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HomeMy WebLinkAbout18-2a KC Public Participation Plan July 2018 71eehill Co my Public Pa rti P ci a tion Plan Updated July 2018 Table at-Contents 1. Introduction 2. Communications Guidelines 3. Principles of Participation 4. Defining Levels of Public Participation 5. Continuum of Community Engagement Directive Decisions Consultative Decisions Collaborative Decisions 6. Implementation Guidelines 6.1 Needs Identification - County-based, Public-based, - Including Communications in Projects 6.2 Planning - Identify Issue - Establish Objectives - Establish Stakeholders - Establish Level of Public Consultation - Identify Tools - Identify Resources -Location and Timing - Clear Communication 6.3 Choosing&Implementing the Best Approach -Types of Meetings - Formats for Sharing Information - Formats for Distributing Information 7. Follow Through and Evaluation Public Participation Plan 1 1. Introduction At the June 2013 strategic planning session, Council discussion was held regarding a formal communications plan with the focus of utilizing various mediums.A Communications Strategy was adopted with a general focus of enhancing the current communication processes,both internally and externally.Various communications means were identified,including social media and what our current technical capabilities held for our organization. In 2018, the Municipal Government Act legislated that every Alberta municipality requires a public participation policy. The Public Participation Plan is intended to define different levels of engagement, as well as providing overall communications processes, standards and priorities. 2. Communications Guidelines Responsibility The primary goal of communications is to create and maintain a positive public image of Kneehill County and to ensure that employees and residents are well-informed of our policies,programs and services. Public participation is essential to the municipal decision process. Kneehill County is committed to open and accountable decision making,which includes appropriate levels of communication and consultation between Council and the public. Communicating with residents is a key function of the County,involving officials and employees at all levels. 3. Principles of Public Participation 1. Citizen consultation is recognized as an asset,is valued and encouraged. 2. Builds mutual trust and accountability with the public. 3. Proactive communications will enhance resident satisfaction. 4. We will utilize a variety of communications tools to reach various audiences. 5. We will strive to keep the public informed. 6. Everyone potentially affected by the consultation process has an opportunity to become involved. 7. The public clearly understands its role in the process. 8. The consultation process is respectful, effective and transparent. 9. Communication is clear, timely and effective. 10. Participants are informed of outcomes of community consultation. Public Participation Plan 2 4. Defining Levels of Public Participation *Excerpt from IAP2Federadon Spectrum ofPublic Participation n orm ons t Invo ve o I a.orate Empower Public To provide the To obtain To work To partner with To place the public directly with the public in final decision Participation public with balanced and feedback on the public each aspect of making in the Goal objective analysis, throughout the decision hands of the information to alternatives the process to including the public. assist them in and/or ensure that development of understanding decision. public issues alternatives and the problems, and concerns the identification alternatives are of the preferred and/or consistently solution. solutions. understood and considered. Promise to We will keep We will keep We will work We will look to We will the Public you informed. you informed, with you to you for direct implement listen to and ensure that advice and what you acknowledge your concerns innovation in decide. concerns and and issues are formulating provide directly solutions and feedback on reflected in incorporate your how public the advice and input alternatives recommendation influenced the developed and into the decision. provide decisions to the feedback on maximum extent how public possible. input influenced the decision. Example -Fact sheets -Public -Workshops -Advisory -Ballots Tools -Websites comment -Deliberate Committees -Plebiscites - Open houses -Focus groups polling -Participatory -Delegated -Surveys decision making decisions -Public meetings > Increasing municipal ownership of the decision making process and end decision Public Participation Plan 3 5. Continuum of Community Engagement Engagement occurs along a continuum with different desired outcomes at each degree. This continuum represents degrees of public involvement;it is not a process map. An engagement process may include one or all of the levels of engagement in any order, depending on project context and desired outcomes. Information Sharing Consultation Active Participation Directive Decisions Consultative Decisions Collaborative Decisions Goal To educate and inform To seek feedback,test ideas, To share or delegate decision citizens develop concepts and making. collaborative solutions. Relationship One Way Two way Dynamic Tools Newsletter,Annual Resident Meetings,Public Community visioning, Reports,Public Advisory Committees,Public Community or Regional Announcements. Hearings. Agreements/Initiatives, Facility Agreements. When Are made by a person Often involve moral or When municipalities are in authorized to do so,and emotional elements. partnership with are issued to others communities,organizations simply to inform them or individuals to deliver the decision was made. services or to respond to long-term challenges. Examples of • There is an urgent • Public notification and • Development(ie: When to need to respond input are required by law subdivision planning, Use immediately (as per MGA recreation facility • A person in authority requirements or other development) is acting within their legislative) • Inter-Municipal authority • The decision is a known Agreements • The decision is routine concern of other parties • Industrial Zoning and accepted as part of or is likely to have a the municipalities significant impact on When a municipality embarks operations (ie: snow other parties (ie: a on a collaborative decision removal) proposed development) process,Council must • The decision is • The decision affects recognize that parties who dictated by law(ie: society's moral or share in the investment improvement to water emotional expectations expect to share in the systems) (ie: expansion of decision.There must be recreation facility) assurances these partners will • The decision affects the be heard and their wishes lifestyle of citizens respected. (ie: road closure) • Council/administration However,Council has the requests public input prior final decision,in good faith, to making the decision (ie: on behalf of the municipality. public buildings or park space) As we move left to right, the level ofinfuence to decision making increases, as well as time for the engagement process. Public Participation Plan 4 6. Implementation Guidelines The implementation process described below is a guideline to planning and implementation of an effective public engagement processes. 6.1 Needs Identification There are a number of considerations, both County and public-based, that should be discussed in determining whether public engagement is required. County-based Considerations • Legal or regulatory requirements: there is a legal requirement for public engagement according to the Municipal Government Act (MGA) or under federal or provincial law or the requirements of regulatory bodies. • Internal directives: public engagement is required on the basis of internal authorized decisions,including County policies. • Administration or Council requests: Public engagement is requested by County administration or Council. Public-based Considerations • Collaborative situation: The public will share in the decision process • Impact on the public: The decision or outcome will have a significant impact on the public's social, economic, and/or environmental situation. • Public requests: County citizens or stakeholders request that public engagement be conducted. When Should Council & Staff Include Communications in A Proiect/Initiative Communications Impact to Public Financial Potential Public Impacts to Need County Concern, Impacts for Media Safety Reputation Operations Support Coverage Risks No support needed Some service No public No financial No coverage No public No impacts to interruptions/ concern or impacts safety reputation of service support hazards municipality enhancement possible Brief Service Possible Possible Local Some public Possible risk or Communications, interruptions concern or impacts to coverage safety risks opportunity of communications to support budget but possible positive impact to monitor not to rep taxpayers Communications Inability to Probable Probable Provincial Public safety Positive or plan required, provide concern or impacts to coverage risks negative impact communications to service for a support property probably among key monitor day or more. taxes stakeholder New service (Including groups likely offering savings/tax probable reduction) Communications Some service Significant Significant National Risk of Broad negative or plan and active interruptions. public impact to coverage fatality positive impact ongoing support Service concern or property among various enhancement support taxes audiences plans Public Participation Plan 5 6.2 Planning Much of planning for effective public participation process involves anticipating issues and responses the public will have and identifying how best to work with those in an open and transparent manner. The process presented here identifies the various aspects of a public consultation process and presents them in a logical order. In moving through the planning process, there may be a need to go back to earlier steps and make modifications. Planning Steps Description 1. Identify and agree • Establishing the scope of the public participation process by upon the issue(s) considering what issues,topics,or aspects of the project the public being addressed may actually influence • Clearly identify what is and is not on the table for public input with explanations for each,building transparency and trust while managing expectations. 2 Establish clear • Is the public participation working towards building knowledge, objectives and solving a problem,sharing ideas,evaluating and prioritizing,or outcomes for the other desired outcomes? public participation: • Consider the likely levels of conflict and whether or not the process should seek to produce agreement as opposed to bringing the issues into the open. • In establishing objectives and outcomes,consider both what the County and the public might wish to achieve through public consultation;they may be different. • Some public consultation outcomes may be measurable;however, many are not. 3. Initial stakeholder • Whose support is needed and why? (ensure the stakeholders know identification: what is needed from them,define expectations) • Is opposition expected? (if so,communicate with them even though you may never win them over) • What are the external factors,public perceptions,commonly held beliefs,historical influences,and related issues that may be raised as the public consultation process is implemented? 4. Establish the • Select the degree of public participation most suited to the issue and desired level ofpublic desired outcomes. participation: • What degree of involvement is the County willing or able to implement?County-based considerations may dictate what level of consultation is appropriate. 5. Identify tools and • Specific tools and strategies are well suited to different levels of strategies best suited engagement,others to specific demographics and populations. to the situation: 6. Project costs of • Financial cost&staff resources. Postage,room rentals,display public participation: boards,etc. all have a dollar amount attached. Consider the time it takes to develop the public participation plan as well as implementing it. Public Participation Plan 6 7. Location and • Wherever possible,hold public participation events in the Timing: communities that may be impacted by the outcomes. • For processes that impact the entire County, consider hosting several smaller events in the different communities. • These timelines are recommended for public participation: • General information:As soon as reasonable • Background info:2-4 weeks before events • Activity/Event notification: 3-4 weeks before events • Reminders: 1 week before events • Follow-up communications:as soon as is reasonable 8. Clear • It has been recognized that there is a need to provide services in Communication: language that is clear and understandable. • Design the communication from the context and perspective of the reader,rather than the knowledge and expectations of the sender. 6.3 Choosing 1r Implementing the Best Approach Council and staff will strive to choose the best approach for public participation for situations proactively.As elected representatives of citizens, councillors have a further obligation to be aware of citizen expectations and concerns before making their decisions. Twelve questions to ask before you notify citizens Ideally, the planning begins with internal discussions. If a public consultation process is expected to be implemented, a plan is needed. Here are questions that need to be answered: 1. What potential decision is being considered? 2. What are its implications? 3. Who should we be notifying? 4. What input do we require? 5. How are we intending to gather the input? 6. How will we analyze what we hear? 7. What resources do we have available? 8. What are our timelines? 9. Is this likely to be controversial? If so, how should we manage the controversy? 10. How will the input be used in the decision? 11. What will success look like? 12. What outcomes do we seek from our efforts to involve the public? *Reference Pg 2-1 of the Public Input Toolkit for Municipalities Public Participation Plan 7 6.3.1 Choosing a Types of Meeting Type of Meeting Advantages Disadvantages Storefront or"over-the- • Citizens can choose time to drop in • Input is often verbal and counter" Meeting: • Citizen gets one-on-one time with doesn't always get recorded allows anyone to drop in municipal representatives • Relatively time-consuming and discuss plans over • Great if a small number of citizens have • Cannot accommodate large the counter a high interest numbers Open House Meetings: • Allows many people to review • Will not result in any an opportunity for information and talk to representatives definitive input unless people to drop in, • Display information to interested designed to do so review information,talk citizens (visual boards, on-table • Does not promote interaction to a municipal materials,take home materials) or consensus building representative, and • Convenient time for a variety of submit their preferences stakeholders, spending as much time as they wish there • Staff should be "interviewing" stakeholders • Opportunity for ideas exchange, written responses • Non-confrontational format Tip:Staff can "interview"the stakeholders for information exchange Ratepayer/Public • Council will present to lots of • May become confrontational Meetings: larger stakeholders at the same time • "Showboating" at the meetings with formal • Everyone gets to hear what everyone microphone is a problem agenda and formal else has to say presentations • Explain the process to stakeholders upfront • Notes to be taken by staff • Avoid long presentations by municipal representatives • Incorporate response forms Tips:Don't set up a microphone (have roaming staff with mics), use a facilitator, use tables/chairs instead of rows, have representatives well informed with information readily available to all. Public Participation Plan 8 Workshops: participants • Focused on specific topic • Longer meetings requiring a can "roll up their • Promotes group problem solving and greater commitment from sleeves" and work exchange of ideas participants together to assess • Can lead to creative recommendations • Extensive preparation information and create • Must be well facilitated recommendations. Tip:Making this an invitational event may increase the amount of attendees due to time commitment. Online Discussions or • Online spaces where people can read • Harder to guarantee that Scheduled Online information, comment on others ideas participants are residents of Chats: allows anyone to and add their own opinion. the area in question ask about the plans and • Stakeholders can choose drop in time • Needs terms of reference if talk to an expert (via • Stakeholders who cannot drop in during everyone's comments are Skype, Google Chat, business hours or reach the location can public in case abusive AIM, Facebook Chat, still participate comments need to be Message Boards, etc) • Staff members can converse with removed. multiple residents at once • A chance to have experts make comments • Depending on how its set up, comments can be public or not visible to everyone Focus Groups:An • Invitation only • Members of the group may opportunity to provide • Small cross-section of people to pull not be accepted by the public some detailed from to get the full range of opinions of as good enough cross-section information to a small stakeholders • Takes time commitment from group to see what • Participants are shown a series of ideas participants options they prefer and and ask for their response. why. • Used to "test" ideas, not to "sell" ideas. Round Table Meetings: • Usually invitational • Limited number of 15-25 people invited to • Intention is to encourage sharing of participants at the sessions sit around the table and ideas among communities that have • Must be well facilitated and provide their different needs or perspectives recorded perceptions, concerns • Short presentations are used to provide • Can be perceived as a and preferences information then the participants are technique to "divide and asked to provide their views and ideas. conquer" • Flip charts are useful to allow participants to see what is recorded Advisory Committee: • Allows time for members to get to know • A secretary is required to Similar to round table, one another and "do their homework" take minutes,follow up except the committee • Builds consensus about detailed action charts, reports meets several times. recommendations • Agendas, Minutes, follow up actions and reports Webinar:for • People can attend from anywhere • Technical difficulties often presentation style • Easy to record and post online for arise, especially with video meetings (via Skype, people who missed the event and sound LiveMeeting, GoToMeeting, etc) Public Participation Plan 9 6.3.2 Choosing A Format for Sharing Information Format Advantages Disadvantages Website • Many people go online first for • Website must be kept up to information date • Provides up to date information • Participation information can • Can include links to a wide range of be easily lost in the amount information of municipal information • Allows participants to choose how much • Not everyone can access to review information on the web • Can be linked to an electronic response format Brochure • Concise and graphic description of • Often difficult to get into the information hands of the participants • Provides a standard reference for • Expensive to publish participants • Requires time to write and publish Display Boards • Concise and graphic description of • Only available to those who information attend display locations • Provides a standard reference for • Can be costly, damaged easily participants • Can require personal to set • Can be produced on a moderate notice up and explain PowerPoint SlideShow • Concise and graphic • Rarely a stand alone format • Provides information in short amount (needs presenter) of time • Format tends to be lists, not • Good support for live presentations context • Use of graphics enhances learning • Must print and hand out in • Can be presented and shared online as order to be a reference piece. a webinar Newsletter • Relatively inexpensive • Can be mistaken for junk mail • Provide information overview • Not durable • Can be distributed with other materials, • Will not be read if too wordy including surveys • Email list may be a challenge to form Facebook/Other Social • Provides up to date information and • More challenging to share Media directs traffic to the website documents • Easy for people to share with people • Not accessible to everyone, they know need a FB account to access • Easy way to ask questions or conduct a • Requires "supervision" of poll comments (Terms of Reference) YouTube or Similar-use • Share information in a fun and • Can be time consuming Page engaging way • Resources, development of • Can get the employees involved multimedia required • Can embed into municipal website Public Participation Plan 10 6.3.3 Choosing A Technique for Distributing Information Technique Advantages Disadvantages Person to Person: • Most effective approach • Time consuming face to face,telephone, • Allows respondent to ask questions and • Limits number of contacts email or text to get involved immediately • Lack of recording individual • Highly recommended if you need to invite a relatively small number of individuals Leadership Networks: • Can be very effective, but depends on • May be seen as favouring Contacting known the skill of the leaders contacted and certain parties community leaders and time available • Tendency to attract the same giving them the people to meetings information repeatedly • No control over how or when leaders will distribute information Direct Correspondence: • Relatively effective • Requires up to date mailing Letter, bulk email,fax, • Targeted to those who require list e-newsletter, text notification • May be expensive for large message to group distribution Presentations at • Provides on-site presentation at meeting • May delay process, waiting regularly scheduled organized by a target group or on group to schedule meetings association • May be seen as favouring • Very convenient for group members organizations • Promotes early involvement and • Requires significant learning commitment of time • Promotes networking (evenings or weekends) Bulk Mail • Covers a large area with relatively high • Likely to be confused with assurance that each household and junk mail, discarded business are informed News Release • Can create interest and attention if • No control over when and Press release to picked up by the media where media will show the traditional media or • Can provide background information story online media that may stimulate interest • The story may include • Can point stakeholders to website misinformation from other sources Displays, Signs, • Stimulates interest if placed correctly • Depends on location Bulletins • Format requires simplicity • Relatively expensive Public Notice in Media • May be required by MGA • Relatively small impact on • Some review public notices regularly people who get involved Social Media presence • Meets residents where they are • Online community requires comfortable online information to be timely • Easy to share,timely information • No guarantee participants are in your jurisdiction Public Participation Plan 11 7. Follow Through and Evaluation Ineffective follow through and reporting lead to public dissatisfaction with the immediate process and decrease the willingness of participants to engage in future processes. • Effective reporting to the public should include: • what decisions were made • why those decisions were made • connect the decision with the input • be prepared to explain why some ideas could not be supported by Council • Inventory any notes, responses, comments and have a written report on file of these. • Wherever possible, the follow-up reporting should be released through similar channels used throughout the process. • Remember to thank participants. In most instances, a verbal thank-you when the participation occurs is sufficient,but is a must. Once ANY LEVEL of public consultation process is complete, evaluate and document the following: • main issues • objectives and desired outcomes and whether they were met • process successes and the challenges • techniques used • the venue, time and location • satisfaction levels with both the process and the outcomes • unexpected outcomes • costs and resources required The evaluations should be circulated to appropriate staff members and kept for future reference. Public Participation Plan 12