2017 IAP2 North American Conference: WORKSHOP - "Bringing More Voices to the Conversation: Lessons from the Trenches"

  • September 06, 2017
  • 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM
  • Denver, CO
  • 17

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Bringing More Voices to the Conversation: Lessons from the Trenches

Workshop Objectives

This workshop is designed to:

  • Identify groups that are difficult to engage in public participation activities
  • Share stories and lessons learned from projects that successfully engaged hard-to-reach stakeholders
  • Revisit the groups identified earlier and crystallize what has been learned over the course of the workshop.
12:30 – 12:50 pm

Engage on the Open Range: P2 in Rural Communities
Lauren Bartlette and Megan Mucignat

What does rural mean, what relationship does it have to urban, and why does this matter in P2? In this session, we will dissect the varying degrees of the rural identity to understand how P2 practitioners can better engage communities in rural settings. By providing different approaches and tips, we will examine P2 best practices to overcome considerations like unique demographics, online access, and local preferences that are required to be successful in large scale settings with small populations. This discussion will your understanding on how to address the needs, barriers, and challenges encountered in rural communities and how to plan logistically for a more successful P2 process in these places.


1:30 – 2:10 pm

Planning Chinatown: Adventures in Cross-Cultural Engagement
Allison Chan (invited)

Chinatowns across North America are facing a number of pressures that threaten their continued existence. Calgary’s Chinatown is in a similar situation. A new vision for the community was needed to strengthen the community’s identity in the face of inevitable change and redevelopment pressures. This session will explore how we can work cross-culturally and across generations to gather input for the greater good of the society and community. Gathering input from a complex social structure is not impossible when the community understands that it’s needed to ensure a strong thriving community in the future.


2:10 – 2:25 pm

Break


2:25 – 3:05 pm

Working with Diversity in Community Engagement
Marion Sanchez

To create a safe space for conversation and sharing ideas it takes understanding of the community that you are working with. Today’s communities are vibrant with a mix of culture, religious belief systems and communication styles. It is pretty well known that diversity brings creativity and innovation. Having people interacting and looking at a problem from diverse point of views create better solutions and opportunities. The challenge is making the engagement productive and welcoming for everyone. This discussion will include lessons learned from the Asian-American American Quality of Life Initiative and the Hispanic/Latino and African American Quality of Life Advisory Commissions. Marion will touch on communication protocols, outreach strategies and meeting settings for creating a productive meeting.


3:05 – 3:45 pm

Accessibility for People with Disabilities – the Final Frontier for Inclusive P2
Penny Mabie and Jenni Mecham (invited)

So you want to be inclusive with your P2 plan? Great! You’ve done your demographic research, contacted community organizations, and reached out to cultural, ethnic and faith groups… but who have you forgotten? People with disabilities are the single largest minority group; does your P2 plan include them? This session will give you an overview of disability demographics, a deeper understanding of how public projects can have disproportionate impacts, the basic legal framework, budget and planning implications and practical techniques and resources for making your process fully accessible.


3:45 – 4:30 pm

Applying the lessons to other “hard to reach” groups; facilitated discussion among all participants



About the Session Leaders

Lauren Bartlette is a Senior Planner with McElhanney Consulting Services in Calgary, Alberta. She has 20 years of consulting experience in municipal and land development policy, approvals and process. As an educator and mediator, her focus on facilitation, public engagement and communication helps her to continually deliver successful and innovative public engagement process for both municipal and land development clients.

Allison Chan is a Senior Planner at The City of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta. She has over 15 years of municipal land use planning, administrative and policy related work. She enjoys the challenge of special projects, and has a particular knack for navigating through loosely defined and complex problems. Her team’s recent work in Calgary’s Chinatown was the largest ever public engagement held for a land use item in Calgary and the first ever held in three languages.

Wendy Lowe is a public participation specialist from Loveland, Colorado. She has 30 years experience working with federal, state, and local governments to design and implement effective public participation programs. She specializes in bringing diverse voices together for collaborative processes on controversial topics. She serves on the IAP2 USA Board of Directors.

Penny Mabie has over 25 years of experience in public involvement, facilitation, development and delivery of training programs, and coordination of inter-jurisdictional strategic planning and communication efforts. As a public involvement consultant for EnviroIssues, Penny has provided facilitation and public participation services to support infrastructure siting and design, conservation and land use planning, and multi-jurisdictional task forces on flood control, school facilities, and transportation planning. She is also a licensed IAP2 trainer.

Jenni Mechem has over twenty years of experience managing disability and civil rights programs in NGOs and federal, state and municipal governments. She has a BA from Evergreen State College and an MBA from the University of Washington, and serves on the Mercer Island Planning Commission.

Megan Mucignat in a Community Planner with McElhanney Consulting Services in Calgary, Alberta. Megan has lived on four continents. Her experience in P2 has ranged from billion dollar municipal infrastructure projects and the world’s largest medical marijuana facility to grassroots engagement in her own community. She is also a board member with IAP2 Wildrose Chapter.

As the City of Austin Community Engagement Consultant, Marion Sanchez manages a variety of outreach and engagement projects, develops multicultural strategies, and assists various department of the City of Austin, Texas in reaching disfranchised communities. She has an AD in Applied Science in Data Processing, a Bachelor of Arts in English Communication and a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership and Ethics from St. Edward’s. She has over 30 years of experience targeting multicultural populations.

Please note: this workshop is free for those attending the Conference; IAP2 members not attending the Conference pay $50.00 and non-members pay $75.00. You must register in advance.


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