Community Engagement: Tools for Inclusive Participation

Are you kicking off a community planning process and beginning to think about outreach and engagement? Are you feeling overwhelmed and not sure where to start? Have you had little success in engaging more than the usual suspects?

This hands-on interactive training proposes 5 Steps that break down the process of creating a public participation strategy. Learn best practices for thoughtful community engagement including examples of meeting design and engaging ways of getting public participation outside of the traditional public meeting format.
 
Done right, community engagement builds trust – even when consensus is out of reach. It brings fresh thinking, new voices, and creates a more informed, involved public. It brings people into the process, and brings the process to them. That means new ideas, new participants – and plans with wider support.
 
This training is for anyone who wants to enhance their outreach practices, including municipal staff and others doing similar work.  It includes a Community Engagement Guide, a Strategy Chart, example activities and more! 

Speakers include:
•    Emily Torres-Cullinane, Community Engagement Manager, Metropolitan Area Planning Council
•    Renato Castelo, Community Engagement Specialist, Metropolitan Area Planning Council