Talk vs Action: New Public Engagement

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• Innovative ways to communicate and connect with audiences, including emerging stakeholder groups such as millennials, renters, and immigrants
• New techniques to make the planning process more accessible, transparent, and clear for everyone, including visually engaging and clear messaging
• How to access an archived toolkit of resources, developed in real time, as a chronicle of the facilitated discussion

MORE SESSION DETAILS

Planners use a variety of techniques to get people involved and provide feedback, but are we keeping up with the pace of change? New methods of communication are revolutionizing the planning process, but are these techniques genuinely connecting with stakeholders, successfully competing for attention in an increasingly time-constrained world, and meaningfully impacting the end result? Do we know which new technologies and engagement techniques actually work and which we should avoid altogether? Join this facilitated group discussion regarding the future of public participation and civic engagement, and its influence on urban planning and decision-making. Come prepared to share both positive experiences and war stories. Topics we will explore together include connecting better with audiences, including emerging stakeholder groups such as millennials, renters, and immigrants; addressing “frequent fliers” and other common meeting archetypes to make the planning process transparent, accessible, and clear; tailoring public- engagement activities to specific groups versus providing a baseline of information to all; getting ahead of the message and competing for views in an age of short attention spans; and considering which new technologies and engagement techniques we should embrace and/or avoid.