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One of the great challenges in the planning world is determining how to truly engage the people most affected by the decisions that are made on their behalf. The traditional way has been to publish a draft plan, zoning ordinance or other document, hold hearings at the planning department or city hall, receive testimony from interested parties and then make a decision. But for many years it has been recognized that public participation in decision-making needs to be much more extensive and sophisticated.

The latest issue of Planning Magazine has come up with a list of well-proven ideas that can make a big difference in allowing all possible voices to be heard:

1. Build meaningful relationships with key leaders and a wide range of community-based organizations. In Portland there is a long history of participation by official neighborhood associations, but that leaves out the vast majority of residents. In the last few years Portland has cast a very wide net to ensure much greater participation.
2. Meet with people where they are. Having meetings in the neighborhoods and at times when working people can participate is the key corollary to No. 1.
3. Tailor the engagement plan to fit the group. Spend time understanding the important cultural and ethnic factors that will encourage people to engage.
4. Make it fun. There are a number of new techniques and software programs that can make presentations and feedback more entertaining.
5. Continue the engagement effort throughout the year. It’s not enough to show up occasionally to try and inform people about very complex issues. It takes time to grasp planning concepts and language, and the best decisions always come when communities have a good understanding of what they mean. This requires investments of time and resources, but it’s critical to successful planning.