Green and Great! Happy Earth Day!

Green and great!

What does it mean and how does it relate to our public participation (IAP2) training practice?

Well, it means taking a little step to improve our company’s green performance.Starting this April 22, Earth Day, the team at Delaney and Associates Inc. is greening its world-famous, Amazing Prize Bin – one of the fun things we do in class to engage (yes, it’s a P2 pun) our IAP2 participants. Read More »

Recap: Online Public Consultation

Increasingly, citizens expect to influence decisions and voice their opinions and concerns online. On the other hand, project proponents realize that in order to make sustainable decisions they need to offer more inclusive, accessible, timely and relevant ways for those who will be impacted by the decision to provide input. In this webcast, CEO and Founder of PlaceSpeak discusses how their platform advances online public consultation and “enables inclusive, informed participation, policy development and decision making.” Read More »

Using Photos and Maps to Engage the Community

I recently attended a 2-day workshop on Participatory Photo Mapping (PPM)- “a tool for exploring the experience of place, for communicating this experience to community stakeholders and decision-makers, for surveying communities and for leveraging decision-making at the policy level”.  Day one consisted of theory and a fieldwork exercise, while day two focused on building an interactive map and a deeper discussion of the process.

While the workshop was aimed at health researchers who are planning to use this tool for community-based research, there were also some takeaways for broader use in community engagement projects such as environmental monitoring.

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Engage Stakeholders and Community to Support Health Communication

At a recent workshop on health communication, organized by the Public Health Association of BC, I had a chance to hear about several new health promotion campaigns that relied on a variety of in-person and online tools for public engagement. This is a brief overview of the day’s presentations. Read More »

Recap of Our Online Engagement Webinar

Last week we hosted our second Community of Practice webinar, Introduction to Online Engagement Tools and Techniques. We look forward to continuing the series with more in-depth presentations on select topics in (offline and online) public engagement but in the meantime, check out the recording of the webinar.  Read More »

From Energy Security to NIMBY

The American Wind Energy Association‘s annual conference (Wind Power Expo 2012) held in Atlanta this week brought together international experts on wind energy, public policy, the environment, and technology. Richard Delaney represented D&A Inc. on a community development panel and delivered a workshop on the importance of community engagement in wind energy projects. Read on to view the slides from the workshop and find more ways to stay informed on wind energy. Read More »

How to Creatively Engage Your Community and Stakeholders

Drawing credit: Tanya Gadsby, Drawing Out Ideas

This year’s IAP2 BC Chapter Annual Symposium brought together 20+ practitioners from transportation, health care, environment, planning and private/consulting sectors and stimulated our minds with presentations on Creative Engagement. The symposium was a wonderful opportunity to learn about some of the creative, accessible and culturally sensitive ways public participation specialists can engage the community, broader public and other stakeholders. It was also a great opportunity to connect to fellow P2 professionals across Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, and Calgary, with Richard (D&A Inc. President) and Valerie Delaney (D&A Inc. Principal) joining us from our home office in Ottawa.

Read on for a quick recap of the presentations. Read More »

Wind Energy Best Practices for Municipalities

We were recently reflecting on some of our past work and recalled this Best Practices for Community Engagement and Public Consultation guide developed by the Canadian Wind Energy Association to “help ensure wind energy development is approved and is a welcomed addition to the community.” Read More »

The Power of Presence

Photo credit: flickr user Steve-h

I had a profound personal event recently. Although my business commitments have drawn me back to the day-to-day, my thoughts drift back to a different place. Now I realize I was able to witness, through our professional lens of facilitation and public participation, an insight that I am moved to share with you. Apologies up front if it is painfully personal for some.

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Municipalities Increasingly Leverage Social Platforms to Engage Residents

The Interactive Advertising Bureau declared in 2008, “If you’re not on social media, you’re not on the internet.” Eight years after the launch of Facebook, municipalities across Canada increasingly are integrating social media into their online operations. Read More »