The Public Engagement Revolution

The role of public engagement in real estate development of all kinds is in the midst of a revolution.  Demographic, political, legal and sociological trends all indicate an increase in communities’ sense of entitlement and activism.  For this reason, architects, developers, community governments, renewable energy providers and others who are driving change must adopt a new way of approaching the community. 

 We have been tracking public attitudes over time and have found that just in the past four years public resistance and activism is up 25% from 1 out of 5 Americans surveyed in 2004 to 1 our of 4 in 2008 who actively fought a local development projects.  The public is also losing faith in their local government, with 72% giving an average rating of C+ for their handling of development issues.  87% say that they would vote for a candidate based on their stance towards development.  And finally, 74% oppose any kind of new development in their community, up over 10% from just a few years ago.

 In the past, a developer could work with their architects and local government agencies to develop a plan followed by a token “public engagement” session in which the plan was presented to the community.  Today’s projects are facing greater public scrutiny and require public involvement from the very beginning of the project and more sophisticated tools and methods are required to ensure that the process is transparent to all participants, that it is inclusive of all stakeholders, and that the community is adequately educated about the issues and trade-offs involved.  Some examples of old school thinking we have encountered that went awry, in which developers followed the best practices of the 1990’s but encountered today’s public resistance, include Boulder’s Washington School and Jefferson County Community College in Colorado.  In both of these cases, delays of months or even years resulted and hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional costs due to the delays.

 Amidst these changes, there is an opportunity for architects.  Architecture firms that “get it” and can provide implementable projects will have a competitive advantage over those who work under yesterday’s assumptions.  Clients are looking for consultants who can not only design their projects, but who can get them built.  According to the National Institute of Building Sciences, delays can add 2% per month to the final cost of a home. Projects such as the Atlantic Yards Barclay Stadium project in Brooklyn face a potential loss of $400 million in naming rights and millions more in tax free financing if construction does not begin by December 31 of 2009.   In the case of Barclay Stadium there are at least three separate organized neighborhood groups fighting the project with demonstrations and lawsuits.  What do you think it is worth to developer Bruce Ratner to solve these problems?   What would it have been worth to him to have had the public engaged from the very outset of the project rather than at the twelfth hour?

 

Ten Principles of Community Engagement

1) Begin at the Beginning:

Community Engagement should never be sugar coating added to the end of a process. The community should be involved at the very beginning of any project in order to have genuine input and buy-in. If engagement begins after designs are complete, this tells the stakeholders that they never had a real opportunity for input in the project unless the leaders are truly willing to delay a project and spend additional funds to change the plans.

2) Trust is Critical to Successful Community Engagement

Without a firm foundation of trust, the Community Engagement process can quickly break down. Trust needs to exist between the various stakeholders including owners, neighbors, consultants, facilitators, political entities, action groups, etc. Steps to enhance trust include: clear and open communication, a process that is not driven by a single, fixed agenda, engagement at the beginning of the process, willingness to compromise, listening to opposing viewpoints and seeking common ground, fostering an atmosphere of respect.

3) Input without Education is worse than no input at all.

Community development issues are complex. Planners, architects and developers must study for years to begin to understand some of the issues, principles and relationships that come into play. Community members must be provided with an unbiased education about the principles of planning and development, especially as they pertain to the project at hand, so that they may develop an educated position that understands the trade-offs and long-range implications for their recommendations.

4) If everyone is not heard, then the community has not truly been engaged.

Community engagement can be intimidating to participants but this must be addressed so as to encourage broad inclusiveness. Without using the proper tools and processes to make sure that everyone has a chance to provide input, many "participants" may walk away feeling intimidated, unheard and unappreciated.

5) The loudest opponents do not always represent the views of the community.

While everyone should be heard, techniques should be employed to ensure that a vocal minority does not hijack the process towards their own ends. Examples include breaking into small groups, using the "parking lot" to record ideas, or using audience response systems that tally everyone's vote equally.

6) Develop and communicate a clear process at the beginning so that everyone understands a common roadmap.

It is important for everyone to understand and buy into the process from the beginning. This builds trust through transparent decision making that does not appear to be manipulated to guide specifically towards one direction or the other.

7) Successful community engagement begins with choosing the right "tools" for the situation and using them wisely.

Each engagement is different. The tools that are used must be customized to the particular needs of the situation at hand. Once the proper tools are chosen, it is equally important as to how the tools are used. Care must be taken to intelligently and sensitivly apply tools in such a way that they achieve the best results in the end.

8) Reinforcement of a plan resulting from community engagement over a period of time is necessary to ensure its success.

Many plans never reach realization because they get put on a shelf and are not revisited on a regular schedule. Only by constantly reviewing and aligning activities to the goals and objectives agreed upon in the plan will those goals and objectives be realized.

9) Without agreed upon measures of success, it is impossible to know whether you have succeeded or failed.

Measurable outcomes are critical to the success of a project. Even though many goals may initially be difficult or impossible to measure, a properly led engagement process will result in a set of clearly understood, measurable outcomes that will determine the success or failure of the project.

10) Transparency in decision making facilitates buy-in, even when everyone is not in agreement.

By creating a transparent decision making process in which everyone has an opportunity to be heard, the issues are clearly laid out, the trade-offs and practical limitations are understood and community values are understood, a successful engagement process will have a higher degree of buy-in than one in which a single agenda is pursued, the process was manipulated to achieve that single end and community input did not influence the final decision.

Community Engagement Associates

Community Engagement Associates is a consulting firm providing public engagement, facilitation, mediation and strategic planning services.

We help communities to develop a vision for where they want to go along with plans to make that vision become a reality.

Communities today are faced with many divisive issues including: real estate development, renewable energy deployment (solar and wind towers), prioritizing budget cuts in the face of recession and more.

The costs to developers who do not engage the community from the very beginning of their projects are increasing at astounding rates as citizens have increasing feelings of entitlement coupled with empowerment based on past successes in organizing to fight development.