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Increasing Public Participation in Rural Planning & Community Development

Nicole Davis

A community planner from the “Back 40”, working on a multi-jurisdictional planning process for a small, rural community recently posed this question on Cyburbia. Planner.tk, a local design firm associate and community planner with a passion for 'saving the environment', inquires about how to drum up successful public participation in their county of less than 30,000 people. Insights and ideas came in from fellow Cyburbia members regarding useful techniques in community development as well as unique challenges faced by planners focused on rural areas.

Online Resources for Community Building and Public Participation

Chris Haller

We’ve been keeping our eye on "Community Engagement", a LinkedIn group that encompasses discussion on community building, education, public participation, participative democracy and working in partnership. One of the most popular ongoing discussions has revealed some of the group members’ go-to websites for community engagement in terms of urban planning, support for citizen dialogue, and innovation. Here’s a list of the highlights:

New Field Guide Helps Local Officials Plan for a Stronger Democracy

Chris Haller

The National League of Cities (NLC) has recently created a toolkit called, “Planning for Stronger Local Democracy: A Field Guide for Local Officials” with the purpose of guiding city leaders to cultivate a culture of transparency and accountability to also address and resolve issues.

Should My Department Have a Facebook Page?

Chris Haller

An entry level planner approaches his manager and asks if the department should be considering creating a Facebook page to get the word out about current projects. Says he knows a planner in the Bay Area that has recently done this for his community. The manager is skeptical. His only experience with Facebook in this context is work-related questions that would come in directly to him from residents, which foiled his attempts to have a personal life in the small town he managed. So, is this a good idea? Or a bad one - to have a Facebook page dedicated to your community and managed by your city department? What about controversial projects you are working on?

Creating More Efficient Social Media Processes

Nicole Davis

There are many ways to leverage your project’s web and mobile presence in our ever innovative world of outreach and communications technologies. In our day to day dealings with clients, we teach businesses, including real estate companies, non-profits, local authorities, and government institutions how to reap the most benefit from today’s most popular social media services, including blogs, online communities, Facebook, Twitter, and more.

Resources Help Municipalities Better Implement Open Gov Policies

Nicole Davis

Open Government Initiative is a collaborative project which was established by a familiar group of passionate advocates of open government, including CityCamp, Colorado Smart Communities, Code for America, the Sunlight Foundation, OpenPlans, in late 2010. Guided by their commitment to transparency, participation and accessibility in government, the group has made significant progress in the movement to build the public’s trust and satisfaction by creating new opportunities for innovation. Recently, Open Government Initiative published their Candidate Open Government Pledge and Declaration of Open Government Principles, in an effort to make it easier for local governments to better implement open government policies. The sample templates, highlighted below, echo President Obama’s collective call for open government, in his address to the United Nations in September 2010. 

Celebrating National Community Planning Month

Nicole Davis

Communities across the country are celebrating National Community Planning Month this October. The month long “event”, sponsored by the American Planning Association (APA), its members, chapters, divisions, and professional institute, was developed to recognize the vital role of planners and planning in communities throughout the U.S. At EngagingCities, we have been encouraged historically by the amount of participation we’ve seen with this celebration at a local level here in Colorado. We are excited to see what is in store for 2011’s celebrations around the nation.

Appreciating Community Feedback

Chris Haller

Excited by the possibilities, you may have embraced web 2.0 technology with open arms to engage residents in your community. But what if your sites aren’t drawing the quantities of visitors you had anticipated?  A commonly overlooked aspect of building an online community, is appreciating the one you already have.

Facilitating Online Collaboration

Chris Haller

When it comes to online conversations and forums, the role of the facilitator has become essential in supporting a participatory process.   But how has the role of the facilitator evolved with the increasing use of online communication as opposed to conventional face to face interactions?

On Managing Consultations Efficiently

David Eade

I’ve heard the same question a couple of times this week in a couple of different contexts, so I thought I’d offer some thoughts here. “How do we effectively manage large volumes of responses to consultations with limited resources, especially when these volumes are likely to increase as a result of more accessible online engagements”? It’s a great question. The growth of the internet as a means for spreading our ‘engagement net’ ever wider brings with it the potential for a much greater degree of community participation. Unfortunately, this is a double edged sword.