Engaging the Public

People care about what happens to the places where they live and work. Effective communication and outreach give stakeholders the information they need to take a position or get involved. Well-designed public input processes let people be heard and support decision-making that considers their ideas. Strategic Community Solutions develops and implements stakeholder involvement initiatives that benefit the people, the product and the place.

SCS projects include involvement by residents, business and property owners, and other stakeholders.

 

Communication about planning issues and projects. It’s often difficult to explain complex planning projects in a clear and understandable way. SCS uses text, graphics, photos and a variety of communication methods to convey information about an issue or project in ways that are informative and tailored to each distinct audience.

Consensus building among project stakeholders. Most community planning and design proposals need support from diverse stakeholders, who usually begin their involvement with different perspectives, goals and priorities. Implementation success is closely related to the level of stakeholder agreement achieved during the planning process. Experience building stakeholder consensus in a wide range of circumstances gives SCS the ability to assist with your project.

Feedback from future stakeholders. Creating a plan means anticipating the interests of future residents and businesses. Some of these future stakeholders are already part of your community; others are not. Using interviews, focus groups and surveys, SCS can help you obtain feedback from future stakeholders. Key examples include developers who are not yet active in your community, representative businesses targeted for attraction, residents with targeted characteristics and the children living in your community now.

Outreach and public input for community planning projects. Outreach means connecting with residents, business representatives and community leaders to inform them about your initiative and encourage their participation. Input means gaining information, insight and feedback from these individuals. Outreach and input must be carefully designed and strategically incorporated into the overall project if they are to provide timely and useful information and a sense of satisfaction among the participants. SCS designs and implements programs for effective outreach and public input, using traditional and online tools for engagement.