can be used to compliment any of the three options outlined above and entails bringing together an initial group of stakeholders and inviting these stakeholders to identify additional parties that should be incorporated into the public participation process. Depending upon the scope of participation required by the project/landscape architect, this process can be repeated, such that parties invited by the initial visioning session are themselves asked to identify additional stakeholders.

Question 14

Survey response formula

Answer 14

Sample size / anticipated response rate =
Total surveys to be distributed

1000 people / 20% rate = 5,000 surveys would need to be distributed

Question 15

Surveys

Answer 15

Comprised of questionnaires and interviews

Question 16

Surveys work best when

Answer 16

- 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

Question 17

Questionnaires

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Interviews

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

Visual Preference Surveys

Answer 19

A visual comparison between two or more proposed conditions, or between an existing condition and proposed conditions.
Are particularly effective when used for populations that have difficult reading design drawings (especially plans), as they are typically conducted using photographs or perspective renderings (two of the most intuitive and legible drawing types)
These surveys allow people express their opinions on design elements and/or characteristics, and they are valuable in that they allow the public to translate their emotional/subjective responses to a design into objective desires and preferences.
Visual preference surveys can address a multitude of topics, but - within the context of the LARE Section 3 - they generally address the scale, massing, articulation, and placement of buildings, as well as streetscapes, open space/parks and transportation issues.

(CLARB does not include visual preference surveys as a type of survey)

Question 20

Needs Assessment

Answer 20

-Typically used during the development of a master plan (or other large-scale planning document) or at the very beginning of the design process
- used to determine what a specific population (often a community) believes they are lacking, with an emphasis on elements in the built environment
- information gathered is not binding in any way
- typically make use of the survey techniques

Question 21

Typical Components of a Needs Assessment

Answer 21

- 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

Question 22

Data collected for needs assessments

Answer 22

- 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)
- used to establish a comparative relationship between existing conditions and ideal circumstances
- most useful to design professionals when the findings are truly representative of public sentiment and when there is support for the actions and conclusions outlined in the final assessment document

Question 23

Visioning

Answer 23

Relatively broad planning activity in which a community develops a shared concept for their future and determines how this concept (or “vision”) will be achieved.

Question 24

Visioning should:

Answer 24

- reflect core community values
- draw from the whole of the community
- address emerging issues or trends
- promote local action
- envision a preferred future

Question 25

Community visioning can be enacted through multiple activities including:

Answer 25

Task forces, survey, focus groups, and workshops

Activities are chosen based upon their relevance to the goals at a specific timepoint in the visioning process (e.g., capture diverse viewpoints vs. promote in-depth discussion), and a community visioning exercise may maybe use of all or many of these activities over the course of its development

Question 26

Charrettes

Answer 26

- popular tool for high-stakes and complex projects
- intense period of design activity in which a (multidisciplinary) design team works closely with a group of stakeholders to develop elements of a plan

Question 27

Charrette Process

Answer 27

- iterative process in which a plan concept is presented to stakeholders at an extended meeting, and the group works together to develop alternative concepts based upon stakeholder feedback
- feedback may be reviewed, developed, critiqued and refined during the charrette and presented again to the stakeholders during this same charrette
- following the completion of the initial charrette, the preferred plan alternatives are developed further by the project team, and the refined design is then presented to the stakeholders again during another charrette
- this process can be repeated as many times as deemed necessary, and although a single charrette often takes place over a single time period (charrettes may be a short as a single day or as long as one week), the entire charrette process typically occurs over the course of multiple sessions.

Question 28

Charrettes work best when they:

Answer 28

- 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
- provide feasible plans and actionable feedback
- take place on or near the project site

Question 29

Benefits of Charrettes

Answer 29

- although resource-intensive, are useful in promoting trust between the design team and stakeholders (including government officials), and they can often reduce opposition to a project by incorporating stakeholder concerns in a meaningful and deliberate way
- although the require advanced preparation, charrettes often lead to lower project costs and faster project timelines by establishing consensus and goodwill early in the development process

Question 30

Public meeting types

Answer 30

- informational meetings
- public hearings
- advisory meetings
- workshops
- open house
- problem-solving meetings

Question 31

Informational meetings

Answer 31

Used to disseminate information to the public and receive limited feedback.
Can be formal in character (involving timed presentations and a scripted order of events) or they can take on a more organic, informal character (e.g., a planning official meeting at a public library with a local community group)

Question 32

Public hearings

Answer 32

-often classified as a type of informational meeting
- follow specific rules and procedures defined by law
- typically convened by a planning or development review committee and are often used to review, approve/deny or provide specific information related to a proposed design project.
- opportunities for public comments and feedback are typically limited, as public hearings are typically used a forum for government officials or other public representatives to share information or make a decision related to the government’s regulatory powers

Question 33

Advisory meetings

Answer 33

Used to share information, but they differ from informational meetings in that they provide the public with a greater opportunity to interact with public officials and/or other decision makers
- like information meetings, advisory meetings begin with a presentation, but - unlike informational meetings - they are followed by an extended period of open, but structured dialogue

Question 34

Workshops

Answer 34

- facilitator-led events intended for relatively small groups or participants (typically 8-10 people) and are used to discuss a specific subject or issue
- emphasize dialogue, and the facilitator is often tasked with taking notes or otherwise summarizing the workshops so that this information can be shared with decision makers.

Question 35

Open House

Answer 35

- characterized by their flexible scheduling and long duration, open houses are a relatively unstructured forum for public staff and/or decision makers to listen and actively engage with the public.
- presentations may take place in side rooms, and surveys may also be conducted during an open house
- in addition to being used to share information with the public, open houses are often hard to generate positive relationships with the public, and they can act as a foundation for increasing public participation in other, more formal meetings

Question 36

Problem-Solving meetings

Answer 36

- a relatively uncommon style of meeting, problem-solving meetings are used to present technical information to the public, with this presentation followed by a moderated discussion.
- unlike other meeting styles, problem solving meetings typically request that the public formulate a recommendation that will directly influence the decision making process

Question 37

Presentation basics

Answer 37

- general public has difficult 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.

Question 38

Five factors that should be considered when communicating project information with graphics

Answer 38

1. Message: what is the message that the graphic is trying to communicate and was this message received by its intended audience
2. 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
3. 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.
4. 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
5. 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, the the audience has the opportunity to spend a great deal of time with the work, then more detailed information can be conveyed.